G2 Esports in the EU LCS 2018

Hi Ladies and Gentlemen,

I’m right back to finally write this article that I wanted so much to do, about the Spring Split of the EU LCS 2018. I waited until the end of the first phase, before focusing in the different lineups, new compositions of teams, my feelings and impressions.

Above all, it’s unsurprisingly that Rekkles obtained the record of CS/mn, with an average of 12,2. So we’ve got a long way to go before this high ELO, but to play like a pro involves a very high concentration, and this is precisely what G2 Esports did. After a hard start, the Kings of Europe came back strong and won the majority of their matches. Being myself a big fan of this fantastic team, I decided to study in more details three of their games : the victory against H2K, their defeat during the Clash of the Titans against Fnatic, and their wonderful and landslide victory facing Vitality.

G2 vs H2K, 3rd February 2018

Against H2K, G2 Esports made the best score on almost every lane. Here below the Top KDA and the Top CS per minute, compared to the four previous games, which were against UOL, Splyce, Fnatic and S04. 

What does it mean then ? H2K were not really agressive, G2 had the time to farm well, and got kills. This quite perfect farming phase for G2, gave them the advantage as H2K had to undergo a heavy difference of levels and golds. Indeed, there was almost 3k to 6k of gap, and 1 to 4 levels more, especially for the ADC Hjarnan who finished the game in 2/0/4. The Carry of H2K was the only kill of their team, as they ended 1 to 9 kills. G2 quickly took the turrets and ascertained the late game victory, with their 2 Barons and 2 Drakes, whereas H2K tried to push turrets with the Rift Herald. Unfortunately for H2K, after the four phases they end at the ninth place of the grid, while G2 takes back its kingdom and goes to the first place. Who will finally reign ? We will know it in just a few weeks ahead, but the first seed is challenged between Fnatic, Vitality and our dear G2. The old Kings and the newly crowned are not at the end of their effort. But as Riot makes excellent stats and presentations, here is the final tab of this game :

G2 vs Fnatic, 27th January 2018

Here, the top record for G2 is with the CS per minute, still compared to the four previous games. The Jungler and the Support did their best average, as following :

Good ganks from Jankos who forced the Support to back, it seemed a perfect start, as Perkz made most of the damages and 0 for Tristana in the first teamfight. Zoe tries to steal Nash, and three FNC goes back with the Baron’s buff. G2 was having the early-game, even if it was really close they managed to keep objectives, kills and farm. At 30mn, they are almost equally, but Wunder does a too early engage, got killed and FNC pushed. G2 defends as best as they could, but FNC pushes too fast and they finally won the game. Everything was possible, until the very last minute and this game was breathtaking. So it’s a big GGWP for both teams, who tried their best but nothing is over, the tournament is still on. Here bellow, the tab made by Riot Games :

G2 vs Vitality, 16th February 2018

Finally, the long awaited game between G2 and Vitality, who remained at the first place from the right beginning to the end. This was the big surprise of the year, Vitality became particularly strong and G2 fans were quite afraid, but fear stopped during this extraordinary confrontation ! Indeed, G2 did 11 kills to… well.. 0 kills for Vitality. Perkz was in 5/0/6 with Galio and crushed the enemy team. Except two drakes secured by Vita, G2 took down the whole map with the 11 turrets, so those of each lane and the two final ones in front of the Nexus. Perfect game ? Yes, or at least close to, as the total of damages made is exactly the same for both teams :

What made them win is their big experience, their great knowledge of the whole team strategy and as I said, they found a good rhythm all together. When LCS started, they didn’t have yet this perfect synergy, they still had things to improve, as we say in French, ‘accorder nos violons’. But now, we can see that they actually did find and understood how to work with each others. In every adventure, it’s based on the same story : five persons, with different characters and levels, who have to join forces to make something great out of it. So in the future, I believe that now that they found an equilibrium, the new freshly composed G2 roster will take down many other teams. 

The EULCS Meta

Now I would like to talk about the Meta. I tried to study a little bit further which champion was picked on each lane, and I saw that Ornn is picked as a Toplaner and Support. It’s funny, as Riot Games designed the champ to be on Top, but with the new runes system (you can find here my previous article on the Runes Reforged), anything is possible, and a Rune page on a champ can be very different from another one. It all depends on how you play. So which runes for what lane ? Here the answer, with the most played runes for the two most played champion in each role : 

Ornn

Gnar

Jarvan

Sejuani

Azir

Ryze

Ezreal

Tristana

Braum

Tahm Kench

So now that you see which runes were taken, it's up to you to use them or not, but as we can understand, the most taken Runes are "Magical Footwear" and "Biscuit Delivery". But as we all know, League is changing and evolutes day by day, with and thanks to the players, thanks to YOU GUYS !

Warning : I did myself all the collages, which means editing Runes pages, presentations, CS and KDA scores. The only things that are not mine are the statistics, made by Riot Games, that you can find on the official website. I studied very precisely the different games I'm talking about here, and many more, to make you an overall look upon which Runes were taken. About the CS and KDA scores, I calculated the different ones in comparing the four previous games each time. That means a lot of work (about 10 hours). So DO NOT USE them, and if you want to use them, send me an email, a comment or a private message on my social devices. Thanks !

I think this article is over now, I hope you liked it,
With Love and Passion, always,
Toriah