donk and r1nkle power Spirit and G2 to opening wins at BLAST Open Porto 2026

BLAST Open Porto 2026 began with two emphatic Group A victories as G2 swept Aurora before Spirit dispatched DENDELE, putting the two winners on course for an upper-bracket meeting with a playoff place on the line.

The opening pair of series belonged to the stars. Artem "r1nkle" Moroz produced his strongest performance since joining G2 to rescue his team from a dangerous position on Anubis, while Danil "donk" Kryshkovets followed Spirit's Esports World Cup triumph with another extraordinary individual display.

donk finished Spirit's 2-0 victory with a 2.14 series rating and two aces on Cache, becoming the first player to reach 20 aces at HLTV MVP-caliber CS2 events. G2's new AWPer was similarly decisive against Aurora, recording 47 kills across Inferno and Anubis as his team reversed the result of their previous meeting at the IEM Cologne Major.

Quick Results

Match	Result	Maps	Main consequence
Aurora vs G2	G2 2-0	Inferno 13-5, Anubis 16-12	G2 advance to Group A upper semi-final
Spirit vs DENDELE	Spirit 2-0	Ancient 13-8, Cache 13-7	Spirit advance to face G2

Spirit and G2 will now meet in the Group A upper-bracket semi-final on August 28. The winner will secure a place in the BLAST Open Porto playoffs, while Aurora and DENDELE drop into the lower bracket and will play an elimination series on the same day.

Main Storylines

The first half of Group A's opening day offered two very different routes to the same destination.

G2 were comfortable on Inferno but had to produce one of the day's biggest turnarounds on Anubis. Aurora reached map point at 12-7 and appeared ready to force a decider before G2 won nine consecutive rounds, including all four in overtime, to complete the sweep. r1nkle was central to the recovery with 32 kills and a 1.86 rating on the second map.

Spirit faced less danger on the scoreboard but were coming into the tournament under unusual circumstances. Their opener arrived only three days after they defeated FUT 3-1 to win the Esports World Cup 2026, leaving little turnaround time between Paris and the BLAST group stage. Spirit nevertheless extended their winning streak to seven matches.

And once again, donk made the difference impossible to ignore.

G2 sweep Aurora after r1nkle takes over

G2 started their BLAST Open Porto campaign with a 2-0 victory over Aurora, winning Inferno 13-5 before surviving a far more difficult Anubis, 16-12.

It was an important result for a G2 lineup still establishing its identity around r1nkle. The Ukrainian AWPer joined in late June as the replacement for SunPayus, giving coach Eetu "sAw" Saha the more aggressive sniper profile he wanted alongside a comparatively measured rifle core.

Inferno — G2 13-5 Aurora

Aurora actually produced the better start, but G2 recovered to take a 7-5 advantage into the break and then completely shut down the second half.

G2 won all six CT rounds required to close Inferno 13-5. Guy "NertZ" Iluz was the standout, finishing the map with 22 kills, 116 ADR and a 1.97 rating while also recording five opening kills.

The one-sided finish put Aurora under immediate pressure on their own attempt to level the series.

Anubis — G2 16-12 Aurora

Anubis was considerably more dramatic.

After an even 6-6 first half, Aurora built momentum after the switch and moved to a 12-7 advantage. Five chances to close the map followed, but none were converted.

r1nkle took control of the comeback. He began G2's CT side with a FAMAS ace and eventually posted 32 kills, 116.3 ADR and 20 AWP kills on the map. G2 erased Aurora's lead, reached 12-12 and then swept overtime 4-0 to end the series.

Across both maps, r1nkle went 47-23 with a 1.56 rating. NertZ was not far behind at 42-29 and 1.36, giving G2 enough firepower to compensate whenever Aurora found early-round advantages.

For Aurora, the collapse was particularly costly because their revamped international lineup is still searching for consistency. Jimpphat and kyxsan only joined the XANTARES-woxic-Wicadia core in July, while Ashley "ash" Battye also took over as coach during the rebuild.

Spirit beat DENDELE as donk reaches another CS2 milestone

Spirit's first appearance since becoming Esports World Cup champions produced the expected result, but DENDELE were competitive enough to prevent the series from becoming a complete formality.

Spirit won their Ancient pick 13-8 before taking DENDELE's Cache 13-7.

The main difference was donk.

The 19-year-old finished with 48 kills, 129.4 ADR, an 87.8% KAST and a 2.14 rating across the two maps. No other Spirit player finished above a 1.09 series rating.

Ancient — Spirit 13-8 DENDELE

Spirit chose Ancient and established a 7-5 advantage from the opening half before converting six of the next nine rounds to finish the map 13-8.

DENDELE stayed within touching distance for much of the game, but their ability to trade rounds was not enough to contain donk. Spirit's star rifler registered 24 kills, 125.1 ADR and a 1.97 rating on the opener.

Cache — Spirit 13-7 DENDELE

DENDELE moved the series to Cache, a map on which they had shown enough confidence to beat FURIA 16-14 during BLAST Bounty Season 2 and JiJieHao 13-9 during the EWC qualifier.

Spirit were ready for it.

They took an 8-4 lead in the first half and completed the map 13-7 after the switch. donk was even better than on Ancient, recording another 24 kills, 133.9 ADR and a 2.34 rating.

His most memorable contribution came through two aces.

One arrived in the opening pistol round and saw donk deal all 500 points of damage without taking any himself. According to HLTV's database, only three other players had previously produced a 500-damage, zero-damage-received ace at HLTV-caliber events.

