The Top 3 Worlds Representatives have finally been decided in the LEC Summer 2021 Playoffs with Rogue, MAD Lions, and Fnatic getting locked in. These 3 teams will be fighting it out on August 28th-29th to decide seeding but we’re pretty sure all of those teams are already feeling really happy having to punch a ticket at the year’s grandest stage. But one team is missing that everybody has expected to be here but isn’t. Let’s talk about The Fall of G2 Esports in 2021.
Pre-Season Expectations for G2 Esports
G2 Esports has been the team that has had a solid chokehold over the LEC ever since the formation of their superteam in 2019 but the team has always been one of the more dominant team even before that time. As the years went by, nobody really thought that G2 Esports would get toppled down by any team as long as they had the same roster. That is until the 2021 pre-season came and G2 Esports pulled off the most controversial deal in esports history.
At the beginning of the season, it was announced that Rekkles would not re-sign with Fnatic and will instead join G2 Esports, which was FNCs biggest rival, following the departure of Perkz to NA. Fnatic fans were devasted by this news while G2 Esports players were conflicted about how to take this news. In the end, they believed that Rekkles joining G2 Esports would be beneficial in finally securing them a solid run towards Worlds 2021 – or so they thought.
G2 Esports with Rekkles meant that all of Europe’s superpowers were finally in one team. At that time, every other player paled in comparison to the likes of Wunder, Jankos, Caps, Rekkles, and Mikyx. LEC fans thought that the region would be monopolized by the team and no one else would be able to step up to the powerhouse that is G2 Esports. Not the MAD Lions that failed at Worlds Play-ins, not the Rogue that played too slowly, nor the Fnatic that is not crippled without Rekkles. Not until the season started, at least.
LEC Spring 2021 – A Shaky Season
G2 Esports spring start was as the fans expected – a clean 3-0 to end the week. Rekkles showed that he was worth G2 Esports’ investment and shut down the doubters by being an excellent teammate on and off Summoner’s Rift. He was undoubtedly the best player in the team during spring but the rest of the team looked pretty unstable during their games. Despite a few losses here and there, G2 Esports managed to maintain 1st place, though many believed that they’d go 18-0 during the season.
It was during the LEC Spring Playoffs that G2 Esports finally succumbed to their weakness. Thanks to their placement, G2 Esports managed to get the higher seed and beat Schalke04 who was the easiest team to choose but their game went up to 5 games. G2 Esports would later lose to both the revitalized Rogue and MAD Lions rosters to get eliminated from the tournament. For the second time in history, a team that wasn’t G2 Esports or Fnatic finally won the Regular Season Playoffs with MAD Lions claiming the title.
LEC Summer 2021 – Kings No More
Once the LEC Summer 2021 season began, no one thought that G2 Esports was the invincible titans that everybody believed them to be. Whether it was because the newer teams in the league started to find their stride or because G2 Esports had become a shadow of their former selves without Perkz’ leadership, everyone didn’t consider G2 Esports to be the favorite to win the season. However, no one doubted that they’d at least take a spot at Worlds as a Top 2 or 3 team.
G2 Esports placed 2nd in the LEC Summer 2021 season and were 2nd seed coming into the playoffs. Rogue had given away the Spring 2021 Champions – MAD Lions – to G2 Esports who easily kicked them into the lower bracket. Luckily for G2 Esports, they had one more chance to secure the 3rd seed and the worst opponents are already at the upper brackets. They would have to face one of the lower bracket teams and as fate would dictate, the Fnatic vs G2 Esports Rivalry Match would take place once again in the playoffs.
The Legendary Rivalry – FNC vs G2
If one thing was certain in the LEC, it was that G2 Esports and Fnatic would eventually meet at a crucial match in the playoffs. Fnatic had been placed in the lower bracket after a shaky summer split standing, where they had to battle against some of LEC’s most bloodthirsty underdogs in Vitality and Misfits Gaming. Fnatic Playoffs mode was activated in the LEC Summer 2021 Playoffs and the team went to 5 games with both teams but eventually made it out on top.
It was time for FNC vs G2, the most awaited match made more dramatic now that Rekkles was a part of G2 Esports. Fnatic held the lead against G2 Esports in Game 1 but eventually threw the game when faced against their rival’s patient and organized game style. Through YamatoCannon’s inspiring words, Fnatic would not change their playstyle and instead believed and polished their current strategy to beat G2 Esports dominantly in Game 2 of their series.
Game 3 would put Fnatic in a dominant lead once again when Hylissang was forced to whip out his pocket pick – Pyke – in the game but in traditional Fnatic fashion, their overaggressiveness threw them the game. Game 4 was Fnatic’s to control and they finally managed to pull of Pyke’s potential which secured them the win against their rivals. As the end of Game 4 concluded, the fans became super excited as the two rivals never failed to disappoint as everything had to fall onto a final showdown in Game 5.
G2 Esports knew that they shouldn’t underestimate Hylissang so they banned out the Pyke. However, Nisqy’s Twisted Fate which had been giving them a problem in all the previous games had been left open for him once again. As if the game wasn’t spicy enough, Fnatic’s rookie – Adam – asked to pick Darius to which his team agreed to, giving Fnatic fans a flashback of the famous Caps Vayne moment. With the trust of his team behind him, Adam and the rest of Fnatic dominated G2 esports to take the 3rd spot for themselves.
The End of a Dynasty
The end of the G2 Esports dynasty ended after Game 5 of the Fnatic vs G2 Esports lower bracket match in the LEC Summer 2021 Playoffs. The team whom the people believed would be the biggest threat at worlds didn’t even manage to make win a single series in the playoffs. Fnatic would continue their steak of going to worlds but for the first time in 6 years, G2 Esports would not make an appearance at the tournament.
Where Did The Problem Lie?
After the end of the series, G2 Esports fans would point their fingers at both Wunder and Grabbz as the biggest liability in the current lineup. Fans felt that Wunder underestimated Adam and that Grabbz underestimated their enemy as a whole by allowing them to pick Twisted Fate every game. A handful of fans would blame Rekkles’ and his small champion pool as the reason why they couldn’t secure a winning bot lane in any of the games during their series.
Many people still believe that Perkz would have won that series if he were still with G2 Esports today. Perkz managed to qualify for Worlds after Cloud9 beat Team SoloMid in the LCS Playoffs. So many G2 Esports fans are angry by the series of events that happened from the pre-season up to LEC Summer 2021. No one wants to accept that perhaps Europe has become stronger as a whole and has created teams that needed to beat G2 Esports from the players that were left from the pool.
The Future of G2 Esports
Nobody knows if G2 Esports will make any changes in 2022 but as we all know, the G2 players’ contracts (aside from Rekkles) are signed through 2022. The organization might need to put up their players for trade or buyout or they could simply trust in their current roster to improve in the following season. No one is sure what the outcome will be once a decision has been made but we’re sure that whatever that might be, it will be done in the interest of the organizations’ standard of competitiveness.
For now G2 Esports will be enjoying a 6-month vacation from esports competitions as they cheer on their fellow Europeans at the Worlds 2021 Finals. Many of the best teams in the world will be competing, many of whom have also expected G2 Esports to be at the tournament. Alas, not everything is meant to be, especially if many other teams have already set you as the team standard to beat for so many years.