Is EU’s G2 Esports Going To Make Worlds 2020?

From the greatest team Europe’s ever produced to barely going to make playoffs, does the once admired G2 Esports team have what it takes to compete in the biggest international stage of League of Legends? Looking back at the performance of the current roster this spring, it’s no wonder that people are starting to have doubts about the team being the frontrunner to represent the EUW when teams such as Mad Lions have been showing a better performance overall.

G2 Esports Shakey Spring Split

G2’s Spring Split run was as expected of the team with an overall great performance but was less consistent than their previous seasons where they absolutely dominant during games. Many of the fans believed that this was because of Perkz’ and Caps role swap to Mid and Bot respectively. The instability was suspected to be from the organization “trying out new things” but was relatively successful in doing so.

Come playoffs, G2 was at the top seed as expected but was surprisingly taken down an almost full-rookie team , Mad Lions in the first round of the playoffs. While they managed to secure the championship from a tough climb from the loser’s bracket, fans had suspected that perhaps G2 Esports weren’t as good as they were before and had become too complacent about their abilities.

The Disappointing Summer Split

During the break between Spring and Summer Split, many teams hadn’t stopped practicing in order to adapt to the meta since Summer Split is undeniably the more important split in the season. G2 Esports decided to retain their old roster but switch Caps back to the midlane. However, at the start of the split, expectations of how the team would do better now that Caps was back was mixed as they gave very confusing performances.

G2 would often defeat stronger teams during the regular season but would lose to bottom-tier teams. In week 6, G2 even lost to Schalke04 who were at the bottom of the rankings at 1 win and 10 losses. Now, they are currently standing at the very edge of a three-way tie for 5th place. G2 esports now went from one of the biggest contenders in Worlds 2019 to having a low chance of getting into the LEC playoffs.

What is G2’s Biggest Problem?

G2’s biggest problem is that they lack the coordination they were once known for. While last year’s meta allowed G2 to control the map at all times thanks to their superior roaming tactics, this year’s meta required that the teams focus less on roaming than looking for objectives all over the map. This meant that players were always stationed on Dragons or Rift Heralds in order prevent the enemy team from taking it without a fight.

Additionally, with the addition of very strong marksmen this patch, ADCs played a bigger role once again in the success of the team. Perkz success in the bottom lane came with the fact that he could play non-marksmen and dominated the bottom lane. Nowadays, playing anything other than marksmen in the bottom lane is less effective and riskier to do since they will always have the range disadvantage in lane.

How can G2 Esports bounce back from this?

G2 Esports is a strong team overall, the individual players contain a great deal of talent in the game. The organization believes that they can do better even if it’s not on this season which is why they were signed on for another 3 year deal. The only way they’ll get their consistency back is if they take a new approach to teamfighting through improving their objective threat and clash skills on disadvantaged sides of the river and jungle.

Of course, this is not to say that G2 is necessarily bad this spring since they still have a record of 6 wins and 7 losses. However, they will need to stop losing if they want a chance of making it to playoffs and eventually worlds. There’s no question on whether they can achieve this or not since G2 esports has always been full of surprises where they win games people would think they have no chance of winning.

EUW’s Chances of Winning Worlds without G2

G2 esports is only one of the many talented teams just in the EUW today. Seeing as how teams like Mad Lions and Rogue are rising in the standings and showing very convincing performances, we can see that the skill gap between the LEC, LPL, and LCK aren’t that far away from each other as compared to a few years ago. If you’re a fan of the EUW, you don’t have to worry about your chances at worlds with an amazing lineup of teams.

Looking at the 2020 meta, this may very well look like the LEC’s best chance of winning worlds after a long time with the meta perfectly matching the playstyle of some EUW teams. However, G2 Esports themselves may have a hard time adapting to it. There are still a few months left for them to work their way through it, though. All the fans can do now is support G2 through these losses and remind them that they can still do it despite the odds.

How can we show our support to our EUW Community?

The biggest thing EUW fans can do to support their teams is to continuously send positive and encouraging messages through the different platforms such as social media, streaming, and even participating in events to let them know that you have their backs. Playing in the EUW can also be a way for you to show that you are an EUW fan by buying Unranked Level 30 EUW Smurf accounts to play with your favorite teams.

The greatest way to let EUW know that they have international support is by interacting with the community and playing on their server. Surprising everyone by showing them that you’ve come a long way and spent money to even buy an EUW smurf account just to let them know that you care.