Any rumors about G2 Esports undergoing a slump were banished Sunday morning when it took to the Rift against H2K Gaming in a swift three-game series during the semifinals of the European League of Legends Championship Series.
It was another result that utterly defied expectations, as many hedged their bets on H2K to win the series, and it's easy to see why. G2 Esports is hot off a surprisingly close series against Splyce in the quarterfinals, while H2K were sitting high with its first place finish in Group B, which made it the presumptive best team in the region after Fnatic, who actually fell yesterday on the other end of the semifinals bracket. As such, hopes weren't very high for G2 coming into Sunday.
However, it was not the G2 Esports of last week who appeared on the Rift against H2K. With the exception of Game 1, it was G2 Esports who were the bold and aggressive team, as it found the bulk of the early kills either through individual laning or the incredible gank pressure that jungler Kim "Trick" Kang-yun put down on his Sejuani all throughout the series. With such an onslaught from G2, H2K hardly seemed to know how to react after the defeat at the end of the long and fiercely contested Game 1, as it utterly collapsed in Games 2 and 3 before G2 Esports' constant and expertly applied pressure.
H2K now looks ahead to the gauntlet, where they will compete once again for a ticket to Worlds.