G2 Esports vs Team Vitality

The most anticipated match of the week for sure and with good reason. We have a clash between the Kings of Europe and a team filled with hungry young rookies that have been demolishing teams left and right ever since their first game on the EU LCS stage.

G2 eSports is currently tied for second place along with Giants and Fnatic and is sitting rather comfortably with a 5-3 record. They managed to string four straight victories after getting demolished in week two at the hands of Giants Gaming and Fnatic. Perhaps most importantly, G2 was able to take down arguably their biggest playoffs competitor in Schalke 04 on Friday and thus take the lead in the standings. Schalke got the better of G2 in the early game through a long skirmish in the bottom lane and held the lead for quite a long time but they were never able to capitalize fully, to close out the game. After 57 minutes of fighting G2 got the better end of the trade and managed to close it out.

In their Saturday game against the Unicorns of Love however they looked a lot more shaky. It wasn't perhaps their lack of coordination, but the level on which the Unicorns played at. A lot of people are undervaluing the boys in pink (and with somewhat good reason) but they've shown steady improvement as well. They brought the game to G2 and made it one hell of a fight. While UOL lead in kills, G2 always stayed ahead in gold and objectives and only waited for their slightly superior late game to kick in. After almost 40 minutes of back-and-forth action, G2 was able to close it out, much like the

Hjarnan's bad positioning is one of the biggest issues that plagued G2's play over the last couple of weeks, however he stays serviceable throughout the entirety of the games he plays. While that's not exactly what you'd like from your ADC, it's still good enough - at least for now. Luckily for G2 Wunder has been playing incredibly well, he's the consistent dominant force in the top lane (something that couldn't always be said for his Splyce days) and paired with Jankos and Perkz who have been playing on a fantastic level as well, they're a force to be reckoned with even with an underperforming bottom lane.

Team Vitality on the other hand have been nothing short of brilliant over the last four weeks. Their confidence, their approach to the game, their individual mechanical prowess and willingness to go for plays other teams wouldn't separate them from the rest of the EU LCS. Even Cabochard, the biggest veteran on the roster and staple EU toplaner has been playing incredibly well - above and beyond what we've seen from him over the last couple of years that could only be described as "pure mediocrity". However the biggest spotlight has to be on the Gilius, Jiizuke and the bottom lane Minitroupax and Jactroll. They've entered the LCS without a doubt in their mind that they're the best team in the region, and their play as been proof of that. They've demolished every team they've faced, and if it wasn't for a bad Baron call against Misfits, they would have had a spotless record coming into week five.

They're not perfect, they make mistakes and overextend more often than not, but their teamplay is what allows them to come out victorious almost every single time. Jiizuke is the frontrunner for the "Rookie of the Split" award after only a couple of games played. While he was pretty good in the Challenger Series when he was on Giants, he was rarely the main carry. It was more up to Minitroupax and his staple Caitlyn to carry them to victory, however ever since they've entered the LCS, the "Italian Stallion" has been the focus of the team. He displayed incredible prowess on Ryze, Malzahar, Azir and even Zoe - all four hotly contested meta picks. He is exactly the vocal leader the Vitality squad needs and barring any unexpected meta shifts they have the tools to remain number one for the entirety of the split.

We're going with Vitality here. It's a hard game to predict for sure, because even though G2 improve heavily with each passing week, Vitality are simply playing on another level. They're fearless, and if Gilius manages to smite Baron at least once this time - they have the edge. G2 eSports on the other hand have a ton of weaknesses that became obvious depending on the opponent and the state of the game, but it's mostly on an individual level.

That said, this is far, far from an easy game. It could by all means reach the 60 minute mark where the outcome of the game hangs on just a single teamfight.