in a battle of former league of legends worlds semifinalists, g2 esports took on origen in the finals of the 2019 lec spring split playoffs. the former eu lcs champions g2 came in as the favorites with a first-place finish in the regular season. after g2 swept them in their previous match, origen were hungry for revenge. with the wild eu crowd and the insane atmosphere in rotterdam’s ahoy arena, we were in for a big series.
game 1
g2 weren’t trying to hide their cards as they opted for the popular sona/taric bot-lane right off the bat. the teams were fairly even for the first part of the early game, but origen were able to pull slightly ahead after a fight near the dragon pit. however, they weren’t able to run away with a sizable lead as both teams traded blows left and right. around the 27th minute, g2 were able to secure the baron and get some kills, taking control of the game. they won the next team fight and end the game without hesitation.
game 2
after a tough loss in the first match, origen decided to take a page from g2’s playbook. they picked the same bot lane as g2 had last game and even added the yasuo in the mid-lane. however, their picks were quickly overshadowed by g2. bringing back old memories, the team went for a funnel composition with morgana and pyke in the middle lane. it paid off tremendously, as they were able to get an early lead on luka “perkz” perkovič after a failed gank by origen.
their lead only escalated as g2 locked down kill after kill and objective after objective. g2 forced origen into a fight around baron, resulting in origen nearly getting aced. the funnel xayah and ryze were just too strong as g2 won in just under 25 minutes.
game 3
with their backs against the wall, origen had to do something drastic to keep their dreams alive. going for an aggressive draven/galio bottom lane, they thought betting on pro evo soccer on their star adc in “patrik” jírů would be enough. unfortunately, it wasn’t, as g2 once again amassed a massive lead in the early game. a combination of individual outplays as well as superior map control meant origen’s chances were becoming dire.
setting an lec record for the fastest win of all time, g2 closed out the series with an 18-minute shellacking.
this is the fifth european title for the g2 organization. with this win, they have secured themselves a spot at the mid season invitational as the european representatives.
