G2 vs 3DMAX
Pick & Full Preview

IEM Rio 2026 has been grinding teams down all week, and this lower bracket semi-final is exactly the kind of match where reputations get made or careers get questioned. G2 versus 3DMAX — two French-core rosters with real firepower, sitting one spot apart in the global rankings, fighting for their tournament lives in a best-of-three. Whoever loses goes home. That pressure alone changes how these maps play out. Let's start with the obvious thing: this matchup is fascinating because of how similar these organizations are in identity. Both teams are built around aggressive, individually talented players. Neither one is running a deeply structured, slow-burn system. You're looking at two squads that want to create chaos and out-aim their opponents, which historically makes for wildly entertaining, deeply competitive CS — and for handicappers, it usually means maps go the distance. G2 comes in ranked 12th in the world, which feels a little generous given how inconsistent they've been since they retooled the roster. Hunter is still one of the most dangerous entry fraggers in the game when he's locked in, and nertz has shown he can carry a map when the system gets out of his way. But G2's problem hasn't been individual talent — it's been cohesion. Matys and heavygod are still relatively young pieces in a lineup that hasn't fully settled on an identity. There are rounds where G2 looks like a top-five team, and rounds where they look disorganized and reactive. In a must-win BO3, that variance is a real problem. 3DMAX, meanwhile, has been quietly building something. Maka is one of the most underrated IGLs in tier-one right now — he doesn't get the credit he deserves because 3DMAX isn't a flashy organization, but his reads are sharp and he keeps his guys in systems that minimize mistakes. Lucky has been one of the most consistently elite players in European CS for a while now, and misutaaa, when motivated, is an absolute menace on the rifle. The addition of graviti brought some youth and aggression to a roster that needed it, and ex3rcice has continued to be a reliable two-way player who doesn't need to be the star to make an impact. The map pool question matters enormously here. G2 has historically leaned on Nuke as a comfort pick, and they've shown they can hang on Mirage, but their consistency across a full pool has been their Achilles heel. 3DMAX is a team that's harder to read in the veto — they don't have as obvious a permaban pattern, which means they can be unpredictable and force G2 into uncomfortable territory. In a tournament setting where teams have had time to scout each other, that kind of veto flexibility is genuinely valuable. The Rio crowd factor is real too. This is Brazil, and while neither roster has a Brazilian player, the crowd always leans toward the underdog narrative and the team playing more exciting CS. That's not going to swing the match, but it's worth noting that G2 has historically looked a little flat when they're not playing in front of a crowd invested in them specifically. 3DMAX tends to play with consistent energy regardless of environment. No recent head-to-head data between these two makes this harder to pin down, but honestly, the absence of recent meetings might slightly favor 3DMAX — G2 can't lean on familiarity, and maka will have done his homework.