In Week 5 of the League of Legends European Championship (LEC), G2 Esports (G2) went up against Excel Esports (XL) and MAD Lions (MAD)
vs Excel Esports (4-4)
Numbers
G2 won the game with a 9.6 gold lead, 23 kills to eight, and 10 towers. Excel was able to get two towers, but G2 got one Baron and the Dragon Soul.
Highlights
Going into the match, most were wondering if Rasmus “Caps” Winther was going to be able to recover from his performance from last week. In week 4, G2 had a very risky strategy, where this week they abandoned Fabian “Grabbz” Lohmann’s draft and made one that was very flexible. Since Martin “Wunder” Hansen and Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski were on Aatrox and Karthus, G2 was ready to play much safer and on champions that were advantageous. Luka “PERKZ” Perkovic played Ornn too, so it was obvious that G2 decided not to play ‘troll’ drafts.
PERKZ’s Ornn pick showed that G2 was willing to risk less damage for superior play-making. And it worked. First blood went to Jankos after PERKZ got Son “Mickey” Young-min low with Ignite and Call of the Forge God (R), Jankos used Requiem (R) and finished him off. For the rest of the match, Mickey was no longer allowed to engage as Vayne; beating out the two Marksmen strategy.
Most G2 engages started with a Call of the Forge God, followed by intense damage by Wunder’s Aatrox. Apart from Wunder’s KDA, G2 has shown in this game that they have learned to be respectful of their enemy. Their Baron Buff-sized aggro from Worlds has ended and they’ve returned to their dynamic but safe team compositions. On the other hand, even though Caps was no longer the focus, he was still able to collect creep score (CS) while his team was applying pressure elsewhere and he was able to scale up. And remember, Caps is not a bad ADC, he just needs to be patient and less aggressive.
Overall, XL tried to outplay G2, but G2 preferred to ignore XL and get their teammates scaled up and/or rich enough for the late game.
MVP- Jankos
Jankos was amazingly strong during the game. Karthus jungle was very effective and with Requiem and Lay Waste (Q), he was able to collect a lot of kills, 3/0/3 (kill/death/assist) by 15 minutes. Throughout the game fans saw PERKZ give up his kills for Jankos, and even when G2 was not able to secure a kill, the Karthus ultimate would help to reduce a heavy amount of health. Jankos, again is the main shot caller of the team, and it shows when he gives up his life for the sake of the team’s progression.
vs MAD Lions (6-4)
Numbers
The game ended with a 8.4k gold difference for MAD Lions. MAD got all towers down, all Inhibitors, a Baron Buff, and three Dragons. G2 got four towers and two Dragons. G2 forfeited 19 kills, and gained only seven.
Highlights
Lead Swap
MVP
Week 6
This week did not go as expected, but not because G2 were a bad team, but because the challengers have become better. G2 might still be relying on PERKZ and Caps’ power play potential but this week showed that Jankos might be the real game-changer for the team. G2 is currently tied for 1st along with Origen, Fnatic, and Misfits Gaming.
vs SK Gaming (2-8)
SK Gaming fell to eighth place at the of the week. For SK, it seems to be a hit or miss in games, all based on their early gameplay. If they win early, they win game. If they lose early, they lose game. Perhaps they have to find a new understanding of how to rotate around the map and reverse a game in their favor. It would be exciting to see them play well.
When the game happens, check the draft. Have they switched to a better early game draft? Is Jus “Crownshot” Marusic playing for the early game or the late game? Is Kangyun “Trick” Kim roaming and assisting as he should? Keep an eye out for SK’s play, they have to play with longer stamina, especially if it’s against G2. G2 can still take advantage of a static strategy without faltering.
vs Team Vitality (1-9)
Warm-up is over. It’s time to prove our true worthiness.🧐 pic.twitter.com/jKDKCcb96N
— Team Vitality (@TeamVitality) February 23, 2020
Looking at the team and their games, it doesn’t seem to be a question of skill. It seems to be a question about strategy. The team seems to be confident on their rise, but we will have to see. Next week, the day 2 game will be G2 vs VIT, The best team versus the worst team. But G2 has shown that they can still lose if the opposite team baits their aggressive plays and creates a macro strategy that’s better than G2’s, as seen in G2 vs MAD (last week) and G2 vs S04 (two weeks ago). Good luck Vitality!
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