Just a few days are left until G2 Esports meets with Fun Plus Phoenix on the 2019 League of Legends Worlds final stage in Paris. This likely wouldn’t be possible for G2 if Luka “Perkz” Perković hadn’t stepped down from his position as mid laner and offered it to Ramus “Caps” Winther.
G2 is the best European League of Legends team, but it hasn’t always been that way. Although consistently near the top of the European region, there was always something G2 was lacking to become the best. In 2018 they climbed from being Europe’s third-seed all the way to the 2018 Worlds semifinals, where they lost to eventual champion Invictus Gaming.
The team was overshadowed by their regional rivals Fnatic, who made it to the finals before losing to iG. Fnatic’s mid laner Caps was a big reason for the team’s success, and G2 was very much aware of Caps’ abilities.
G2 beats Fnatic by signing Caps after Worlds 2018
Having been so close to the crown, G2 decided to do whatever they could to make their 2019 Worlds run a more prosperous one. And if they wanted to go all the way, they needed the mid laner everyone was calling “baby Faker,” the mid laner that stood as Perkz’s rival. They needed Caps.
To get Caps, Perkz, who had consistently been G2’s strongest player, had to step down from his mid lane position. Even though it meant getting out of his comfort zone to win, Perkz started the 2019 season as a bot lane carry while Caps took up his old post in the G2 mid lane.
“He was my rival, my biggest competition, the only person I was looking to beat,” Perkz said. “But winning is more important than being the star.”
The roster shuffle immediately worked out. This season, G2 came to Worlds as the 2019 LOL European Championship’s first seed. Both Caps and Perkz had a strong performance and have managed to get ahead in CS, gold, and experience in their respective lanes through almost all the matches they’ve played at Worlds thus far.
In the group stage, they only lost a single match. In knockouts, not even fan favorite SK Telecom T1 stood a chance against G2 in the semifinals. Moving their best player to a different position, giving his spotlight to the only player in the region who might’ve been better, and building up the synergy between the two so that they could both shine was the step the team needed to take to make it to the Worlds finals.
It was a big risk, but it has already paid off. If it’s enough to make them the World Champion remains to be seen when G2 Esports clashes with Fun Plus Phoenix for the trophy.
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