G2 Esports were unable to defeat the tournament favourites at the League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational (LoL MSI).
Most EMEA fans were ready for a 3-0 stomp by Gen.G, but the LEC team performed better than most expected.
Especially considering G2’s struggles in the MSI Play-Ins following difficult five-game series versus FURIA and GAM Esports.
However, G2 managed to take the first game before Gen.G came online to advance to the Upper Bracket with a 3-1 win.
Still, the result doesn’t mean that the first game should be discounted.
It gives a foundation for G2 to build from and proves what the current roster is capable of.
It was easily G2’s best performance of the tournament and potentially their best game this year.
They were uncharacteristically patient and cleanly picked Gen.G apart.
After Gen.G finished a risky Atakhan attempt, G2 managed to punish them with a clean ace and Dragon Soul.
All before the 22-minute mark.
G2 then didn’t panic and try to rush the end; they maintained control and effectively closed out the game.
Yet, Gen.G were never going to stay down, and they fought back with a vengeance.
In Game 2, they slowly racked up a lead as they regained their bearings from the opening shock.
A Hail Mary attempt saw G2 try a double teleport flank, but they couldn’t quite secure the kill on Park ‘Ruler’ Jae-hyuk, who instead earned a triple kill.
Then, Gen.G proved why they are favourites to win MSI on LoL betting sites.
Game 3 was all about Kim ‘Canyon’ Geon-bu as he locked in Lee Sin and turned the MSI stage into his personal montage.
Canyon was everywhere, ganking and racking up kills before styling on G2 with this strange, and almost disrespectful, Rift Herald play.
The jungler later landed a double kick, which caused caster Daniel Drakos to scream about the “mental damage” these plays were doing to G2.
The Lee Sin was just too big a gap, or canyon, for G2 to overcome.
By the fourth game, G2’s mental fortitude had been pushed to the limit.
And it showed when Labros ‘Labrov’ Papoutsakis Leona engaged while on top of a Poppy early into the laning phase.
But on the bright side, Rasmus ‘Caps’ Winter looked to be back to his usual best.
The legendary European midlaner has had his fair share of doubters this year, but he was finding great picks as Twisted Fate.
And Rudy ‘SkewMond’ Semaan was having a solid Dr Mundo game too.
We mentioned how crucial the Play-Ins experience would be to settle in the rookie jungler in our LoL MSI players to watch.
However, too many skirmishes ended in Gen.G players narrowly escaping as the LCK first-seeds ultimately outclassed G2 to win 3-1.
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In my seven years of esports writing, I’ve introuduced esports coverage to newspapers, interviewed some of the biggest names in the industry, and driven viewers mad with the puns in my YouTube scripts. I’m most proud of the latter.
