G2 Esports returns to Europe as the conquering heroes of the League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational coming off their the region's first international tournament win since 2011.
When the team brought over Fnatic's generational talent Rasmus "Caps" Winther this offseason to pair with the role-swapping face of the franchise Luka "Perkz" Perković, G2 wanted to be more than simply the best team in Europe: They wanted to be the best in the world. After MSI, G2 can call themselves that until the world championships in October, and anything other than another 3-0 sweep in the League European Championship finals would be considered a massive disappointment.
It's not going to be a cakewalk, though. The nine other franchises in the LEC all know G2 are the ones to beat heading into the season, and a few have done their best in the short offseason between spring and summer splits to upgrade for the uphill fight against the Samurai.
Here are my five predictions for what very well could be the best league in the world.
1. G2 Esports will face Fnatic in the league final
It seemed to be the destined final last split when Fnatic turned their season around late to make a run into the LEC spring playoffs. Everything was set up for a finale worthy of primetime TV, with Caps facing off against the team that he led to the finals of last year's world championship to only join G2 in the offseason.
Origen, however, had other plans and were the ones to take on G2 in the final.
This split, I believe we're going to get the fated final that could break viewership records in Europe. Tim "Nemesis" Lipovšek wasn't going to fill the void left by Caps overnight, but with a split under his belt, I expect the Slovenian teenager to establish himself in the upper echelon of mid laners. While G2's placement in the final shouldn't be hard to argue, Fnatic are going to need to beat a slew of challenges to have a shot at G2.
Gabriël "Bwipo" Rau circled as the player that will get Fnatic to the finals. Last year, he was a revelation for the team, a driving force on the top side of the map alongside Caps and Mads "Broxah" Brock-Pedersen. During the spring split, he was inconsistent at best and lagged behind players he'll need to be better than if Fnatic wants any shot of toppling the current G2 juggernaut. Also, watch out for sub jungler Daniel "Dan" Hockley, who is expected to possibly get playing time alongside Broxah. Fnatic's topside was key to their team's success last year, and Broxah or Dan will need to make that part of the map a focus again this summer going into worlds.
2. G2 Esports will lose three games or fewer this season en route to another title
This team is too good. To be honest, if I didn't think that G2 would give a game or two away just because they want to try something silly, I'd put them down for sweeping the entire split without dropping a single game. This team is good enough to go throughout the entire regular season and playoffs without dropping a map. The only reason that's not going to happen is that there will be games, like when G2 played Invictus Gaming at MSI, where the top European team picked top lane Vayne against Akali in a matchup they hadn't practiced before.
G2 aren't afraid to have fun onstage, and they know they're better than everyone in Europe. I think the rest of the teams will catch up in the coming seasons as new talents are discovered in the flourishing European minor leagues, but for 2019, G2 have this on lock.
3. Excel Esports is going to finish last by the end of the split
I liked what Excel did in their first season as a League of Legends franchise, so of course, they follow that up with some baffling choices going into their second.
It's not that I don't like Son "Mickey" Young-min. I've followed his career since his debut game years ago as part of Anarchy in his home country of South Korea. In his prime, I'm not being hyperbolic when I say Mickey was one of the best mechanical talents in the entire world. On his best day, he was just as good as Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok. He was close to even winning an MVP award in the South Korean domestic league. He was that good.
The problem with Mickey, though, is that for every Faker-esque game he puts on, even in his prime, there were four or five games where he was a detriment to his team. For teams Mickey plays on to succeed, they need to play around Mickey. When he's at his peak, that's fine, but when he's dying needlessly and causing unforced errors, there is no player you want less to be your starting mid laner.
Despite that notorious inconsistency, Excel are going all-in on the mercurial mid laner. If the Mickey gambit somehow pays off, he meshes well with the team and he's at the level when he almost was MVP in South Korea, then this squad is going to the playoffs and could contend for a spot at worlds. More than likely, though, Mickey is going to have as much success as he had in North America and be out of the starting lineup by Week 4 while the rest of the roster is figuring out how to salvage a damaged start of the split.
On the plus side, Petter "Hjarnan" Freyschuss is back and on Excel, so we might get to see some Heimerdinger bot lane games intermixed with Mickey trying to one-on-nine carry with LeBlanc.
4. SK Gaming will finish top four
I still have the top three teams of the previous split -- G2, Fnatic, and Origen -- making it to the world championships, but if I had to pick, I'd say SK have the potential to knock either Fnatic or Origen out of the running. They surprised the LEC by making it to the playoffs with a relatively inexperienced roster in the spring, and SK made one change going into the summer, with Toni "Sacre" Sabalić coming in as the team's' new starting top laner.
Oskar "Selfmade" Bo Derek is divisive. He speaks what is on his mind and plays his own game, regardless of what others think. For the most part, that resulted in nothing but good in his LEC rookie split, and he was one of the best players in the entire league. In the playoffs, though, his hubris might have gotten the best of him, as his decision to go Infinity Edge on Rek'Sai turned out to be one of the worst games of his pro career and a death knell for his team in the postseason vs. Splyce.
A sophomore slump is possible for Selfmade and his team, but I'm betting on the opposite result. Choi "Pirean" Jun-sik is underrated and selfless at the mid lane position, and I'm excited to see how the team's bottom lane, especially AD carry Juš "Crownshot" Marušič, performs.
5. Misfits will shake off an embarrassing spring split to make playoffs
This team is too good to miss the playoffs for a second-straight split. I'm not saying they're going to reach their preseason expectations of fighting for a league title, but getting to the postseason, even in a difficult field of teams, should be expected for this squad.
When Misfits signed one of the best supports in the history of the game, Kang "GorillA" Beom-hyun, in the offseason, they weren't aiming to just get to the playoffs. Misfits had aspirations of challenging for international titles, but those dreams have to be refocused to at least getting into the top-six and then banking on the team's vast experience to carry them to a deep run into the playoffs.
Despite a down split for the team itself, mid laner Fabian "Febiven" Diepstraten had a strong comeback after playing in North America for a year on Clutch Gaming. Febiven is happier back in Europe, and although he's still nowhere near his peak when he was Fnatic's golden boy, there is hope he can get back to that point with a better performance from the players around him. If the Misfits can find any sort of stability in the jungle with either Nubar "Maxlore" Sarafian or new signee Thomas "Kirei" Yuen, then this team should make it back to relevancy and a spot in the playoffs.