Running It Back: G2 to keep entire League of Legends roster for another year
G2 Esports have announced their intentions (to the relief of all Europe fans), to run it back with their League of Legends roster. No roster changes are expected to be made for them in preparation for the 2024 season.
We Get Another Year
In a heart-stopping video released today (9/11/2023), Rasmus “Caps” Borregaard Winther sits down to deliver what appears to be bad news. With G2’s disappointing early exit from Worlds, many fans feared the worst for the roster. However, as “Caps” details his desire to travel away from Berlin, it becomes apparent that he is only heading off for the off-season. Moreover, G2 ended the comedic skit with assurance that they intend to run it back again next year.
G2 ended their 2023 season with a relatively bitter taste, having lost back-to-back-to-back series against Gen.G, NRG, and BLG. The BLG game also especially stung because the series had been tied, and G2 came extremely close to qualifying for the Knockout Stage.
With relatively high expectations from the roster that dominated Europe and the LEC for most of the year, to end in the Swiss Stage was a cause for consternation from the fans. Not so much because of the failure to go further, but rather the optics. Moreover, a team that was this dominant domestically that failed to scratch top 8 is usually grounds for a rebuild or roster shuffle at least.
Scrim Results Drama
In the aftermath of Worlds 2023, G2 general manager Romain Bigeard posted the scrim results of the LoL team for the year. What was apparent was not only the sheer volume of scrims (testament to the hard work of the roster), but also the impressive win record against some of the Asian teams, most notably against the LPL teams.
Whilst some expressed criticism for posting such scrim results post-failure to translate it into actual results, others saw G2 playing in a form rarely seen in Europe. As such, keeping such a squad together, who could, on paper, deliver such results, could very well be Europe’s biggest hope.
Credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games