G2 Esports vs Team Vitality

G2 Esports taking on Team Vitality in a Best of 5? Where do we sign up! A clash of titans, is what this is, and also a most volatile match-up — one in which no team in particular deserves to be favored. They're both good and, depending on the day, pretty bad, too. Their highs are impressive but seldom attained. Their potential is immense but it is yet to be fully realized.

On a good day they're nigh unstoppable. On a bad one, however, they're as meek and flawed and exploitable as even the worst of teams. And it is precisely this volatility, this inherent proclivity towards the unstable, that makes predicting this particular Best of 5 nigh impossible. It is a fool's errand, one that couldn't possibly yield any confident, definitive conclusion. We simply don't know what'll happen and any prediction will, therefore, by proxy, be a wild stab in the dark — a leap of faith, if you will.

In certain scenarios and set-ups, G2 are superior. In others, however, they fall flat. The same goes for Vitality, too. Still, we can deconstruct this particular match-up to its bare essentials. How do G2 go about getting their wins? Thus far it has almost always been through Broken Blade, undoubtedly one of the best top laners in the LEC (and, by proxy, the West). Jankos and Caps tend to play a more ancillary role, albeit no less vital. Jankos has had quite a spectacular split, but he didn't have as many pop-off moments as some of his less experienced peers. Caps, on the other hand, was more of a shadow than anything else. Solid, but far from great and impactful, and not at all the Caps we've all become so accustomed to seeing, the crazy, rule-bending, genius who had once long ago made a name for himself on the biggest stage in Europe and, subsequently, the world.

G2's bottom lane has also been somewhat... middling and acceptable. Not particularly impressive of mind-blowing but solid nonetheless. They're never the reason why G2 wins but they *have* been pulling their weight, so they're not a hindrance either.

They are, as a whole, somewhat *uneven*. A stellar top laner, a legendary mid and jungle duo, and a fairly mediocre bottom lane, one that, while certainly capable, is nowhere near good enough to compete with the Upsets and Hylissangs of the world. Heck, they're not even *remotely* close to their level. A different league altogether.

Vitality's line-up, on other hand, is a lot more powerful — on paper, at least. Their players are all mechanical beasts and behemoths, deities just waiting to etch their names and represent their region on the biggest of stages. Players we've all been watching for years and prodigies who've earned our absolute respect and reverence. For some odd reason, though, they're actually weaker *when combined* than in isolation. How that's even possible is beyond us, but we have a big enough sample size to be able to say it with some semblance of confidence. They're akin to Evil Geniuses over in North America, a team stacked with talent and potential and yet, weirdly enough, they rarely manage to execute and deliver in the heat of the moment, once the going gets rough and their backs happen to be up against the wall.

They've come this far so they've obviously done *something* right, but anything other than a Top 2 finish would, frankly, be considered a catastrophe and a fiasco. Vitality spent as much as they did with just a singular in mind: to win the LEC and, in doing so, usher in a new kind of dynasty.

Unfortunately, their goal will remain a dream, seemingly out of reach.

The reason why is quite simple: Vitality have a solution for nearly any possible route G2 could take. That doesn't mean they'll employ said solution appropriately and in the heat of the moment, but they have the right tools for the job, which only further complicates *our* job. Broken Blade is amazing, there's no doubt about it, but Alphari's even better. He is the de facto best laning top laner the West has ever produced. He can — and will — counter whatever Broken Blade might bring to the table. He did the same to Finn, too, who was exploited and punished beyond measure just a few days ago.

Jankos is great but so is Selfmade; he might not be as experienced but is nonetheless an absolute beast with a hugely impactful playstyle. He can definitely match Jankos when it comes to aggression and mechanics, and will surely get preferential treatment in the pick and ban phase so as to stand the best possible chance in neutralizing G2 and, in turn, getting his teammates ahead. Then we have Perkz and Caps, two players who are, in all fairness, somewhat waning. They're past their prime, in other words, but can still compete at the highest of levels and, perhaps most importantly, clutch things out when it matters most. Perkz, in particular, has retained this vast and incredibly rare talent, and it was once again on display last week when Vitality were on the brink of losing to EXCEL. Perkz can — and most often *will* — deliver when his team needs it the most. He's a one-of-a-kind player, and while Caps definitely had higher highs over the years, he's neither as consistent nor clutch as his former Croatian ally.

And last but certainly not least, we have the bottom lane conundrum. Vitality's duo is fantastic, if a bit inconsistent and not particularly cohesive. Flakked and Targamas might have more synergy but their potential *as a duo* is nowhere near as high as that of Carzzy and Labrov's. The meta is now also more favorable towards Carzzy's champion pool (Aphelios and Zeri galore) and that, in short, could end up making the biggest difference. Broken Blade, Jankos, and Caps can all fend for themselves, but unless Flakked and Targamas get ample jungle attention (and, if possible, draft preference), they probably won't be able to trade blows with Vitality's bottom lane duo. And, even if they end up exceeding expectations, they're still nowhere near as impactful in the mid and later stages of the game.

Carzzy is not only a shotcaller but a very clutch individual as well, one who's capable of making the game-winning play in the most stressful of situations; we saw that last week as well.

To summarize: Vitality have more tools to work with, more potential avenues for success, and lanes through which they could play through. Not all of these avenues are equally as promising, but it's nice to have options and ample veteran presence should the series go the five-game distance.

There's not a single thing about this Best of 5 that can be predicted beforehand. Both teams are, at times, exceedingly volatile. That, in other words, means there's not a soul alive that can make any kind of prediction with confidence. With that being said, Vitality are ever so slightly more dangerous (or well-equipped, rather), so we'll side with them on this one and hope that they'll actually deliver — this is their shot at proving their (many) doubters wrong.

Will they be up to the challenge?