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The LEC 2021 Spring Split will be decided this weekend, and G2 will be looking for another record-setting consecutive victory. Can they pull it off?
The League of Legends European Championship (LEC) Spring Season is already coming to a close. After eight weeks of the regular season and two rounds of the playoffs, three teams remain in the hunt for the title.
Not only will the winner be crowned the strongest team in Europe, but they will also have a chance to face fellow title-winners from around the world at the Mid Season Invitational (MSI), where a strong result will also secure their region an additional qualification spot at the LoL World Championships later this year. A lot is at stake.
When the pressure is high, it’s usually G2 Esports who step up. Since the rebrand in 2019, G2 Esports have been the only team to get their hands on the LEC trophy. They have won the last four playoff finals, matching the regional record that G2 themselves set between 2016 and 2017.
Now G2 have the chance to overtake that record with a fifth successive title that would then allow them to finally defend the MSI title they claimed in 2019. And that’s exactly what fans will be expecting from the prestigious squad. Especially after the signing of one of the most decorated western players in LoL history, Martin ‘Rekkles’ Larsson, from arch-rivals Fnatic.
But the reigning LEC champions are facing immense competition within their own region because this could be their toughest LEC playoffs run to date. For the third time in a row, G2 will have to compete in the semi-finals and win a best-of-five the day before the final to have any chance of lifting the title.
Standing in their way are the young squads of MAD Lions and Rogue who have fought tooth and nail to establish themselves amongst Europe’s elite. While G2 will still be the title favourites, the defending champions have not been anywhere near their best in recent weeks.
In the opening round of the playoffs, G2 comfortably took the first two teams against Schalke 04 – a team that was lucky to even be in the playoffs let alone in the top four seeds following a seven-game losing streak. Yet, the reigning European champions almost let the series slip through their fingers.
Extraordinary individual efforts including a penta-kill from top-laner Sergen ‘Broken Blade’ Çelik pulled Schalke back into the series and forced a fifth and final game. Schalke were on the verge of remarkably reverse-sweeping G2 but Rekkles, who had been targeted with a barrage of bans, expertly wielded Seraphine and her healing to win the next couple of team fights and spare his teammates’ blushes.
During the Post Game Lobby show after the series, veteran jungler Marcin ‘Jankos’ Jankowski couldn't hide his frustration. The series was a wake-up call for G2 and the rest of the LEC are doing everything in their power to succeed them.
And if somehow G2 needed further reminding of that fact, MAD did what Schalke couldn’t and took down the champions in an extraordinary performance.
After their heroics last year, MAD have since been seen as a team with immense potential, especially with the additions of top-laner İrfan ‘Armut’ Tükek and jungler Javier ‘Elyoya’ Prades Batalla. The young roster were making silly mistakes throughout the regular season but ramped up towards the end with a win over G2 in a best-of-one to secure third in the table before dominating Rogue and convincingly taking down G2 again in the playoffs.
Now MAD’s starlets are competing in their first-ever final. But before G2 can even think about enacting their revenge, they have a tricky best-of-five with Rogue awaiting them. It should be a phenomenal battle considering G2 and Rogue emerged as the two strongest teams in the regular season by quite some margin.
Rogue have clawed their way to the top despite the organisation finishing dead last in their LEC debut back in 2019. Since then, the team has put faith in young superstars such as jungler Kacper ‘Inspired’ Słoma and midlaner Emil ‘Larssen’ Larsson, who both have incredibly promising careers ahead of them.
G2 have a very strong record against Rogue; they've never lost to them in a best-of-one or overall in a best-of-five. G2’s fast-paced skirmishing style is usually a miss-match for Rogue, who like to dominate the early-game and control the map from there. Typically, G2 have picked scaling comps and found ways back into the game with their world-class ability to create openings.
But the early-game has been a weakness for G2 in the past and as the playoffs have already shown, G2 are beatable in late-game team fights. On top of that, the last time these two teams met in a best-of-five, it was extremely close.
They clashed in the semi-final of the previous split, Summer 2020, where Rogue were able to force a fifth game in an electric series. The difference in the top lane ultimately decided the series as Martin ‘Wunder’ Hansen was able to outclass Finn ‘Finn’ Wiestål.
However, that should no longer be the case as Rogue have upgraded with Andrei ‘Odoamne’ Pascu who has had a phenomenal year. On top of that, Rogue’s new support Adrian ‘Trymbi’ Trybus has been one of the most impressive rookies this season and though he admitted to being nervous while playing on stage for the first time, his series-winning engage against Schalke last week will have undoubtedly boosted his confidence.
Ultimately, it’s a good thing for G2 that they are facing adversity this soon. It’s far easier to improve and learn after a loss and, of course, G2 would much rather learn from mistakes now before possibly taking part in international competition.
G2 are a team that thrive under pressure and you have to imagine that after waiting an extra year, they’ll be desperate to defend their MSI title. Any international competition always offers invaluable experience which is why the LEC Spring playoffs are so crucial for Europe’s hopes of finally winning another World Championship.
