Top team G2 Esports lost out to rivals Fnatic in the LEC playoffs. The supposed superteam of Europe thus misses out on the Worlds in China. But what led to G2’s elimination?

G2 Esports misses out on a place at the LoL Worlds for the first time in five years – and has to cede the ticket to long-time rivals Fnatic, of all people. In a thrilling best-of-five series last Sunday, Martin “Rekkles” Larsson and Co. lost to their arch-rivals in the last game. Looking at G2’s strength at the start of this year’s season, the line-up’s early exit is a surprise to many.

Diminishing dominance in the game

With the acquisition of Fnatic’s former ADC Rekkles, G2 polished their reputation as the most powerful team in the LEC at the start of the Spring Split. Indeed, in addition to the rest of the record champions’ star players, the Swede was considered the best AD carry in Europe at the time. He also made no secret of aiming for the World Championship title with his new team, which he narrowly missed out on with Fnatic in 2018.

So G2’s elimination must be frustrating enough for Rekkles – let alone the fact that his former team, of all teams, is thwarting him from making it to Worlds. The line-up around ADC, however, was soundly defeated by Fnatic in the last two games of the previous series, demonstrating little of its strength earlier in the year

Lack of coordination and mechanical fluff

In the series against Fnatic, G2 Esports won two of the five games. In both of those games, however, Fnatic had just as real a chance to win until the late game and ultimately lost by a narrow margin. The games won by Fnatic, on the other hand, showed a clear advantage for the British organisation right from the start and left G2 with little chance to fight back.

The decisive fifth game was exemplary of G2’s defeat here. Top laner Adam “Adam” Maanane earned two kills early in the game with an unusual Darius pick. Jungler Gabriel “Bwipo” Rau also made the difference on Trundle in several team fights. In contrast, G2 players found themselves more often in well-coordinated traps by their opponents, to which they simply lacked the answers.

In the 17th minute, jungler Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski was the first victim of Fnatic’s line-up. Bwipo thwarted the escape of the remaining G2 members by his cleverly placed E skill disrupting Ryze’s Realm Warp.

Just minutes later, an attempted offensive by G2 Esports backfired. The planned Baron Contest by Rekkles and co. resulted in the death of supporter Mihael “Mikyx” Mehle. A mid-lane battle ensued, which was immediately in the hands of Fnatic.

Mid-laner Yasin “Nisqy” Dinçer on Twisted Fate blocked Rekkles’ Tristana at the start of the match. G2 found themselves outmatched in the encounter, so Rasmus “Caps” Winther on Ryze again ignited the teleport to escape. This time, however, top laner Adam proved mechanically adept with Darius to interrupt Ryze as he used the ability. From this, Fnatic earned a total of two more kills from Ryze and Tristana – and G2 suffered another losing teamfight.

In Fnatic’s final match against G2, Darius on the top lane and Trundle in the jungle shone brightly on the winning side. Although Fnatic’s matches against G2 are usually more of a battle of the giants, the winner of this series was able to win the successful matches in a convincing manner. At the end of the last duel, neither Bwipo in the Jungle nor Elias “Upset” Lipp on the bot lane had to suffer a single death.

Fnatic advances to the semi-finals of the playoffs after this triumph and will face Rogue on 28 August. For G2 Esports, the LEC summer season ends at this point. For the time being, the only thing left for the team to do is to review the series and eliminate their own mistakes.