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Mikyx and GrabbZ reflect on G2’s run at Worlds 2019 and look ahead to 2020
After a wild year, Mihael ‘Mikyx’ Mehle and Fabian ‘GrabbZ’ Lohmann look back on what could have been – and what they’re expecting next year.
The off-season is a time of reflection for all League of Legends teams, and none more so than G2 Esports, who came agonisingly close to the World Championship title only to have FunPlus Phoenix ruin their plans. G2 are the best team Europe has ever produced, so it was even harder to take for their fans when they fell at the final hurdle.
However, despite their loss in the final, it was still G2’s most successful year ever, in which they won two LEC titles and the Mid-Season Invitational. We caught up with G2’s support Mihael ‘Mikyx’ Mehle and head coach Fabian ‘GrabbZ’ Lohmann to discuss their year, and what’s to come in 2020.
Right after the Worlds 2019 final, GrabbZ took to Twitter to take the blame for the 3-0 sweep. “I failed my guys in preparation,” he said, urging fans to praise G2’s players “like the champions they are.” A few weeks on, he still feels that way.
“I feel this way after every loss,” says GrabbZ. “League is a very complex game, and the audience often doesn’t grasp how deep the rabbit hole can go. So when we talk about preparation, it’s not only about the draft, which usually is the first thing people point to. After a loss you think about all the small details that were mentioned, but not with enough emphasis to actually help the players.
“We were mostly aware of how FPX wants to play the game, and they are really good at their particular style, but we had issues answering their early game. In hindsight, we should have realised that we needed to tackle that particular issue with more theoretical/VOD work than getting games in and talking practically.”
Coach GrabbZ takes the blame for G2’s loss
© Riot Games
Mikyx feels the drafts could have gone better in the final, but admits a lot of it comes down to execution as well.
I don’t think they surprised us with anything – we just played way below our standards.
“We knew FPX likes to play with mid priority a lot and then walk with the jungler so we tried to match that,” he says. “I think most of our mistakes started in draft already since we changed a lot of stuff compared to what we agreed on the previous day. We also tried to play Pyke mid into Nautilus and match his roams with Predator and Teleport but it did not quite work out. And despite the game being very winnable, we messed it up and lost.
“We were also not good at responding to their level 1s even though we knew they were doing something,” Mikyx continues. “I don’t think they surprised us with anything – we just played way below our standards.”
Next year, Worlds 2020 will be held in China, and GrabbZ already knows what G2 will be doing differently. He hopes the staff can make the players more comfortable during what is an extended period of stress, and believes they can prepare far better for next year’s tournament.
“Improving during the tournament itself is close to impossible, so a good bootcamp is essential. We made the mistake of staying in Europe [this year],” he says. “It didn’t provide us with the game quality we needed to make necessary improvements, and we didn’t notice until Asian teams started arriving in Europe and demolished us in practice.”
Worlds in Asia will make an Asian bootcamp a lot easier, so expect G2 to have an extremely firm grasp of the meta and the latest patch when Worlds comes around next year. Of course, they’ll probably be coming up against Chinese teams on home turf who have the potential of winning a third Worlds in a row. Mikyx says he enjoyed how hyped up the crowd got when it was a European team winning, but is confident G2 can “break their streak.”
Mikyx believes G2 can go one better next year
© Riot Games
GrabbZ agrees, and says that the LEC teams are getting stronger all the time.
“Two years ago it would have seemed impossible for Europe to reach back-to-back final appearances,” he says. “While the results were disappointing, losing both 0-3, it shows how far the region’s top team can go. FPX was not this incredible monster like Korean teams of the past; it was just a clash of teams having very distinctive strengths and weaknesses.
“This year was the most stacked quarters I have ever experienced, where after groups you could have made a case for seven out of eight teams to win the tournament,” he explains. “On the day, small things decide it. SKT could have won games against us that ended up being lost for them, and we could have won games one and three vs FPX. Establishing Europe on the same level as Asian top teams was the first step, so I am confident in saying that each year, LEC will have a team that has a reasonable shot at winning Worlds.”
I think next year is ours.
For now though, it’s about recuperation before everything starts back up again in January. G2 don’t feel the need to be making roster changes, and that consistency could prove key while many of their rivals are changing players in and out.
“Now that the season is really over it’s time to just relax and enjoy time with family and friends and live a little,” says GrabbZ. “After almost 11 months of permanent competition everyone deserves some time off. Of course, staff are already bouncing ideas back and forth, but nothing concrete will be planned until closer to season start.”
Mikyx leaves us with his aims for next year: “I think we can achieve more than we did this year, which is stomping EU harder and winning Worlds. I think it’s definitely possible and with the experience we got this time I’m sure we will do much better next time. I think next year is ours.”