The two five-kill rounds also pushed donk to 20 aces at HLTV MVP-caliber CS2 events, moving him ahead of ZywOo and NiKo, who were both on 18.

DENDELE at least had positives to take from their performance. João "koala" Pfeffer finished the series with a 1.35 rating and 35 kills, while Máximo "maxxkor" Cortina posted a 1.28 rating and went 34-27. Their production kept the Brazilian side competitive despite three teammates finishing below a 0.81 rating.

Head-to-Head Context

Aurora vs G2

There was a clear revenge angle to G2's victory, although the roster context has changed significantly.

Aurora defeated G2 2-0 at the IEM Cologne Major on June 13, winning Overpass 13-8 and Anubis 13-7. G2 have since replaced SunPayus with r1nkle, while Aurora rebuilt around XANTARES, woxic and Wicadia by adding Jimpphat and kyxsan in July.

The Anubis reversal in Porto was therefore striking: Aurora comfortably won the map in Cologne but surrendered a 12-7 advantage against a different G2 configuration this time.

Spirit vs DENDELE

There was no previous head-to-head between the current Spirit and DENDELE teams before BLAST Open Porto. Recent form was far more relevant: Spirit arrived as EWC champions on a six-series winning streak, while DENDELE had already demonstrated upset potential with a 2-1 victory over FURIA during BLAST Bounty Season 2.

Key Players

donk — Spirit: The clear player of the series. His 48 kills and 2.14 rating were already exceptional, but the two Cache aces turned a routine opening victory into another statistical milestone.

r1nkle — G2: G2's most influential player against Aurora. His 32-kill Anubis performance was decisive when the series was closest to reaching a third map.

NertZ — G2: Set the tone on Inferno with a 1.97 rating and ended the series at 1.36 overall. His output gave G2 another consistent source of pressure alongside r1nkle.

koala — DENDELE: DENDELE's best performer despite the defeat. A 1.35 rating against the world's No. 1 team was a strong individual showing, particularly with several teammates struggling.

maxxkor — DENDELE: Finished 34-27 with a 1.28 rating and joined koala in giving DENDELE enough firepower to keep stretches of both maps competitive.

Interesting Facts

donk's two aces moved him to 20 at HLTV MVP-caliber CS2 events, the highest total recorded by a player, ahead of ZywOo and NiKo on 18.

Spirit's victory was their seventh consecutive match win. Their run now includes victories over BIG, B8, Vitality, Legacy, FUT and DENDELE, with the FUT result securing the Esports World Cup title on August 23.

G2's win also broke Aurora's recent head-to-head advantage. Their previous encounter, at the Cologne Major, had ended in a 2-0 Aurora victory before both organizations changed their lineups.

Tournament Implications

The two victories create the most intriguing match of Group A so far.

G2 and Spirit will meet in the upper-bracket semi-final on August 28, with the winner guaranteed a place in the six-team playoffs in Porto. Spirit enter as the current HLTV world No. 1 and on a seven-match winning streak, but G2 have just produced their cleanest performance since r1nkle's arrival.

There is meaningful history between them.

Their most recent meeting came in the IEM Cologne Major quarter-final on June 19. G2 won Overpass 13-9, but Spirit responded with a 16-14 victory on Dust2 and eventually survived an extraordinary Mirage decider 25-22 to take the series 2-1.

Aurora and DENDELE, meanwhile, have no margin for another defeat. They will meet in the lower-bracket first round, with the loser eliminated from BLAST Open Porto.

The wider event will eventually send six teams from the Copenhagen group stage to the Super Bock Arena in Porto. Each group winner advances directly to the semi-finals, while the other two qualifying teams from each group enter the quarter-finals.

What Comes Next?

Group A continues before the bracket moves into its next phase, while Group B begins on August 27 with Vitality vs Inner Circle, MOUZ vs 9z, Legacy vs FUT and Falcons vs Lynn Vision. Vitality will use jL as a stand-in for mezii, who is on paternity leave.

For the teams covered here, August 28 is the key date:

Aurora vs DENDELE — Group A lower-bracket round one. The loser is eliminated.

G2 vs Spirit — Group A upper-bracket semi-final. The winner qualifies for the playoffs in Porto.

G2 against Spirit is now particularly difficult to ignore. r1nkle arrives after a 47-kill opener, while donk enters the matchup immediately after a 2.14-rated series and with Spirit riding the momentum of an EWC title.

FAQ

Which teams won the first two BLAST Open Porto Group A matches?

G2 defeated Aurora 2-0, while Spirit beat DENDELE 2-0.

What were the map scores?

G2 won Inferno 13-5 and Anubis 16-12 against Aurora. Spirit beat DENDELE 13-8 on Ancient and 13-7 on Cache.

Who was the best-performing player?

donk produced the highest rating of the four teams, finishing Spirit's series with a 2.14 rating, 48 kills and 129.4 ADR. r1nkle led G2 with a 1.56 rating and 47 kills.

What record did donk set?

His two aces against DENDELE took him to 20 at HLTV MVP-caliber CS2 events, moving him ahead of ZywOo and NiKo.

Who do Spirit and G2 play next?

They play each other in the Group A upper-bracket semi-final on August 28. The winner qualifies for the playoffs.

Who faces elimination?

Aurora and DENDELE meet in the Group A lower bracket. Another defeat will end the losing team's BLAST Open Porto campaign.