G2 Esports is one of the three teams that managed to pull off a miracle run in the spring split. The European team has a huge legacy behind and this spring split made it much more interesting. The last time we saw them take the crown before this split, was back in the 2020 Summer Playoffs. A whole year passed where G2 didn’t win any titles so everybody was starting to question if G2 would ever bounce back. On paper, G2 Esports had one of the strongest lineups in the tournament, but the G2 squad didn’t have the best results during the regular split so they would have to perform over the expectations in the playoffs and beat the lol odds.
Ocelote’s team hovered 3rd and 4th place during the entirety of the spring split. Going into the playoffs they would have to face Fnatic in a best-of-5. G2 wasn’t able to overcome the Fnatic squad and after 4 games they dropped to the losers’ bracket where Team Vitality was waiting for them. This is where the miracle run started for G2 Esports, with them taking down Vitality in a convincing manner. But people just thought that Vitality played badly and didn’t think that G2 played exceptionally well. Then they completely stomped Misfits and obliterated Fnatic in their rematch. At this point, doubts still were lingering regarding G2’s chances against Rogue in the finals. G2 Esports had a clear plan in mind, and they used their 9-win streak momentum to overcome Rogue and close the final series 3-0.
G2 Esports’ Playstyle
The European team has a very diverse playbook. During the regular split, they mostly relied on their top laner BrokenBlade to pull off some clutch wins. He had some amazing games on Tryndamere and Akshan where he basically single-carried the team and this made him the biggest threat to the competition.
As the split progressed, a lot of things changed and G2 expanded its repertoire. BrokenBlade and Jankos DMG% dropped substantially, but it increased for Caps and Flakked. The Spanish ADC became a key player for the squad and he was carrying their games for the most part while the rest of the team was able to play around him comfortably.
One of the main reasons why many regard G2 Esports as a strong participant in the 2022 MSI is because of their ability to play different playstyles. Being able to play around all of your players and draft differently between games is one of the biggest strengths you can have at international tournaments. Most teams simply stick to their guns and play their comfort picks and just rely on their star players. But G2 is different, they know they are good at different playstyles and they feel comfortable playing around every single one of their carries.
Player to Watch: Rasmus “Caps” Borregaard Winther
The Danish mid-laner had one of the best playoff runs we’ve seen in the LEC history. With only 22 years CaPs is already regarded as one the best players in the world and he is going down the competitive League of Legends history books. During the 2022 LEC Spring Split Playoffs, he picked 8 different champions and won at least once with every one of those picks, except for one. CaPs versatility is something that a lot of mid-laners strive to have and it’s one of his biggest strengths. But Rasmus doesn’t rely on picking a carry and having all the resources funneled onto him. He feels perfectly comfortable picking enabling champs like Lissandra or Karma and playing around the rest of the players on his team.
Caps is going to be G2’s ultimate weapon in this year’s MSI and they sure feel confident about him. It’s going to be very exciting to see what kind of picks Caps can pull off in the tournament. We saw him play Cassiopeia against Misfits and he had the highest [email protected] of the tournament at +31. Even if Caps doesn’t get the main carry role in this tournament, it sure is going to be amazing to see him function as an enabler for either Flakked or BrokenBlade as many esports gambling experts would say.
I think G2 esports won’t have any issues at coming either 1st or 2nd in Group C. They have to face Oceania’s ORDER and North America’s Evil Geniuses. It’s safe to say that G2 Esports is going to have an easy time against ORDER and their matches against Evil Geniuses will be really exciting to watch because the NA vs EU rivalry always gives us fun matches. We recently did a profile on Group A’s Team Aze, be sure to check it out and be sure to stay tuned as we’ll be covering all of the teams participating in this year’s MSI.
