Two of the world’s best League of Legends teams went head to head in the League of Legends Worlds finals last night, and although G2 Esports’ dreams of lifting the Summoner’s Cup was swiftly dealt with by FunPlus Phoenix, the players believe G2 Esports – and Europe – can come back stronger.
G2 Esports dominated the League of Legends European Championship this year, and although they were strides above other European competition, the Asian scene paints a very different picture, something which Rasmus ‘Caps’ Borregaard Winther alludes to in comments made at the post-final press conference.
“The Chinese teams in general were better than the Korean teams this year,” he says. “They had a similar style as we did and throughout the tournament, we didn’t progress as much. I think we kinda folded and our plays weren’t as sharp. They had a really high skill level to begin with an we just couldn’t keep up with them.
“Europe is a strong region, and with time we’re only going to get stronger. We just need to work on a few more things and then we’ll beat them.”
The sentiment was echoed by Marcin ‘Jankos’ Jankowski, who says the team enjoyed the entire Worlds experience, and avoided tilting in the finals despite getting “smacked.”
“The team atmosphere was really good,” he says. “We were still making a lot of jokes even though we were getting smacked. It didn’t feel like we had changed much you know? We still had a plan in mind, and although it didn’t work out, I was really happy with how we behaved as a team, and how we played this year.”
And although the loss of a Worlds final hurts today, there’s always a tomorrow in esports. If this team can bounce back from this excruciating loss, who know what might be in store for them in the future. Carlos ‘Ocelote’ Rodriquez Santiago, G2’s founder, believes this roster can win a Worlds title in the future, and they’ve already come so close.