On Sunday, October 6th, a team from Europe unexpectedly managed to defeat a team from Asia in League of Legends. G2 triumphed over Weibo Gaming. A key role was played by G2’s German top-laner, Sergen “BrokenBlade” Çelik. He chose the unconventional champion Galio in the draft and thwarted the plans of the superior Chinese team.
These are the two teams:
G2 is the best team in Europe, but from the team that was in the world championship final in 2019, only mid-laner Caps and support player Mikyx remain. The other 3 players have not achieved much internationally yet.
Weibo Gaming has some of the best LoL players in the world. In particular, the bot lane is elite with Light and Crisp. In the jungle, they have the strong Korean Tarzan, and in the mid lane, Xiaohu is waiting. Weibo Gaming finished second at last year’s world championship, with only Faker and T1 being stronger.
Both teams stood at 1-1 before the match in the Swiss Stage. Nothing was decided yet.
BrokenBlade picks a quirky champ that is completely off-meta
This was the decisive factor in the match: BrokenBlade played a particularly defensive and unusual champion in Galio. It was a pick that apparently nobody expected and that threw the opponents off balance.
On the top lane, champions that can hold their own and deal a lot of damage are usually played.
According to a current tier list, popular champions on the top lane in LoL include Poppy, Gragas, or Mordekaiser. Galio is such a quirky pick that he doesn’t even appear in the tier list for the top lane (via mobalytics).
Galio has been a nightmare for Xiaohu for 7 years
On reddit, people are amused by this wild decision, as it references deep LoL history.
In 2017, mid-laner Xiaohu (now 26) played for the then top Chinese team Royal Never Give Up. They reached the semifinals of the Worlds but were stopped by T1. Faker played Galio in the mid lane during all 5 matches.
Since then, some believe Xiaohu has a “Galio trauma” and freaks out whenever he sees Galio.
Many comments refer to Galio’s pick and Xiaohu’s reaction. When he sees Galio, it reportedly triggers a “post-traumatic stress disorder” in him, as the joke goes.
reddit celebrates German top laner BrokenBlade
BrokenBlade is celebrated on reddit for his choice of champion and his play. A reddit user who receives a lot of approval says: After already being the best player at MSI, BrokenBlade delivers again on the international stage.
G2 managed to win in 36 minutes with a score of 17-12. BrokenBlade had 3 kills, only 1 death, and an impressive 9 assists.
The clearly favored Chinese team is criticized, as they apparently still have problems with the meta.
BrokenBlade is the only German player who managed to qualify for the Worlds. He faces 43 South Koreans and 25 Chinese players.
Who else holds the honor of the West? Besides G2, the US team Flyquest also won their second game over the weekend. They avenged their US colleagues from 100 Thieves and defeated PSG Talon. That makes it 2 victories for the West that were not necessarily expected – so it was a good weekend in LoL. A 24-year-old Dane is our only hope at the LoL Worlds, but he says: “My 16-year-old self would be so mad at me”
