G2 Esports qualified for the 2020 League of Legends World Championship following a one-sided 3-1 win over MAD Lions in the LEC Summer Split playoffs.
Wunder and Caps played major roles in their team’s win, outperforming the opposing laners of MAD. Wunder brought out a secret Neeko pick to counter MAD’s top lane choices, while Caps played his usual carry mages of LeBlanc, Syndra, and Zoe, while bringing out a pocket Irelia pick as well.
The series began with a dominant first game from G2. They were able to get a gold lead starting at the third minute and continued to grow it until the end of the game. They were ruthless, securing every neutral objective and preventing MAD Lions from claiming a single turret. G2’s dominance allowed them to close out the first game in 29 minutes with a 16,000 gold lead.
Following the absolute stomp from G2 in the first game, MAD adjusted their draft, picking global ultimate champions to try to counter G2’s plan of gaining control across the map. MAD’s draft alongside improved gameplay allowed them to stand tall to G2’s aggression. But the huge performances from Wunder resulted in G2 coming back into the game and securing the second game win in the series.
In the third game, however, MAD started the path to the reverse sweep. Jungler Shad0w played phenomenally on Lillia in the jungle, setting a record for the most creep score difference against the opposing jungler in the LEC Summer Split. Following a slaughter lasting over 25 minutes, MAD secured their first win.
In the final match of the series, the game was going quite even for both teams. MAD kept using their global ultimates to great success, picking off the G2 bot lane on a constant basis. Perkz was specifically targeted on his Senna and was focused down with every ultimate, setting up a clear path towards victory for MAD.
But a 25-minute teamfight near the bottom tower played perfectly by G2 allowed the Kings of Europe to abruptly end the series.
This win marks G2’s fifth consecutive Worlds appearance. G2 are the second LEC team to qualify for Worlds next to Rogue. The LEC will have a total of four teams representing the region on the international stage. They will need to play much better compared to their regular season performance if they want a shot at the World Championship. LPL teams look much stronger this year and will be a hasty challenge.
