LEC finally returned for the 2021 season, entering into a new era without its winningest player in Luka “Perkz” Perković.
The first match was played between the new iteration of G2 with Martin “Rekkles” Larsson versus MAD Lions.
Pick and Ban Phase
The first round of bans didn’t surprise with the two teams taking out strong picks like Akali, Camille and Pantheon. The second round of bans had more flavor with four ADCs getting banned. When the ban phase was completed there were a total of five banned ADCs (Kai’Sa, Samira, Ashe, Ezreal and Senna).
MAD Lions drafted a heavily AD-reliant composition with Renekton, Tristana and Jhin. G2 had more balanced damage sources with two AD (Olaf and Sivir) and AP (Gragas and Twisted Fate) threats each.
MAD Lions Started Strong
MAD Lions had a strong start to the game having priority on all three lanes. They secured the first blood around six minutes after a four men collapse on the bot lane, killing Mihael “Mikyx” Mehle’s Alistar.
G2 secured their own first kill of the game on İrfan “Armut” Türek’s Renekton. The kill came after Rasmus “Caps” Winther used his first ultimate on Twisted Fate to rank the top lane. MAD Lions used the Rift Herald on mid lane pushing down G2’s outer tower. However, they paid for it with three deaths and letting G2 even out the gold count.
G2 Slowly Took Control of the Game
G2 slowly took control of the game from that point forward. Even a messy fight around the Dragon which handed over three kills and an outer tower to the MAD Lions did not matter.
One of the highlights of the game was Martin “Wunder” Hansen’s Gragas chasing Armut’s Renekton around the jungle for 30 seconds before solo killing him under his inner tower.
G2 had a comfortable finish to the game at 32 minutes after securing their second Baron buff and chasing the struggling MAD Lions players beyond their nexus towers for some extra kills.
[Related: An Early Look at Fnatic Versus G2 Rivalry Ahead of the 2021 Season]
G2 Looks Powerful As Expected
G2 looked powerful as expected in the opening game of the LEC’s 2021 season. The two carries of the team Caps and Rekkles were deathless by the end of the game. Rekkles on Sivir had a stat line of 9/09 and stole a dragon on top of it. Caps on Twisted Fate had a score of 2/0/17 and racked up the maximum number of 25 Mejai’s Soulstealer stacks.
G2 will play their second game of the season on Jan. 23, 2021 at 2 PM EST and 8 PM CET time against SK Gaming. SK Gaming secured their own first victory of the season against Astralis.
Featured Image Courtesy of Riot Games
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