G2 Dylan Falco: "We are capable of taking BO5s against anyone"

"We always have more spicy picks ready. Try not to overcook it. We don't want to go full troll."

Today marks a significant triumph for European League of Legends as G2 Esports decisively defeated TES with a 3-0 sweep in the MSI 2024 lower bracket. In this exclusive interview, the team's head coach, Dylan Falco delves into the reasons behind G2's victory and the way forward for the LEC's top representatives.

| How are you feeling after such a statement of a match?

Dylan Falco: "I'm so incredibly happy. I think it means a lot to take a best-of-five against an Eastern team. And the fact that we can do it in such a convincing fashion, I think, is very important to me. It's also important for Europe as well as the LEC. So honestly, just very, very happy."

| Are you happy with the way the team is gelling? Do you think that G2 can make it even further into the tournament?

Dylan Falco: "Yeah, I think everyone's playing incredibly well. Huge shout out to our bot lane. Everyone was calling them the best bot lane in the world during this match. I guess we were definitely on the better side of what happened bot lane in this series. I think it was a huge, huge performance by Hans Sama today. I'm very proud of him. He played both sides of the Draven match-up very well.

We can go far in the tournament. I think it's extremely hard to win four best-of-fives against the best teams in the world, back-to-back-to-back. But I always felt for this roster, even last year, even this year, that we are capable of taking BO5s off of any of these teams. Maybe sometimes it's harder than others, but yeah, for sure."

| You will need to play three BO5s in a row if you wish to win MSI. Have you already started preparing for the remaining teams?

Dylan Falco: "No, we haven't started preparing for our next opponents yet. It's TL vs T1, I guess T1 are the favorites to win that series. If they were to win, we definitely know a lot about them and they know a lot about us because we had a very close 5-game series before."

Dylan, discussing strategies with the rest of G2. Credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games

| The general sentiment is that G2 gets a ton of firepower in their drafts and strategies. Do you think that this unique approach is what is required to beat the Eastern teams?

Dylan Falco: "I think that League of Legends has so many champions and so much strategy and... At its core, it's a strategy game. It's very important to be fighting for advantages in the draft phase and fighting for strategic edges where your gameplay and your draft are all really tied together.

There are some Eastern teams that are very good at doing this and will really challenge you in specific lanes. But I do not want to be one of the teams that just blindly picks passive meta champions and just... hopes it works out because we're skilled.

That's not our vision of the game, not me, not our staff, not our players. So I think it's cool. And it obviously looks really great when it works out like today."

| G2's goal is to win it all and have success internationally. Do you see your victory as a big accomplishment to be proud of or does it feel more so like a first step towards something greater?

Dylan Falco: "We come to these tournaments thinking that we are fully capable of winning them. I'm not sure if we always think we're the number one favorites at the end of the day, but we definitely feel like we're stronger than some of the eastern teams at these tournaments.

We felt that way at Worlds. I think we won against both LPL and LCK in our best-of-ones and now we won again today. So… Although it's difficult to win the entire tournament. That is what we're here for, yes."

G2 in a group huddle before Game 3 vs TES. Credit: Liu YiCun/Riot Games

| Do you feel like maybe G2 has been improving faster playing internationally compared to when they play in Europe? Is the level of scrims and solo queue helping out?

Dylan Falco: "I'm not sure. We always actually learn the most coming internationally in scrimming as far as like big macro concepts. I think mostly we're just a lot more challenged on an individual and match-up level. It can be a lot harder to lane if our drafts are not crisp, especially with some of the really aggressive jungle bot combinations.

But yeah, the scrims can be very explosive and very volatile. So, if you're stomping the enemy, they're stomping you like you learn, but it's more about what matchups you think you can get away with and the strengths and weaknesses of each team here."

| What is G2 doing differently from other Western teams to reach this level of success?

Dylan Falco: "I think we just put in the most effort in both players and staff out of any teams in Europe. We're also gifted to have a very strong roster. We have some of the all-time greatests of Europe on our team. There's only one Caps, right? But I think a lot of it is just the effort and care we put in throughout every single part of our process. We have five staff members working around the clock just to make sure everything is accounted for."

| Yike has improved massively and is now contesting some of the best players in the world. What do you think of his growth?

Dylan Falco: "I think he's playing incredible at this tournament. He also played really well at MSI 2023, during his rookie split. Unfortunately, we didn't do as well back then.

He's been working a lot this year with Isma, our performance coach. Our coaching staff is really good and helps prepare our players for this kind of tournaments. With each international event you attend, you just gain experience.

And when it comes to these different environments or high-pressure environments, I think the number one thing for performance is just experience, and that just needs to be gained by playing."

Dylan, Mikyx and his team, arriving at the venue. Credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games

| Since you will most likely be facing T1, do you have any thoughts about potentially getting your revenge against them?

Dylan Falco: "Well, if they lose and we face Team Liquid, we'll be clear favorites. I think we're feeling pretty confident against them.

If we face T1 though, it's going to be close. Our series was quite close against them. I always feel like when we play against that team, they're just so strong mechanically. It just feels very hard to win team fights and skirmishes.

Still, I think that when it comes to the clutch factor, we're up there with them. When we're playing at our best, we're matching them, right? We were winning game five against T1 and now we're winning six games in the lower bracket. We're a very strong team, it'll be quite close."

| Has your confidence and ability to manage stress improved after that match? We saw that it was a huge factor in your defeat against T1.

Dylan Falco: "We were just a lot more measured when we were winning these games today. Against T1, especially in game five, things went completely crazy with the lane swap and, we just got overexcited once we started winning the fights. I really understand it. It's so natural, so human. But we learned from that. And today when we were winning the games, we were a bit more 'ice cold'."

G2, celebrating after a 3-0 victory. Credit: Liu YiCun/Riot Games

| We've seen the Shen Jungle rise in popularity on socials. Are there any more spicy picks that we can look forward to?

Dylan Falco: "We always have more spicy picks ready. Try not to overcook it. We don't want to go full troll."

| We don't want to burn the kitchen.

Dylan Falco: "On stage, there was already some calls for some very questionable picks in the last couple of series. I can't say which, but some people had to be shut down, let's just say, from trolling. So, try and keep it with the right amount of spice."

| You were doubted and yet, you are here now. Do you have anything to say to European and G2 fans?

Dylan Falco: "Mostly just thank you to the fans for supporting us and believing that we can win. I think if you take our team over the past couple of years, we've been very competitive with the Eastern teams."

"Although we might be underdogs from time to time, we definitely deserve to be playing here in these best-of-fives, and I'm happy we finally got a dominant win. And we're really looking forward to the rest of the tournament."

Header Credit Photo: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games