G2 caPs on 12th LEC split: “I want a Worlds trophy”

G2 mid laner Rasmus “caPs” Winther spoke to Fragster following the second day of the opening weekend of the 2022 League of Legends European Championship Summer split. The legendary Danish player reflected on G2’s disappointment at the Mid-Season Invitational, how he feels about his twelfth split in Europe, and how he ultimately wants to finish the season.

The 2022 LEC Summer split marks the twelfth split in Europe’s highest league for caPs, a tenure whose length very few can match. But for the seven-time LEC champion (yes, caPs has won seven of the 11 splits he has contested), every split still feels new.

“Every split feels different for me”, caPs told Fragster, “Especially with Covid, the past few splits have been really different. Playing some games online, some games in the studio. It’s been really strange. But now we’re fully back in person and we have fans back too, which is really great. We’re also able to do fan meets after the games which we haven’t been able to do in so long and that’s awesome.”

Bouncing back from MSI

G2 entered Summer as the defending LEC champions but also contested with the weight of a less-than-ideal end to their MSI journey in May. After carrying a 24-game win streak deep into the international tournament, a loss to PSG Talon sparked a run of poor form that saw G2 lose eight of their last nine matches. However, caPs didn’t struggle too much with overcoming the results.

“MSI was definitely disappointing for us”, caPs said, “but I wouldn’t say it was hard to overcome that disappointment. Not for me at least. I’ve always been a bit of a bad loser, I don’t like to lose. However, it was just important to tell myself that I’ve been here before and it’s not the end of the world. We just need to move on, fix those mistakes, and do better next time.”

G2’s hot start

G2 have burst out of the gates in Summer, racing to a 2-0 record with wins over Astralis and Rogue. And while the seasoned mid laner is pleased with the results, he is remaining focused on the task at hand.

“It feels great to win but there’s still a lot of games to play”, caPs remarked, “Our wins weren’t the cleanest so while it’s really good that we won, we still have things to work on. We’re still trying to figure out what works on this current patch. The team took some time off between MSI and the Summer split, so we’ve not had as much practice on the current patch but luckily, it doesn’t feel as though too much has changed.”

G2’s final match of the LEC’s opening week comes against Excel, who have also started 2-0. It’s a match that caPs is looking forward to, against a team he has high expectations for.

“I think it’s going to be a really good game”, caPs began, “Excel were better than where they finished in Spring, in my opinion. I think they are a very good team and it’s going to be a very good match against them. They were one of the few teams that did a boot camp in Korea during MSI and they helped us with scrims and helped us prepare for MSI. So I am very grateful to them for doing that” caPs said before adding with a smirk, “but not grateful enough to give them a win tomorrow.”

The Yuumi conundrum

Feline support champion Yuumi has so far had a 100% presence rate in the LEC Summer split, with three picks and seven bans. With the nerfs to anti-healing items as well as the recent 12.10 durability patch, Yuumi’s viability has skyrocketed (in Spring she was picked seven times and banned 13 for a 22% presence rate). However, caPs is a vocal Yuumi defender in an ocean of ‘Yuumi is broken’ chatter.

“I don’t hate Yuumi as much as some other people seem to”, caPs said with a laugh, “Sure, it is annoying when you lose to her but I think she’s a great champion in support. I think you can still play around Yuumi. Though I have many good memories of playing alongside Yuumi when I was playing as an ADC so maybe that affects my opinion of her.”

Worlds

G2 infamously missed Worlds in 2021 and caPs is ready, if not eager, to return.

“I don’t really get excited when we qualify for Worlds”, caPs explained, “I love going to Worlds but it’s not like I am excited because we qualify. Maybe I will be this year because we didn’t last year but I am not sure. I have always been focused on winning the split. And then once we win the split, I am focused on winning at Worlds.”

Worlds has been the white whale of caPs’ career. In his four appearances at the season-ending international competition, he has finished second twice. In 2018, caPs and Fnatic were swept by Invictus Gaming. A year later, now with G2, caPs suffered the same fate at the hands of FunPlus Phoenix.

“I want a Worlds trophy”, caPs said simply, “I want to win the LEC and then I want to go and win Worlds. That is my goal for this split.”

There are 16 games left in the LEC split, followed by playoffs and then the Worlds gauntlet itself. But caPs is ready to make 2022 the Year of G2.

Header: Riot Games