G2 Esports reverse sweeps Fnatic, advances to LEC Summer finals

William Davis Published 01/09/2019

G2 Esports pulled off a reverse sweep over Fnatic and earned a spot in the 2019 LEC Summer Playoff finals.

With that win, the defending champion is poised to claim back-to-back titles in Athens. The match against Fnatic was as exciting as expected. Fnatic got ahead in the series but G2 is not one to give up easily.

Garen and Yuumi, the Fnatic special

Fnatic started the series with a convincing victory.

The team drafted Garen and Yuumi, which G2 surprisingly countered with Pyke and Mordekaiser.

It became obvious early that Fnatic’s plan was ruthless aggression. G2 is a team that can play a high-tempo style, but even they couldn’t match Fnatic’s pace here. The teams went blow for blow, yet Fnatic seemed to get the better out of each skirmish.

G2 fell behind and never recovered. Fnatic kept pressing its advantage and didn’t let up until the nexus fell.

Fnatic takes the second game

Fnatic didn’t slow down in the second game, with Gabriël “Bwipo” Rau opening the action with a solo kill over Martin “Wunder” Hansen.

That led to more early aggression from Fnatic, but G2 wasn’t going to just sit back and take it this time. Both teams looked to fight but Fnatic was the superior brawler, punishing every investment G2 made. Rasmus “Caps” Winther tried in vain to swing the momentum with aggressive play on Akali.

The gold was even between the teams and the game was decided in one play. Fnatic started setting up for a baron play, and G2 went for a flank. Fnatic answered and killed Caps while G2 got Bwipo. This was followed by Tim “Nemesis” Lipovšek using his ultimate to get behind G2 and block their escape.

Fnatic pulled the trigger and aced G2, then pushed for the win.

G2 Never Give Up

Game three was even more chaotic than the previous ones. Fnatic was desperate to close the series and G2 needed to bounce back. Despite going even in kills, Fnatic grew a significant gold advantage and took control of the map.

G2 would not go down without a fight. They gave up the first baron buff but were ready to contest the next spawn. G2 stole the baron to stabilize the game, close the gold difference, and take control of the action.

Fnatic saw the game was slipping through its fingers. The team made one last desperate move and forced the third baron of the game. G2 took a page out of SK Telecom T1’s playbook and contested the objective while the top laner pushed for the win.

G2 came out victorious and dragged the series out.

G2 takes the series to game five

G2 took complete control of the series in game four. This time around, G2 was the one with a proactive early game.

Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski visited the bottom lane and caught the Fnatic duo by surprise. Bwipo joined the play from the top lane but he didn’t come alone. Wunder tagged him with Akali’s ultimate at the last second and activated it right away. G2’s top laner flew across the map to execute Bwipo under the bottom lane turret.

Caps came fully online in game four with flashy plays and an oppressive presence on the map. G2 looked more comfortable on the rift while Fnatic struggled to find a way back into the game.

G2 closed the game with the first baron spawn. The squad sieged the enemy base from every angle and scored key picks on the Fnatic players. G2 took the nexus and the series to game five.

G2 wins the game before 20 minutes

G2 closed the series in style.

It all started in the mid lane where Jankos and Caps collapsed on Nemesis. Mads “Broxah” Brock-Pedersen took that move as an opportunity to pressure the bottom lane, but Wunder joined the fight and punished Fnatic. Jankos ran to the bottom lane and secured the fourth kill of the game for G2.

At 15 minutes, G2 had a 9,000 gold advantage and 16 kills. The spring champion was determined to close the game fast, so they pushed for the mid lane inhibitor at 16 minutes.

G2 fought Fnatic inside the base, knowing that there was no way that Fnatic could get back in the game. At 19 minutes, G2 destroyed the enemy nexus.

G2 is advancing directly to the finals. Fnatic will go versus FC Schalke 04 in round three of playoffs.

William Davis

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