G2 Esports Win Western War Against Team Liquid at MSI 2019
By Wyatt Fossett ·
It was an absolutely dominating performance for the G2 Esports' super-team built for international destruction. The all western MSI finals was a record-setting battle to behold.
The time for glory arrived, and for the first time ever it would be a North America versus Europe bout to determine an MSI Champion.
Regardless of the outcome, western dominance over the scariest regions in Korea and China make the entire tournament a win. Both of these teams have been built for international success, with the domestic dominance coming as a result of such planning and signings. The paradigm shift in competitive League of Legends has begun.
“Not only have they [G2 and TL] subverted expectations, but they’ve done it in such exciting fashion.” Riot Kobe, Shoutcaster
A Grand Rapid Start
The first game in the best-of-five began in a fiery explosion in the favor of G2 Esports, as the entire team seemed to collapse on Team Liquid members sans support. Quick kills rapidly grew G2 to a 4-0 kills and 2k gold lead at only 8-minutes in Game 1.
It seemed as the snowball continued to grow for G2 Esports, that the adversity they faced against SK Telecom T1 in the Semifinals taught them a thing or two. One thing SKT had on G2 during their whole series was the deep vision on the enemy side of the map, and they put that lesson to work right away against Team Liquid. They saw everything. At 15-minutes, G2 Esports had the largest gold lead at all of MSI 2019 surpassing 6,000 gold difference.
It was Mikyx, leading his team to victory on the back of a 20-kill participation performance. There was not enough constitution on earth to keep Team Liquid in this one, they got smoked.
Caps or Claps?
When it came time for Game 2, Team Liquid quickly banned away Mikyx’s Rakan that caused them so much trouble in the first game. Things looked good for TL in their second at-bat against G2 Esports, but the beefy build of the EU champions out-played them in the end, and they just couldn’t overcome some of the mistakes made during big team fights.
Caps in the mid-lane for G2 Esports definitely showed up in a big bad way, absolutely walking all over Team Liquid at almost every turn. His choice of ultimates to steal and use against TL was prime Sylas play.
The final team game-changing team fight saw Team Liquid split and half of the remaining living members peel off, turning the back-and-forth game into a pure snowball. G2 Esports would take that ball and run with it, all the way down into the North American’s base.
EU > NA
In the first match-point game of the MSI 2019 finals, Team Liquid finally picked up Kai’Sa for Doublelift, who has stormed through the tournament on that champion thus far. On the other hand, Caps took his once-popular Irelia pick to try and win it all.
Unfortunately for North America, any momentum Team Liquid got from Game 2 did not follow them into Game 3, and G2 Esports once again absolutely stomped all over them.
On top of that, G2 Esports defeated Team Liquid in a world record-setting finals performance.
G2 Esports - 2019 MSI Champions
The now crowned best team in the world in G2 Esports have a lot to be very proud of. Players like Jankos, Mikyx, Caps, and Wunder all popping off at times during all of MSI, and most importantly, this series.
Congrats to @G2esports for being the better team today.
— Team Liquid LoL (@TeamLiquidLoL) May 19, 2019
This is a setback but there are still many positives from #MSI2019 pic.twitter.com/fXkfWAA313
The Team Liquid team that demolished Invictus Gaming the night before didn’t show up on Championship Sunday. As well, the G2 Esports that just barely beat SK Telecom the prior day didn’t show up.
“Words can’t describe what it feels like to be the best team in the World, and the first Western Team to win MSI. None of this would have been possible without the support of our fans and partners and the hard work of our incredible staff and team. To beat the NA champions 3-0 is an incredible feeling. G2Army I hope we made you proud!" - Carlos "Ocelote", G2 Esports Owner
Every moment of this series was either even (for very little time) or completely G2’s in possession.
WE DID IT.
— G2 Esports (@G2esports) May 19, 2019
WE ARE THE BEST TEAM IN THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!#MSI2019 pic.twitter.com/V7Wq05Z3Lr
Now, as the world reels from an MSI final that no one expected, the outlook for future international League of Legends competitions changes from here on out.