G2 Defeats World Elite, Sets Sights On SKT

May 20, 2017 Kim Key

The European team shook off an unremarkable Groups performance to win 3 – 1.

by Kim Newsome, EIC

G2 Esports will meet SK Telecom T1 in the 2017 Mid-Season Invitational Final.  The team has already redeemed themselves after an underwhelming 5th place finish at last year’s MSI, and they will look to go a step further and take down the current World Champions on Sunday.

World Elite looked a shade better than G2 in the Group Stage, winning the second seed and even taking a match off of SKT along the way.  G2 Esports fell off hard toward the end of the groups, nearly getting knocked out of the tournament.  A close win over North America’s Team SoloMid gave the EU squad a spot in the semifinals; an amazing accomplishment for a team that has struggled to perform in international competitions.

Game One

Ganks from G2’s Kim “Trick” Gang-yun in the bottom lane resulted in a kill trade between the teams to start the match.  It wasn’t quite the start G2 could have wanted, but the team bounced back by winning a fight at the dragon and taking out three World Elite players in the process.

A lot of back and forth fighting throughout the middle of the match, and it was G2 who came out on top thanks to a superior damage dealing team composition.  The Europeans still struggled to capture objectives in the middle of the game though they were leading in the kill feed.  WE attempted to use this to their advantage, taking a Baron from under the enemy noses, but in the process, the team lost a tower and a player.  More sloppy play at the end of the game caused some frustration for World Elite, as Ke “957” Chang-Yu opted to get into a questionable team fight – and lost.

Game Two

An absolute nightmare for WE in the first few minutes as Xiang “Condi” Ren-Jie opted to steal Trick’s red buff, got away with it, then attempted to steal the blue as well – without back up.  It may have been a miscommunication between Condi and Su “xiye” Han-Wei, but it resulted in Condi getting pounced upon by the G2 players, losing all of the buffs, giving up first blood, and throwing away a lot of gold.

Where was this G2 team during the Group Stage?  In the semifinals the team looked confident and poised, as Trick gave up his life after the 30 minute mark to bait the WE into lining right up for an ace.

Game Three

A hot start for G2 here as they grabbed two quick kills, but World Elite edged back into the game thanks to some aggressive plays.   After 21 minutes, the European team darted forward into the midlane and picked a team fight.  G2 couldn’t counter the knock ups, four players went down, and World Elite then rushed in to take the Baron.

WE began to look a bit more like the imposing team seen in the Group Stage as they strolled into G2’s base to force a fourth game.

Game Four

G2 didn’t waste any time making their moves, swooping in to take three towers within the first 15 minutes of the game.  Hoping to force a fifth game, World Elite’s Condi jumps in and steals a Baron from G2 but WE comes away limping, losing three of their players and a tower in the process.

World Elite attempt to steal another Baron, but G2 take out Condi up top, take out the fleeing 957, and take the Baron.  The team then moved swiftly into World Elite’s base to take the game and the match.

It was quite the turnaround for G2 Esports, who went from being “also-rans” in Europe to being the region’s hope here on the international stage at MSI.

The team will need energy from the whole of Europe to get past the formidable SKT.  The teams will face off on Sunday in the Grand Finals.

Photos/Videos courtesy of Riot Games.