Nemanja "⁠nexa⁠" Isaković's troops have assured themselves of a spot in the playoffs after an exciting three-map affair.

G2 came back from a map down to beat FunPlus Phoenix 2-1 in IEM Summer and book a place in the playoff stage ahead of Sunday's Group A upper bracket final against Vitality. nexa's charges were worthy winners in the series - which could have ended in just two maps if it wasn't for an otherworldly performance from Pavle "⁠Maden⁠" Bošković on Ancient -, continuing their good run of form after finishing Flashpoint 3 in third place and easing past Extra Salt in the opening round of the tournament.

G2 were helpless to stop Maden on Ancient as the Montenegrin player produced a career-best 2.15 rating (42-19 KD-D, 154 ADR) to inspire FPX to an impressive victory, their second on this map after they beat Astralis 16-7 earlier on Thursday.

huNter- led G2 to victory with a 1.33 rating

G2 hit back on Dust2, a 29-round affair despite FPX's slow start, before completing the comeback with a dominant performance on Inferno, with Nemanja "⁠huNter-⁠" Kovač leading his team in rating on both maps (1.45 and 1.55).

Meanwhile, Astralis bounced back from their opening loss to FPX with a 2-0 victory over Extra Salt, who join Sprout in exiting IEM Summer after the first day of play. The North American side made a promising start full of impetus, racing to a 7-1 lead on Vertigo, but then lost steam and ceded control to the Danes despite a lively performance from Josh "⁠oSee⁠" Ohm (1.58 rating, 114 ADR).

Astralis kept the pressure on and picked Extra Salt's defence apart during the early stages of Nuke for a 7-0 lead. The North Americans finished the half down by five and still managed to put some rounds together after the break, but they never really looked like threatening their opponents, who ran out comfortable winners to set up an exciting clash against Gambit on Friday.

IEM Summer 2021Best of 3 FunPlus PhoenixMatchpage 1 2 3rd June 2021 G2 16Ancient 12 13Dust2 16 10Inferno 16

FunPlus Phoenix	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Pavle 'Maden' BoškovićMaden	82 - 58	+24	106.6	1.44
Asger 'Farlig' JensenFarlig	61 - 53	+8	73.9	1.07
Jesse 'zehN' LinjalazehN	51 - 54	-3	67.3	0.95
Martin 'STYKO' StykSTYKO	46 - 53	-7	64.1	0.93
Luka 'emi' Vukovićemi	30 - 55	-25	48.9	0.69

G2	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Nemanja 'huNter-' KovačhuNter-	71 - 55	+16	94.0	1.33
Nikola 'NiKo' KovačNiKo	61 - 58	+3	76.9	1.09
Audric 'JACKZ' JugJACKZ	54 - 57	-3	72.7	1.02
François 'amanek' Delaunayamanek	43 - 49	-6	56.4	0.93
Nemanja 'nexa' Isakovićnexa	43 - 52	-9	57.9	0.90

IEM Summer 2021Best of 3 AstralisMatchpage 2 0 3rd June 2021 Extra Salt 16Vertigo 10 16Nuke 9

Astralis	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Emil 'Magisk' ReifMagisk	44 - 31	+13	91.2	1.38
Andreas 'Xyp9x' HøjslethXyp9x	41 - 30	+11	88.3	1.33
Peter 'dupreeh' Rasmussendupreeh	36 - 30	+6	71.9	1.15
Lucas 'Bubzkji' AndersenBubzkji	32 - 34	-2	72.7	1.04
Lukas 'gla1ve' Rossandergla1ve	33 - 36	-3	69.5	1.01

Extra Salt	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Josh 'oSee' OhmoSee	53 - 35	+18	103.8	1.44
Justin 'FaNg' CoakleyFaNg	34 - 36	-2	71.0	1.01
Aran 'Sonic' GroesbeekSonic	26 - 36	-10	70.9	0.88
Edgar 'MarKE' MaldonadoMarKE	27 - 37	-10	63.6	0.86
Johnny 'JT' TheodosiouJT	21 - 42	-21	48.2	0.54

Vitality #12 Richard 'shox' PapillonDan 'apEX' MadesclaireMathieu 'ZywOo' HerbautKévin 'misutaaa' RabierJayson 'Kyojin' Nguyen Van Josh 'oSee' Ohm Age: 22 Team: Extra Salt Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 847 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.63 Pavle 'Maden' Bošković Age: 22 Team: FunPlus Phoenix Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 517 KPR: 0.74 DPR: 0.71 FunPlus Phoenix #17 Jesse 'zehN' LinjalaLuka 'emi' VukovićMartin 'STYKO' StykPavle 'Maden' BoškovićAsger 'Farlig' Jensen Nemanja 'nexa' Isaković Age: 24 Team: G2 Rating 1.0: 1.06 Maps played: 1106 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.64 Astralis #5 Andreas 'Xyp9x' HøjslethPeter 'dupreeh' RasmussenLukas 'gla1ve' RossanderEmil 'Magisk' ReifLucas 'Bubzkji' Andersen Sprout #31 Timo 'Spiidi' RichterDenis 'denis' HowellMarko 'kressy' ĐorđevićJosef 'faveN' BaumannFritz 'slaxz-' Dietrich Nemanja 'huNter-' Kovač Age: 25 Team: G2 Rating 1.0: 1.13 Maps played: 1282 KPR: 0.78 DPR: 0.67 Gambit #1 Abay 'HObbit' KhassenovTimofey 'interz' YakushinSergey 'Ax1Le' RykhtorovDmitry 'sh1ro' SokolovVladislav 'nafany' Gorshkov G2 #4 Nemanja 'nexa' IsakovićAudric 'JACKZ' JugNikola 'NiKo' KovačNemanja 'huNter-' KovačFrançois 'amanek' Delaunay Extra Salt #18 Aran 'Sonic' GroesbeekEdgar 'MarKE' MaldonadoJohnny 'JT' TheodosiouJosh 'oSee' OhmJustin 'FaNg' Coakley