Mikyx and G2 Esports stun TSM with unorthodox lineup at Rift Rivals

He might be a support player, but Mihael “Mikyx” Mehle carried G2 Esports to a massive victory over Team SoloMid.

The Mid-Season Invitational champions once again showed their incredible versatility and victimized one of the LCS’s best in the process.

After fielding a seemingly standard draft, G2 left TSM stunned after the picks and bans as they played their champions in surprising positions. Jungler Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski finally got a chance to play Pyke in the jungle, Martin “Wunder” Hansen flexed with Olaf, Ramus “Caps” Winther took Lucian in the mid lane, Luka “Perkz” Perković played Zoe, and Mikyx locked in Bard.

G2 started the game by grouping for a cheesy level one invasion of the top side of the jungle. Though Jonathan “Grig” Armao spotted the enemy team waiting in the brush and avoided giving up first blood, the laning phase was disastrous for TSM. Perkz and Mikyx were relentless, with the duo roughing up Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen and Andy “Smoothie” Ta, forcing them under their turret for much of the early game.

Meanwhile, Grig was too busy trying to farm and keep his solo laners alive to properly assist in the bottom lane. Sergen “Broken Blade” Çelik struggled to keep up with Wunder and though Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg stood his ground against Caps, it wasn’t enough to save his team.

14 minutes into the match, G2 controlled the entire map. They grouped and forced fights, which applied too much pressure for TSM to handle.

Mikyx was a star in the early game and didn’t slow down as the end neared. The support showed off his strong playmaking and was aggressive in fights.G2 marched into TSM’s base, no baron buff necessary, and closed its group stage run with two victories.

Later on, TSM took down Fnatic and finished the group stage with a 1-2 record. There’s still one day to go in Rift Rivals 2019 with the relay race finals deciding the champion.