G2 Esports, the revenge of Ocelote

G2 Esports, shining light of Europe

The 4th week of the European LCS has ended yesterday with no real surprise, G2 Esports is continuing their insane start in the competition and are now 7-1, being only defeated by H2K.

Let's be honest here, when i saw the different teams for this split and their roster, i was skeptics about many teams, and in those teams were G2.

After failing 2 times in the Challenger Series, the organization led by the ex-professional, Ocelote, finally succeed to qualify for the LCS. It was a sort of redemption, the return of a King from the past. But Ocelote was only the manager this time, he didn't played. He left this painful task to his successor, Perkz. And he was the reason for my skepticism because, if you have the slightest interest for Esports, you will obviouly follow many tournaments, and not only LCS. You will also inform yourself as much as you can.

That's what i did, i saw Perkz many times in soloq, looking at pro's streams, and yes he was a good challenger, but he wasn't exceptionnal. He was a challenger like many others and got destroyed by Febiven every time i would have looked at his games. But Febiven at the time was already considered as one of the best midlaner in the worlds. 

Truth is, i was wrong, i didn't expect G2 to be relevant. Well i wouldn't say that i believed those guys would be relegated right away, they were much worth team than them.

But what they showed these past 4 weeks put them in a position of favorite. The so called superteam that were supposed to be Vitality, H2k, Fnatic and Origen are not far behind, but for the last two, they've become weaker, a lot weaker than they were at Worlds.

And while Origen and Fnatic are struggling, both with their own problems to work on, G2 didn't deceive once, their games were clean, impressive and with a lot of agressivity.

The two Koreans, Trick and Emperor, were being looked at, because well, they are Koreans. But having Koreans doesn't mean you will find success, ask to Gravity or Sk Gaming, they failed.

But it's not the case here, Trick is an agressive and skilled jungler, but also ballsy, picking Udyr in their only loss against H2K was probably not the best choice, but he did make amend later on. Emperor was "known" since he played for TDK in North America last split and, alongside Ninja, did pretty well but couldn't escape relegations after many weeks fighting for visa issues.

Now, Emperor is hungry, and he proved it since the start of this split, rampaging on his Ezreal. With the addition and the swap from the jungle to the toplane of Kikis, the team did an unexpected choice. But Kikis is a strong player, and he adapted to his new position in no time.

The only ones left are Hybrid and Perkz, the 2 other newbies with Trick. The first one is the support and could be called a one-trick pony Braum since his attachment to this champion is really strong. And he did pretty well, of course is Braum is what you could call godlike, but his performance on other supports are also impressive. 

Now come Perkz. As i said, i didn't expect much from him, but he prove me wrong and is now at the top of the standings, not only with his team but also individually. he is the second player with the most kills behind Zven, which is not rare but not really common amongst the midlaners. For him to be ahead of the best Ad carries in Europe, shows that is talent is here.

Perkz is probably the best midlaner in Europe right now. Febiven isn't as good as he was last split and Ryu has lost his right to play because of Visa issues which means Perkz is the new king in the midlane. His talent is growing weeks after weeks and he will continue to led the charge for his team like Ocelote did in the past.

Next week, G2 will face his most difficult schedule, facing not only Vitality, but also H2K who won in their first meeting and gave G2 his only defeat until now.

After winning against Fnatic and Origen, this is the real test for them at the moment, and if they can overcome it, there is no doubt G2 will truly be a favorite for the split alongside H2K.

From Challenger Series to the top of the standings, this reminds me a bit of Origen last year. But, unlike Origen who had 3 veterans, G2 is filled with rookies, Kikis being the most experienced with Emperor, but both only played 1 year as pros.

If the expansion of this team continue to grow better and stronger, there is no wonder that G2 could become a top team, first in Europe and then, maybe, hypotetically, also in the World. But that, is another story.

Credits to Riot games, lolesports