G2 defeat Fnatic in Season Finals Grand Final to win the first LEC Grand Slam!

League of Legends

2 Sep

Martin Arévalo-Östberg

After making a run across all of the lower bracket, G2 Esports has defeated Fnatic in the Grand Final to lift the LEC Season Finals trophy!

The win marks the fourth LEC title G2 claim this year, making them the first team to win the LEC Grand Slam.

Now, having secured the region's first seed for Worlds, the team will look to translate their European domination into wins at the biggest League of Legends tournament of the year.

G2 are inevitable

In similar fashion to the way their games went during the LEC Summer Playoffs finals, G2 saw themselves struggle in the early game against Fnatic.

Forfeiting gold leads in all games in the Grand Finals, despite that, G2 never lost their composure, and ultimately demonstrated that even when they may not look their best, Europe still belongs to them.

Game 1

Because it couldn't be any other way, G2 and Fnatic showed up to the Grand Finals in style.

After an incredible back and forth game, the two historic rivals put up the longest game of the year in the LEC to start the series.

G2 and Fnatic came out of the gates hungry for blood, and constantly traded blows in an action-packed early game.

Fnatic's macro struggles were glaring once again, however, as the team was never able to hold on to a gold lead despite doubling G2 in kills in the mid-game. All the while, G2's abused Fnatic's weaknesses by claiming every objective imaginable, including a late Elder drake.

After 51 minutes and 20 seconds of play, G2 pushed into Fnatic's base with Elder buff to end the game, teaching Humanoid a valuable lesson in the process: no matter how many stacks you may have on Smolder, Elder drake will always trump baby drake.

Game 2

G2 showed up to game 2 feeling cheeky, and it showed. The team picked Gwen for Yike and Poppy for BrokenBlade despite the two picks having fallen out of favor in the current meta.

With Fnatic picking Ivern in the jungle to protect Humanoid's Smolder this time around, the team's superior draft led the team to a lead in the mid-game.

While Yike's Gwen suffered in team fights from a lack of set-up, Fnatic's two AD carries ran rampant.

And this time... they did it! Fnatic was able to close out a game in which they had a lead!

Game 3

For the third time in a row, Fnatic was able to grab an early gold lead against G2. The Kings of Europe, however, had learned their lesson, and drafted a much easier comp to play around this time.

With Yike back on a Brand pick that proved deadly against MDK the day before, the team looked entirely different in the mid-to-late-game.

And yet, the true star of the show was Caps, who proved his familiarity with Azir by putting up a monster performance on the champion, constantly finding priority targets to eventually close out the game.

Game 4

Fnatic came into the fourth game of the series looking far more timid than they ever did before.

Despite picking the much coveted Ziggs for Noah in the bot lane, the team's weak macro game was on display yet again. Failing to make good use of the pick's pushing power and it's incredible ability to take down turrets, Fnatic looked lifeless.

G2, in turn, decided to run back the Brand-Azir combination for Yike and Caps. This time, however, the two AP carries were accompanied by Hans sama on Jhin.

The French marksman found incredible value in the pick, putting up a stunning performance.

After leveraging their superior macro into an early Dragon Soul, G2 never looked to cease the pressure.

Ultimately, Fnatic were left with no answers for G2's immaculate playmaking, costing the team the Finals in the end.

Result: G2 Esports 3 - 1 Fnatic

A Humble MVP

Despite Hans sama winning every LEC tournament in the year, and the fact that he was named MVP of the finals after dominating Fnatic's bot lane all series long, the French AD carry was quick to dismiss questions about his status of best ADC in the west.

"There's definitely some stuff about the game that I think I might be better than the other ones, but definitely the other AD carries have their own strengths.

I wouldn't say that I'm the best AD carry. I still have to prove more."

G2 are number one

Following their win at the LEC Season Finals, G2 will represent the LEC as the region's first seed going into Worlds.

With incredibly dominant teams like the LPL's BLG already set to be their region's first seed, and Gen.G looking like a clear favorite to take the LCK's first seed, any team attending the event will be thankful for a shot at an easier path at Worlds.

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Featured Image Credits: Michal Konkol/Riot Games

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