G2 Caps: "We don't want to repeat last year's spring failure."

G2 Caps: "We don't want to repeat last year's spring failure." | Sheep Esports

"I don't think that anyone will beat us, but definitely, everyone can if we don't show up."

One of the best mid-laners that Europe has ever produced, Caps and G2 Esports are now readying up for their match against Team BDS in the LEC 2024 Spring Playoffs. After an impressive victory against Fnatic, the team's mid-laner sits down in an exclusive interview to discuss expectations, international play, and more.

| G2 scored a convincing victory against Fnatic in the LEC 2024 Spring Playoffs. How are you feeling after this 2-0?

Caps: "I'm definitely feeling excited! I think that we've shown that we improved a lot from yesterday already. We fixed some of the things that went wrong and stalled our games against MDK; it made our match against FNC much cleaner."

"I made a bit of a mistake in the early game by dying but, it ended up not being too impactful. I'm just happy with how everyone played on the team. We played really well today and I'm hoping we can keep the momentum going next week!"

| Were you happy to play Aurelion Sol today? I'll always remember your pentakill back in the 2016 EUCS.

Caps: "It definitely feels good to play ASol. He's gotten reworked so I don't know if I have the same... connection? I really liked the old Aurelion Sol but, the new one is pretty cool as well. It was fun to pull him out since I haven't gotten to play him much in recent times. The early game was a bit tough but, it's always fun to just fly over the enemy and all! Maybe I flew a bit too close to the sun today. Thankfully, it ended up working out though."

| We're used to seeing you play on the edge sometimes, but it all works out in the end!

| In your second game, you played Azir, one of the most popular mid-laners in professional play after being re-enabled. On social media, I have seen people suggest the possibility of introducing a "Global Champion Banning Rotations" in which certain champions that are too dominant could be removed from a certain amount of time to promote a more diverse meta. Do you think that this could be a good idea?

Caps: "I think it could be interesting to try it out but, at the same time, it'd require a lot of parameters to work, right? It would probably have to be globally enabled and for a defined period because, if this happened as it did with the recent Azir disable in the middle of a split, that would be problematic. If it just happened suddenly in between weeks, it would feel very random and detrimental."

"There's also the issue that disabling certain champions would impact teams and players differently. It could be very unfair if a player's picks would randomly get disabled in a season. You'd need some sort of committee able to make these decisions while completely unbiased, right?"

"Overall, I think there could be a lot of problems but, if you find a way to make it global and maybe only have it for regular season and not for international tournaments, then maybe that could be a good way of doing it."

"For international tournaments, I think that teams from different regions each have different strengths and, it's better to see everyone just play what they want."

| So far, this split has been much better when compared to G2's 2023 Spring Split. Still, how do you feel playing without much stakes considering that you are already qualified for MSI? What has been your way of approaching it all?

Caps: "I think there are still a lot of stakes for us. We have very high expectations of ourselves. When we have moments like the last week of the regular season, during which we lost two games back-to-back... we consider that unacceptable. A lot of us have been very frustrated with our results and, we really tried to push even further to fix our issues this week. It feels good to see our efforts pay off."

"Losing obviously sucks and, we get frustrated simply because we want to win it all, right? Still, losing does give you the advantage of highlighting your flaws, whether it be the draft or any part of the game. We took a lot of things from last week's losses and, I think we're improving well. We're doing better in scrims now but, we've had a hard time implementing all of these new notions, especially as seen against MDK."

"Huge shout-out to Hans Sama who has been really stepping up in our communications. He made sure that we would stay focused and play the same as we did in scrims before, despite my death at level 1. Overall, I feel like we were very clean in this series."

| This match felt like a statement from G2. It must have felt good after many people expressed skepticism toward your team's performances. Do you feel like any team in Europe can beat you? Who are you looking forward to facing internationally?

Caps: "I believe we, and I have proven that there's always someone who can beat us. I think anyone can beat us. It's up to us to make sure they won't."

"I don't think that anyone will beat us, but definitely, everyone can if we don't show up if they come up with some new strategies, and if we don't put in the necessary effort and work hard in the next two weeks. So, I'm not going to take anything for granted. I think this split is still very important for us. We don't want to repeat last year's spring failure. Therefore, we're aiming for the top."

"Regarding international competition, I believe it's always a lot of fun to play against all the different LPL and LCK teams. Specifically, going up against T1, facing Faker, is always enjoyable, right? I've had the fortune of doing it a few times, and I'm eager to do it again because it's a lot of fun, especially given their current form. They are a tough opponent, but tough opponents are where you can prove yourself. So, I'm hoping we can face them."

| TL just won the LCS; the last time you met them at MSI in 2019, you won the tournament. Maybe it's the year of G2?

Caps: "They'll eliminate all the LPL teams, we take care of the LCK ones, and then we meet in the finals!"

| With the rise of tournaments such as the Red Bull League of Its Own and the controversial Esports World Cup, do you believe that shifting away from regional leagues towards incorporating more international tournaments and majors, like those seen in VALORANT and Counter-Strike, would benefit LoL Esports? Do you personally desire more international tournaments?

Caps: "I can't say if it would be positive for our esports since I'm just a player and, it all depends on how it's executed and if fan opinions are heard properly, right? Still, I think it would definitely be nice for us in a sense, right? If we got to compete more internationally, then I think we would have a better shot at tournaments like Worlds for example. We'd get more experience against the LCK and LPL teams, it'd help us catch up to them more easily."

"At the same time though, I feel like I really want to win Worlds and, if that system somehow changed, I would kind of be sad in a way. Sure you can still have Worlds with a format like that but, with more tournaments, I feel like winning Worlds wouldn't be as special anymore. I wouldn't want to feel that I won because of other factors which were added up."

"I want to continue my hard work and I want to keep improving upon myself. It's something that I've been trying to get for many years and, I think that even if having more tournaments would be great, I want to win Worlds first. That has been and always will be my goal."

| You will be playing against BDS again next week. Do you have any thoughts going into that match?

Caps: "Yeah, when we faced them last split, they definitely appeared stronger. Comparatively, they had a lot of shaky games this split. But we also had our fair share of shaky games, and I believe we executed a really good plan against them last time."

"I'm not exactly sure what our plan will be yet, but I think we'll figure that out. If we put in a lot of work and figure out how to counter what they're doing, that will obviously give us an edge. So, I plan to go back and review many of their games to see what we can do to counter them."

"But I definitely feel confident, and it's on us to win that game. As long as we stay hardworking and creative, because we've learned some valuable lessons from our losses, as I mentioned. Even though we're winning now, there are still mistakes we're making, still areas we can improve on."

"It can be challenging when you're winning, but we're still demonstrating many areas where we can do better."

G2 Caps, walking onto the LEC stage with his team. Credit: Michal Konkol/Riot Games

Header Photo Credit: Michal Konkol/Riot Games

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