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G2 open up on their scrims ahead of the Group Stages of Worlds
The MSI Champions reveal how their scrims have been going and talk all things League of Legends Worlds ahead of the Group Stages.
The League of Legends World Championship is well underway as teams from all over the world are competing for an all-important place for the Group Stages.
However, G2 Esports are one of the teams that managed to secure an automatic spot after becoming Europe's top seed with their memorable LEC Summer Split victory.
Not only that, the MSI Champions are also one of the favourites to win Worlds after their impressive performances on the International stage back in May as well as their record-breaking domestic showings.
Now, G2 have revealed that they might have finally found their match as they struggled to overcome Korea's third seed Damwon Gaming in scrims. Plus, Wunder, Jankos, Caps and Mikyx also assess who they think will be the Dark Horse at Worlds and why they don't feel like they're the favourites going into this tournament.
How are scrims going?
Jankos: We have been practicing mostly against play-in teams and European and NA teams. We haven’t had much practice against the Asian teams so we don’t know how we’ll match up against them.
Wunder: We have scrimmed against Damwon though… and we’ve learned a lot.
Jankos: It was tough.
How do you fancy your chances in your group?
Jankos: It really depends. We don’t know how good Griffin are – they’re the second seed from Korea and Damwon are the third [seed]. It might be a bit rough but we can probably make top two. We should be fine against NA, Korea will be more difficult but it’s only BO1s so we can maybe cheese them who knows. Our chances are really high to make it out but I don’t know about seeding wise. After scrimming against Damwon, I’m not as confident. We could secure top seed if we’re lucky.
Wunder: The scrims against Damwon wasn’t great but afterwards we played solo games and I won against my Korean counterpart.
Mikyx: Yer, we did in bot lane too.
Wunder: So basically, we all know that mid and jungle are the issue because me, Mikyx and Perkz managed to win against our counterparts.
How do you think the meta is shaping up? For example, Rekkles has been spotted playing Syndra, how does that affect picks at Worlds?
Mikyx: I mean, Mages are quite strong right now so it’s good that other ADCs are trying to pick up Mages or at least play them so they know what they do. The problem with a lot of ADCs is that they don’t even know what Mages do in bot lane so it’s just easy to play against them. I don’t think it’s a disadvantage for us because we’re more than prepared – we’ve got some counter-picks for the Mages, too.
Wunder: There are two, three ADC champions that are strong and Mages are right up there with them, so it makes sense right? I think you’ll see a lot more Mages being played in the bot lane now.
Which team are you most looking forward to facing?
Faker is back in the limelight
© Riot Games
Caps: I’m not sure to be honest, we probably wouldn’t like to play against Damwon. I don’t really have anyone in particular – I think all the Asian teams are really hype right now.
Mikyx: For me, probably RNG because I want to play against Uzi and Ming. I think they’re probably one of the best bot lanes in the world. Other than that, probably SKT. They weren’t great in the bot lane the last time we played against them but now they have Effort, they’ll probably be better.
Jankos: Looking in hindsight after scrimming against Damwon, I don’t think I want to play against any Korean teams anytime soon but obviously I’d like to play against Faker and Clid because I like Faker. During MSI we beat them but it’d be super exciting to play them at Worlds. And if I have to choose a team I’d really like to play against it’d probably be like Team Liquid or someone bad you know.
Wunder: Despite SKT being first seed, I wouldn’t like to play against them. All the Asian teams have good top laners but I think Khan isn’t the best one. I’d rather play against someone like Nuguri who’s pretty good, or a Chinese team. We’ve played IG before but I really want to beat them so it’ll probably have to be IG.
Do you feel any pressure going into Worlds knowing that you’re one of the favourites?
G2 don't feel like they're the favourites going into Worlds
© Lol Esports
Jankos: I think we should clarify right now that, we’re really NOT the favourites. I just think that the Asian teams are underrated and they will perform well. Even though Korea didn’t make it out of semis last year, they’re still a very good region. Obviously you can’t forget that China won Worlds last year. I’m pretty sure teams like RNG and FPX will also perform, too.
Wunder: How I see it is that we can beat every single one of the Asian teams but in a BO5, they all also have the ability to beat us. They’re all really close in terms of skill level whereas if we were playing the third seed of NA, I’d say they probably have no chance of beating us in a BO5. Team Liquid are obviously the first seed and they’re better but I’d still probably say that there is no chance that they could beat us in a BO5 either. My point is, there are so many great teams and, yes we could beat them all on the way but there is still a higher chance that more Eastern teams make it than Western. I’m still somewhat confident even though we’re trying to play it down and have this underdog story.
Mikyx: We’re underdogs in our minds.
Which team do you think will be the dark horses and surprise everyone?
Mikyx says Splyce have the potential to make it to quarter-finals
© Riot Games
Wunder: If you had to put your money on someone, it has to be one of the second or third seeds from Eastern teams because most of the times, it’s not even the first seed that wins Worlds. So, to be honest, any of the second or third seeds could win out of the Eastern teams.
Mikyx: I think Splyce could make it quite far. They should make it to quarters looking at the groups they could be in.
Jankos: Fnatic could make it really far. They have a really hard group, maybe not as far as semis but for me, they can make it out of groups. Group D is interesting, too, if Damwon makes it there it could be quite spicy because I don’t think Team Liquid would be able to make it out.
What is it that sets you guys apart from the other teams?
G2 won MSI back in May
© Lol Esports
Wunder: Before MSI, not a lot of people in the world played the game the way we did in terms of picks and how open-minded we were. Now, a lot of teams are used to playing against what we bring and even play that style themselves so I think we’re not as different as we were back then. But what I will say is that we’re still open-minded and we will bring even more picks to the table.
Jankos: Another thing I will say is that we kind of like losing because if you lose you improve. When we lost in a couple of games against Fnatic and SKT, you always take something away from those games. Right now, I’d never say we’re the best team in the world – unless Damwon doesn’t make it to Groups.
Wunder: I’m calling it now – if we face Damwon now we’d have the biggest mental block for sure.
Jankos: Like Wunder mentioned earlier, a lot of the times Worlds is won by second or third seed teams so I feel like right now it’s way too early to say anyone is the best team in the world.
Is there anything you’d like to say to your fans ahead of the Group Stages?
Caps jokes that G2 will be bringing back Pyke for Worlds
© Red Bull UK/Riot Games
Caps: We want to thank you guys for supporting us. We have had pretty good results so far [and] hopefully we can keep up the wins. If we do, then, that’s pretty good and but if we don’t, that’d be pretty bad.
Wunder: That’s like the worst message to send to fans ever, Rasmus.
Jankos: We’ll just be ourselves, stick to what we know and do and try and win.
Wunder: We’ll do what YamatoCannon told us. We’ll bring our own flavour to Worlds.
Caps: We’ll bring back Pyke!
