In a thrilling five-games series, G2 Esports prevailed over Splyce in the European League of Legends Championship Series Summer quarterfinals in Berlin on Sunday.
This series was predicted to be close, and Splyce delivered, pushing G2 to its absolute limit from the very beginning. Game 1 was as back and forth as they come, with Splyce getting out to a 4,000-gold lead by the 14-minute mark before G2 took back the lead with a Baron steal at 27 minutes. However, Splyce's brilliant combination of Camille for top laner Martin "Wunder" Hansen and Galio for mid laner Chres "Sencux" Laursen along with the Black Shield of Mihael J "Mikyx" Mehle's Morgana ensured that G2 AD carry Jesper "Zven" Svenningsen's Tristana was never safe, allowing Splyce to take back the lead and the game.
G2 took a fairly simple Game 2 thanks to a poor draft from Splyce, but the remaining three games were just as wild as the first. Leads were thrown and retaken throughout, and the games remained close despite both teams consistently changing up their picks and strategies. By Game 5, things finally seemed to have calmed down, with no kills until the 19-minute mark. However, the game exploded the instant first blood went down. Both teams had two solid late-game carries, with G2's Ashe and Cassiopeia facing off against Splyce's Xayah and Orianna. Ultimately, it all came down to one fight at Baron, which G2 took 4-for-0 to claim the series.
Despite the win, several questions have now been raised for the G2 lineup. Mid laner Luka "Perkz" Perkovic was consistently outperformed by Sencux, whose last three games on Orianna were a thing to behold, and whose Command: Shockwaves onto both G2 carries won Game 4 for his team. However, Zven performed well throughout, with solid games on Tristana, Caitlyn and Ashe. It is unclear whether Splyce stepped up in this near-upset, or G2 simply isn't the team it used to be, but the rest of G2 will certainly need to step it up if it hopes to stand a chance against H2K Gaming next Sunday at 11 a.m. ET in Paris.