G2 Esports Are Back to Back LEC Champions

LEC Summer 2020 is finally over and the team that won the Spring Split with a score of 3 – 0 against Fnatic in the Grand Final has done the same thing one more time. In this article, I will take a close look at how they did it in spite of being regarded as just an underdog.

LEC Summer 2020 Group Stage Results

G2 did not have the perfect Group Stage performance they would have wanted. In fact, they lost no less than 7 matches in total and finished with a score of 11 W – 7 L. That’s far from amazing and it shows how close the competitors are to each other in terms of skill. Doubled with the Bo1 match format, this tiny strength difference often becomes irrelevant and the underdog wins via a better draft or simply because their opponent makes a silly mistake when it matters most.

At the end of the Group Stage, the results looked like this:

• 1^st place: Rogue (13 W – 5 L)
• 2^nd place: MAD Lions (12 W – 6 L)
• 3^rd place: G2 Esports (11 W – 6 L)
• 4^th place: Fnatic (9 W – 9 L)
• 5^th place: SK Gaming (9 W – 9 L)
• 6^th place: FC Schalke 04 Esports (8 W – 10 L)

These were the 6 teams that qualified for the Playoffs of LEC Summer 2020. So as you might imagine, few people would have said that Fnatic was going to play in the Grand Final or that G2 Esports would win again. But that’s exactly what happened.

Playoffs Stage

The Playoffs Stage started with the top 4 teams in the Upper Bracket and the bottom 2 in the Lower Bracket. And this is where Fnatic’s and G2’s superior experience played a huge role. During the Group Stage, when matches take place often and you don’t always have the right amount of time to prepare, things can get chaotic and the Bo1 match format makes them even worse. But when the Bo5 format is used and the preparation time is more than enough, experienced teams will often find the way to win thanks to their superior experience and confidence: “We did before. We’ll do it again! Forget the Group Stage and focus on what’s important!” And that’s what they did.

Both Fnatic and G2 Esports smashed their opponents, even though they had finished the Group Stage in a better position. What’s even more shocking is that Fnatic then went on to win against G2 Esports (3 – 2) and qualify for the Grand Final. At that point, people expected them to take the long road through Moria, but they just won against the odds.

In the Lower Bracket Final, G2 Esports had to play against Rogue, a team they had already defeated twice in the Group Stage. So it wasn’t a big surprise when they won. Rather, it was surprising that they almost lost. The final score was 3 – 2.

The Grand Final was just a repeat of the one from the previous split. Except this time, G2 struggled in every single match. Fnatic was very good, but the dispute still ended in 3 games with G2’s victory.

 

Photo credit: Riot Games