They've done it—G2 Esports have broken the curse at Worlds 2025, qualifying for the bracket stage for the first time in five years. Kings of the League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC), the Samurais have finally restored hope by taking revenge on FlyQuest, punching their ticket to Shanghai and escaping the Swiss Stage. In an exclusive interview, star midlaner Rasmus “Caps” Borregaard Winther sat down with Sheep Esports ahead of the quarterfinals to discuss his team’s historic qualification, the current state of G2, and his goals after nearly nine years competing in the LEC.

How does it feel to finally return to the Worlds bracket stage after five years, especially considering past near-misses and facing BLG again?

Rasmus “Caps” Borregaard Winther: “It feels really good. We were quite close, especially the last two years, but we came up short. This match was super close, but we finally got the better end of it—especially beating BLG, the team that sent us home the last two years. I'm happy with the result, of course, and I just really want to make the most out of this Worlds.

I don't know if we necessarily felt cursed. I definitely think Europe has been a bit weaker than in 2019–2020, and it definitely felt a lot harder to get out of groups. It’s been a bit of a struggle, but we finally made it. It will still be tough to beat most of the LCK teams and some of the LPL teams as well, but we’ll do our best. We get a lot of time to prepare for each team, and it’s best-of-five, fearless. So we're going to look to create some chaos in the games.

What do you think is the current level of European teams?

Caps: I don't know if I would say we're quite back. It’s been tough for all the EU teams. Obviously, I have a lot of faith in MKOI, but it’s definitely a tough road. Every series will be a struggle for us, but at the end of the day, we’ll try our very best. We got a week to prepare and, if we really study our opponents and make the most out of our practice, we can for sure beat anyone.

We came into this Worlds quite far behind a lot of the other teams, but we were already catching up on many concepts. It was the same with MSI—we were very far behind there as well. But by the end of MSI and the start of EWC, we caught up on a lot of concepts. If we can keep this up, we can definitely take down whoever we face in the quarters. It’s just about going back to the grind.

Both teams seemed less proactive at times during today’s match. Why do you think that happened?

Caps: In general, we’re just not a very proactive team. It’s one of our big struggles, among other things we’ve been working on. It got a lot better this Summer, but when you’re in a very stressful situation, it’s easy to slip back into being a bit more passive. This match was especially stressful for us because we were up against FlyQuest—we really wanted to beat them. They took us out at MSI, and we haven’t beaten them yet, but hopefully they draw someone difficult now. Or I guess we could face them in the quarters as well—that would be fun too.

Basically, we just fell back into some of our bad habits, and for sure we could have played much more aggressively—there were many opportunities we didn’t take. I’m just happy that in the last game we went for some good opportunities and found some good fights.

With G2’s recent history, did this bracket qualifying match feel even more stressful than a quarterfinal?

Caps: For sure. Also, considering how the last few years went—losing to BLG in the last game, super close, and also losing to NRG—we really wanted to win today. Obviously, we still had one more shot, so it wasn’t all or nothing, but I definitely think best-of-five gives us a few more chances and a lot more time to prepare. Right now, it felt very chaotic in terms of what we want to play and what they want to play. We don’t have as good a read on them as we hopefully will for the quarterfinals.

With your recent games—wins against BLG, MKOI, and FlyQuest, but a loss to TES—how ready do you feel for the bracket stage? Have you been tested enough to face the top teams?

Caps: It was definitely an easier road than the last two years. We had some really tough years, facing a lot of LPL and LCK teams. This time, we only had two. Two is still decent. We managed to beat BLG, but got stomped by Top Esports.

The thing is, most of our games had very bad early games. Even this series, and our MKOI game too, we were behind early. Our early games definitely need some work. As you mentioned, we are a bit too passive, and that’s something we improved a lot in Summer. Now we just need to bring that to the international stage. Teams play a lot more aggressively and confidently; everyone shows it in the game. It makes sense that our reaction might be a bit more passive at the start, but we really need to keep up the action and keep them fighting. We can't just let them do whatever they want, because then, I agree, we will lose. But I believe we can take down anyone.

Many fans have criticized Rudy “SkewMond” Semaan and Labros “Labrov” Papoutsakis this year—do you think today’s performance gives them a much-needed confidence boost?

Caps: Huge shout out to both SkewMond and Labrov. I think they improved so much this year, and we as a team improved just as much. It’s never just about one guy—it’s always about the team as a whole. As I said, we improved on many things this year and became a lot more proactive. But we were definitely a bit more passive in this series, and it’s not just on Skew—it’s on everyone. It’s on everyone to come up with solid plans, to really read what our opponents are doing, to predict and react, and to come up with some crazy counters.

You’ve been Europe’s star for years now and remain a central figure in the LEC. How do you feel about your level at this Worlds now, especially after so many years? Do you still feel at your peak, like you were maybe five years ago?

Caps: It’s always very tough with League because it’s so team-reliant, as I mentioned before. All it takes is one wrong call and I’ll die—maybe someone doesn’t flash, or someone else sets me up really well and suddenly I have a great game from that.

As a team, we’re maybe not at the highest level we’ve been compared to some other years, but I also think Fearless has caused a bit of chaos. Everyone is just a little bit worse, to be honest, because they get put on more uncomfortable champions. We’re aware of it—we know we’re not that comfortable on certain picks, and sometimes we don’t know what our opponents will play. You can see it in the games—teams don’t play as well as they have in previous years.

For me individually, I still feel very confident. I came into the LEC in 2017 with the goal of winning Worlds, and if I ever feel like I can’t win Worlds or can’t compete, I’ll just retire. That’s what I’m playing to achieve. And now that we’re here in the quarters, I’m going to give everything I can to finally do it.

Do you have any final words for G2 fans?

Caps: A big thank you for all the support. It's amazing to have so many people cheering for us. Even in the crowd today, I was actually surprised by how many G2 fans were here. Thank you to everyone supporting us online and in person—we really need it. Next week could be a tough series, depending on who we draw, so any support you can give us will be appreciated. We’ll do our best to live up to all your expectations.”