G2 Esports claimed victory in the LEC season finals over Fnatic yesterday, and they did so in one of the bloodiest series in recent professional League of Legends memory. In all three of the games that G2 won in their 3-1 series victory, the team averaged over a kill per minute, which was a testament to how the team has played all summer.
In game one against Fnatic, G2 had 27 kills in 27 minutes. They then put up 26 kills across a 25-minute second game, and after dropping game three, they bounced right back to put up 24 kills in a 23-minute game four clincher.
Across the four-game set, mid laner Caps and AD carry Hans Sama led the way with 30 and 27 kills to their names, respectively, while jungler Yike and support Mikyx each eclipsed the 50-assist threshold during the match.
G2’s kill-heavy performance against Fnatic was exemplary of the team’s playstyle all summer. During this split, the team averaged 18.9 kills per game, which was the highest among all teams in League’s four major regions, according to LoL stats site Games of Legends.
Furthermore, three out of the top five teams in the world in the kills per game category hail from the West, with Golden Guardians and NRG each having 15.3 kills per game this summer. That’s uncharacteristic for Western squads, whose games are usually less bloody than those between Eastern (especially Chinese) teams. During last year’s Summer Split, four of the top five teams in the kills per game category were from either China or Korea, with the lone exception being, of course, G2.
Additionally, G2 were one of just 11 major region teams this summer to hold an average game time below the 30-minute mark—and they’ve done that while holding an eye-watering record of 27-6 in games dating back to the start of the Summer Split on June 17.
There’s a case to be made that G2 are one of the hottest teams in the world coming into the final tournament of the season. And if they’re going to find success on the international stage, they’ll need to keep playing with the same sense of urgency that drove them to another LEC title.
G2 will begin their run to the Summoner’s Cup when the Worlds Swiss stage begins on Oct. 19. The tournament itself begins with the Worlds Qualifying Series on Oct. 9.
