With the 2022 League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational on the horizon, the League of Legends European Championship’s G2 Esports are one of 11 regional representatives from around the world that are getting ready for the biggest international event of the spring. While MSI 2022 isn’t the final stop for the season, the tournament is key for seeing where each region stands in the global hierarchy.
After a rough 2021, G2 Esports proved that rebuilding a roster with new talent is better than making super-teams, as they are going to MSI for the first time since their 2019 championship run.
G2 Esports (LEC) MSI 2022 starting roster breakdown:
- Top: Sergen “Broken Blade” Çelik | Signed in December 2021. Formerly a member of Schalke 04.
- Jungle: Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski | Signed in December 2017. Formerly a member of H2k Gaming
- Mid: Rasmus “caPs” Borregaard Winther | Signed in November 2018. Formerly a member of Fnatic.
- Bot: Victor “Flakked” Lirola Tortosa | Signed in December 2021. Formerly a member of MAD Lions Madrid.
- Support: Raphaël “Targamas” Crabbé | Signed in December 2021. Formerly a member of Karmine Corp.
How they got here
G2 Esports came into their 2021 campaign fresh off a semifinals appearance at the 2020 League of Legends World Championship. Looking to improve, G2 went out and acquired legendary bot laner Martin “Rekkles” Larsson from Fnatic to complete one of the most stacked rosters in the history of European League of Legends. However, the organization found out that building super teams doesn’t always work out and missed out on Worlds 2021 entirely.
G2 decided to blow everything up in the 2022 off-season. The only two players who stayed on the roster from 2021 were Jankos and caPs. BrokenBlade replaced Martin “Wunder” Nordahl Hansen and, instead of replacing their bot lane with established talent, G2 took a flyer on two European regional league stars, Flakked and Targamas.
The team faced mixed expectations at the start of the 2022 LEC spring split. The roster was still good enough to compete on paper, but with Team Vitality and Fnatic as the talk of the LEC, G2 flew under the radar.
Throughout the entire season, G2 quietly stayed in the top four the whole time. But they never climbed above third place either. The team ultimately finished the season with an 11-7 record which was good enough for the fourth seed entering the playoffs.
In the opening round of the playoffs, Fnatic outmatched G2 in a 3-1 loss, relegating G2 to the losers bracket. From there, though, G2 recaptured some of the 2020 magic. G2 proceeded to not drop a single game for the rest of their playoff run.
They swept VIT, then they swept Misfits Gaming and, in the semifinals, G2 got their revenge on Fnatic with another sweep. The unstoppable force met the unmovable object in the finals, as G2 squared off against the number one seeded Rogue. However, in a quick 3-0 victory, G2 ran the gauntlet and are heading to MSI 2022 as one of the hottest teams in the world.
Players to watch
G2 has playmakers in every lane, but the player who demands the most attention is caPs. In the 2022 LEC regular season, caPs, who has historically stood atop the mid-lane hierarchy in the west, stumbled off his throne.
According to Oracleselixer, in every single measurable stat among mid laners, caPS not only failed to top the leaderboard in any of them, he wasn’t even in the top half of the league in any of them either. He failed to make an LEC All-pro team for the first time in five years. However, in the playoffs, caPs started to slowly regain is form. And when his team needed him the most, he delivered.
In the 2022 LEC spring final against Rogue, caPs went a combined 26/5/17 in the three-game series and was named final’s MVP. Eyes should be on G2’s superstar mid laner at MSI to see if he will play like finals caPs or regular season caPs.
How G2 Esports can succeed at MSI 2022
G2’s success at MSI mainly relies on the level caPs plays at. Although G2 snuck into the playoffs in spite of caPs playing poorly, the team is a lot different when he is on. In fact, G2 made the entire LEC look silly when caPs played like his old self.
However, that is precisely the problem. G2 are not a very good team when caPs plays badly. The rest of the team played consistently through both the regular season and playoffs.
If caPs can perform, this team’s floor is a semifinal appearance. With possibly a finals appearance depending on how the Rumble stage plays out. However, if caPs and the rest of the squad falter, they could miss the knockout stage entirely and even worse, lose to North America’s Evil Geniuses.
