The European League of Legends team G2 Esports has strengthened this year with one of the best AD carries in the league. With this move, they aimed to compete internationally and win tournaments. However, they have already failed against the competition in Europe, marking the end of an era.
What happened? On April 10, G2 Esports faced off against competitor Rogue in the Spring Playoffs 2021. Both teams were in the so-called Loser Bracket after having lost before to the same team: MAD Lions.
Whoever wins the duel between G2 and Rogue would reach the finals and face MAD Lions again. The losing team would exit the tournament in third place.
G2 Esports went into the game as the favorites. After all, they finished the regular spring season in first place and had beaten Rogue twice. But things turned out differently.
G2 looked like the winner at the beginning
Here’s how G2 Esports was eliminated from the playoffs: The first match played out exactly how many fans expected:
- Rogue applied a lot of pressure at the beginning, secured First Blood and the first two dragons. Key to this was the performance of jungler Inspired, who was clearly more agile and effective than Jankos at G2.
- G2 Esports held back, farming and waiting for larger team fights.
- When those team fights came in the mid and late game, G2 dominated and secured the victory despite being at a disadvantage in the first 20 minutes.
At the start of Match 2, G2 Esports ramped up a bit and momentarily led 3:1 in kills, even though Rogue was able to destroy more towers in return.
But in the team fights, Rogue managed to split G2 Esports into smaller groups and defeat them. The European super team lacked some front line; their only tank was the supporter Mikyx as Blitzcrank. The rest of the team was very offensive but still couldn’t kill Odoamne as Renekton quickly enough.
In an exciting fight for the dragon, the player Rekkles managed to steal the dragon, but Rogue won the team fight and then pushed directly into the base. They claimed the second match, tying the series at 1:1.
In Match 3, Rogue dominated from the start. Although they could not establish a large lead in the first 20 minutes, they won rather clearly in the mid game. Here too, jungler Inspired played a significant role, with supporter Trymbi also making good plays on Rell.
In the final match, Rogue consistently managed to counter G2’s attacks perfectly:
- At minute 14:30, G2 managed to defeat the opposing AD carry in a 3v1. However, they had to go under the tower and lost a lot of health points.
- Rogue reacted and quickly turned it into a 4v5, coming in with full health points.
- At the end of the fight, Rogue killed 4 players from G2 while only losing 2 themselves. A great victory.
Such fights already took place around the Herald and immediately after at minute 16:30 on the top lane. After just 17 minutes, Rogue had almost a 5,000 gold lead, which they would not give up.
For those who want to rewatch all the matches, here is a highlight video on YouTube that is just under 26 minutes long:
The super team fails to win Europe
What’s special about the defeat? G2 Esports has dominated the European league in recent years. In 2019 and 2020, they won both playoffs and were also able to impress internationally:
- In 2019, they won the Mid Season Invitational (the first major international tournament of the year) and placed 2nd at Worlds.
- In 2020, the MSI was canceled, but they achieved a good 3rd/4th place at Worlds.
The goal for 2021 was clearly to win further international titles. To achieve this, they purchased AD carry Martin “Rekkles” Larsson from direct competitor Fnatic before the season. He is considered one of the strongest AD carries ever and was also named MVP in the Spring Split this season.
Rekkles had been with Fnatic since 2015 and had multiple first-place finishes in regional tournaments there as well. However, he was unable to secure an international title. This was supposed to change. With the loss against Rogue, G2 is now not qualified for MSI.
The next chance for an international title will not be until Worlds in the fall.
The first European final without Fnatic or G2: Fnatic failed without Rekkles and with new midlaner Nisqy early in the playoffs against Schalke 04. They dominated European LoL from 2013 to 2016 and again in 2018. G2 Esports, meanwhile, dominated in 2016, 2017, and the last two years.
Since the establishment of the European league in 2013, one of these two teams has always been in the playoff finals. However, in 2021, it is Rogue and MAD Lions.
Is G2 missing the driving force Perkz? The Croatian Luka “PerkZ” Perković was part of G2 Esports from 2015 to 2020. He initially played mid lane but then had to switch to the AD carry position when Caps was signed as the new mid laner.
Perkz was the record holder regarding regional championship titles, securing 8 of them. At the start of the current season, he transferred to the American team Cloud9 for a buyout of 5 million dollars. There, he won the Spring Split and is now in the finals of the playoffs with his team. He could make the jump to the Mid Season Invitational.
But it wasn’t just for G2 Esports that the first split was a disappointment. The Korean team T1, led by superstar Faker, also missed out on the Mid Season Invitational:
LoL god fallen: Faker and T1 fail in 2021 against their nightmare opponent
