In the LoL Worlds, G2 Esports is the strongest team in Europe. Their secret weapon: They joke around, even at the crucial Worlds. While their Korean opponents in the League of Legends were technically stronger, they couldn’t handle the pressure.
This is the game: Last weekend, G2 Esports beat the Koreans from DAMWON Gaming. This was not surprising for viewers, as G2 Esports was considered the clear favorite to win the quarter-finals at the Worlds.
However, it turned out that it wasn’t that obvious beforehand. In practice matches (scrims) of the two LoL teams, the Koreans had wiped the floor with G2 Esports.
As G2 Esports coach, the German Fabian “GrabbZ” Lohmann says, G2 Esports almost never won against DAMWON Gaming in training matches.
Pressure was too much for young Koreans
The Koreans say: The coach of the Koreans says (via inven), his team was really good in the scrims. If it had gone as it did in the practice matches, they should have beaten G2 Esports 3:0 or 3:1.
They had trained a lot against them and G2 Esports played exactly the same in the practice matches as in the tournament. There were no surprises or tricks.
However, the difference was the environment. His players apparently lost their nerves when playing in the large hall before a loud, European audience. That was too much for DAMWON Gaming.
Already at the 2018 Worlds, it had been shown that scrims are just scrims and the tournament is something else. In scrims, Invictus Gaming hardly had a chance against Korea – in the end, however, they won.
Ultimately, it is important to keep your nerves when playing live in front of a large audience.
Silly quotes and insider jokes – clown fiesta in action
This is how G2 Esports deals with pressure: The Europeans published a video after the victory against DAMWON Gaming, showing how their Teamspeak was during the match.
You can see that the five LoL heroes from G2 Esports are joking around during the match as if it were nothing:
- The top laner Wunder shouts in a wild situation “Super Carry, Super Carry Doinb, Super Carry, Super Carry” – indicating that he is currently saving the team and thus dominating like the Korean Doinb did days before on Ryze
- The mid laner Caps lets out a “battle cry” in the middle of the fight
- The atmosphere is overall relaxed – there is quite a bit of trash talk before and after the match
The 5 players are clearly having fun and are not letting the pressure of the Worlds get to them. ADC Perz also explains in the video that you shouldn’t ride the hype of the audience too much – just a little. Because if you get too carried away, you make bad plays.
The fans love to see their players like this. It is said that when you see them play, you can’t imagine what kind of “clown fiesta” is behind it.
Interestingly, however, in most team fights, very clear commands are given. It gets serious here. Clearly communicating which opponent has already used their Flash and thus is an easier target.
However, there is a downside to the joking around, as the coach says. In between, the team almost lost a big lead because the bot lane got “bored”, played riskily, both died, and then “giggled” afterwards.
For the moment, however, it seems to work. G2 Esports withstands the pressure of the Worlds because they act as if these are completely normal matches.
This weekend, it’s the semifinals of the LoL Worlds against SKT1 featuring the legendary mid laner Faker. He is used to pressure.
