esports
The 2020 LEC Summer Finals saw G2 Esports pick up their fourth LEC title in a row with a win over Fnatic – here’s how it happened.
Everyone said G2 Esports weren’t performing as well as they normally do in 2020, yet once again, they’re LEC champions. They didn’t win as many games as they normally do over the course of a year, but it’s their fourth LEC title in a row, and a record eighth overall. The fact that they did it against old rivals Fnatic made it all the sweeter.
Just like in spring, G2 had to do it the hard way. They dropped down to the lower bracket at the hands of Fnatic earlier in the playoffs, and had a tough match against Rogue that went all the way to a tense Game 5 just 24 hours before they had to play Fnatic again in the final. But as usual, G2 showed their resilience and the ability to come up clutch when it matters.
If you missed any of the action from the 2020 LEC Summer Final, we’ve got you covered.
Game 1
Game 1 certainly showed how close these two teams are right now. Fnatic were able to get First Blood when Selfmade came down to the bottom lane for a gank, but G2 kept pace. The two teams traded kills in the bottom half of the map, and were even going into the mid-game.
Then G2 started to turn up the heat. Caps picked up a Mejai’s Soulstealer and went hunting with his LeBlanc, just like he did in the semi-final against Rogue. He and his team started to snowball, and started racking up towers and Dragons, but Fnatic were able to stand strong. Martin ‘Rekkles’ Larsson was still dangerous on his Jhin, and the longer the game went, the more Fnatic were able to come back into it.
Caps then ended up trading his life to break open Fnatic’s base, and although G2 eventually took Baron, Elder Dragon, and the rest of Fnatic’s inhibitors, their opponents still didn’t give up.
With things starting to look dicey, G2 finally got what they needed. They caught out Oskar ‘Selfmade’ Boderek, and jumped on their opportunity to press the advantage. It took 50 minutes, but G2 finally came out of the game with a lead in the series.
Game 2
The second game started a lot better for G2, as Luka ‘Perkz’ Perkovic and Mihael ‘Mikyx’ Mehle stepped up to show that they still have the most fearsome bot lane in the region. They got First Blood, but once again the teams traded evenly throughout the early game.
This time though, Fnatic were the ones to get the lead going into the mid-game. They had the lead in kills, however G2 did stabilise with a couple of Dragons and Rift Heralds to keep things competitive.
Their rivals were patient, playing the long game to allow their scaling champions to power up, and eventually they came online and started to take over the game. G2 found it hard to deal with the speed and survivability of Selfmade’s Hecarim backed up by a Zilean, and things looked bleak for the defending champions.
Just when it looked like they were down and out, G2 started to gain a foothold. The first glimmer of hope came around a Dragon fight where they were able to get a few kills which led to them taking the Baron buff. Even though Fnatic were smashing down G2’s base, they held strong.
A sneaky pick play was all G2 needed to turn the tides in their favour. Now with five members to Fnatic’s four, they took the powerful Elder Dragon buff, and pushed into Fnatic’s base, smashing down towers and inhibitors to secure a surprising Game 2 victory.
Game 3
Fnatic knew they should’ve won Game 2, and you could see it on their faces as they made their way onto Summoner’s Rift for Game 3. G2 used their momentum and picked up First Blood again, giving Caps that all-important midlane advantage, and gaining another mental edge over their opponents.
G2 started to pull ahead, grabbing Dragons, towers, and kills on their way to a 3k gold lead at 20 minutes. G2 toplaner Martin ‘Wunder’ Nordahl Hansen turned up to play as well, and was able to cut off Rekkles from important fights with his Vladimir while the rest of his team cleaned up Fnatic’s remaining members.
G2 let their lead slip in Game 1 and made sure they wouldn’t make the same mistake again. They played well to get to the point where they were about to take the Infernal Dragon Soul. Fnatic had to do something, and took a bad engagement, coming out even worse than when they went in.
With the Soul and a Baron buff in hand, G2 started smashing down more of Fnatic’s base, and five minutes later they were in position to deal the final blow. Fnatic had to force a fight around the Elder Dragon, but in the melee, Caps was able to break off and sneak into Fnatic’s base to destroy the Nexus in an exciting finish.
G2 will go to Worlds 2020 as Europe’s top seed once again. They'll be looking to go one better than last year by winning that World Championship trophy.
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