G2 sweep Fnatic in LEC Summer Grand Finals to win 4th consecutive domestic title
G2's mad roller coaster ride in the LEC Summer Playoffs has finally come to an end, and the team ultimately walked away with smiles on their faces.
Despite their loss to Fnatic on Monday (July 22nd) in the Upper Bracket Finals, G2 came into these Grand Finals ready to prove they're still the top-dog. After a polarizing series for fans of either organization, G2 came away with the LEC Summer trophy in a win that was more convincing in scoreline than in gameplay.
G2 is inevitable
The stage was set in Berlin for yet another European classic to close out the Summer Playoffs. G2 came into the match having put up a shaky performance against Team BDS the day before. The team, however, managed to secure the win through sheer power of will in the end.
G2 and Fnatic star in yet another LEC Finals, a match-up that never fails to deliver. (Credit: Wojciech Wandzel/Riot Games)G2 saw themselves fall 5k gold and 2 dragons behind Fnatic in the opening game of the series.
Following a great set of early plays by Fnatic, G2 looked taken aback. And yet, just like against BDS, the reigning Kings of Europe were not ready to go down without swinging.
Fnatic, eager to push their lead, looked to take Baron in order to close out the game. G2 saw this as the opportunity for which they had been waiting all game long, and immediately capitalized.
The team not only managed to stop Fnatic from taking the Baron, but also won the pivotal team-fight off the back of a crucial double kill coming out of Rasmus "Caps" Winther on Corki.
The team went on to immediately claim the Baron for themselves.
From then, G2 went on to win fight after fight until eventually taking Game 1 in stunning fashion.
The never-ending story
Despite what your senses may lead you to believe, the second game of the series was not a repeat of Game 1.
Incredibly, Fnatic looked set to take the win after taking yet another lead of 5k gold and 2 dragons over G2. That is, until G2 won a pivotal team-fight around the Baron pit yet again, which the team leveraged into another Baron take.
From then on, it was all G2 to close out the game once more.
Looking down the barrel of a 0-2 deficit, Fnatic were forced to reverse sweep G2 if they wanted to get their hands on the trophy.
Full of intention, Fnatic set off like a rocket into Game 3, dominating G2 in the early game harder than ever before.
Following a great set of plays by their duo in the bot lane, Fnatic were able to grab all 6 voidgrubs and the first turret on their way to secure a 7k gold lead only 13 minutes into the game. And yet, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, the team failed to push their lead into a win for the last time.
G2 showed off their players' individual prowess to secure a series of consecutive picks on Fnatic, which they were able to use to secure Baron.
Despite still being considerably behind in gold, G2's confidence and flair saw them claim team-fight after team-fight in order to win the game, series, and season.
When asked about his team's remarkable ability to come back in games during these playoffs, Caps attributed it to the team's cohesion, as well as their drafts:
"I think we have been in a lot of these situations before. I think we've been a team for a long time now and we have very good ideas about different game-states and what we want to do. And I think especially today we really drafted a lot of late game and a lot of good comeback tools, especially with the Ornn and the Brand/Zyra doing a lot of work.
We just knew. We still were confident even though we might have been 5, 6k gold down... And all it took was one pick, one baron, and then we turned around."
Worlds awaits
Following their wins in both the Winter and Spring seasons, G2's victory against Fnatic means the team closes the year with a perfect record for the year in Europe.
And yet, that is not the most important implication of G2's Summer Season triumph. G2 has now also become the first European team to qualify for the 2024 League of Legends World Championship, taking place in France, Germany and the United Kingdom later this year.
After dominating their league, G2 fans will be excited to watch their team put their skills to the test against international competition one more time.
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Image source: Wojciech Wandzel/Riot Games
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