LoL - Worlds 2025: G2 Esports, the European Samurai conquering China (10/17)

The League of Legends 2025 World Championship kicks off in Beijing on the 14th of October. A total of 17 teams will compete to, again, succeed T1 at the top of the Riot Games MOBA world hierarchy. On this occasion, Sheep Esports brings you a daily feature on one of the teams taking part. On October 6th, the tenth episode of our series focuses on G2 Esports.

G2 have perfectly scaled throughout the year, reaching all three finals and capping off their season by winning the Summer Split. For the ninth time in their history, the Samurais have qualified for the Worlds, marking their fourth consecutive appearance since 2022. In terms of level, they are also at the top of Europe, making them a major hope for the West in this year’s Worlds.

After two years with the same roster in 2023 and 2024, during which they won seven of the eight possible European trophies but had two disappointing Worlds appearances, exiting at the Swiss Stage despite high expectations, the organization decided at the start of 2025 to make two roster changes. They took a risk by bringing in the French rookie Rudy “SkewMond” Semaan as jungler and BDS’s support Labros “Labrov” Papoutsakis.

While the offseason roster changes initially left LEC fans perplexed — especially given how strong Martin “Yike” Sundelin and Mihael “Mikyx” Mehle had been — those doubts took some time to fade. During the Winter Split, the team reached the final but fell to Karmine Corp, who went on to South Korea to compete in the First Stand.

In the Spring Split, a second-place finish allowed to participate in two international competitions, the Mid-Season Invitational and the Esports World Cup, and they once again reached the final, this time losing to Movistar KOI. It was only in the Summer Split that G2 secured their first title of the year, defeating MKOI in the final, which guaranteed them Europe’s first seed for Worlds.

SkewMond’s rookie year at G2 has truly been impressive. Stepping into Yike’s shoes was no easy task, but the French jungler handled it exceptionally well. In the Winter Split, his debut was far from disappointing: he posted the third-highest KDA in the league, the highest among junglers, and the second-highest damage in his role. SkewMond quickly adapted to the LEC level after his standout year with BDS Academy in 2024.

Things only continued to improve for him and for the team as the year progressed. At MSI and the EWC, G2 truly stepped up, learning a great deal from their mistakes, and this was evident upon their return to Europe for the Summer Split. They were consistently two steps ahead of their opponents, winning all four of their BO3s in the group stage, defeating KC 3-1 to secure a Worlds spot, and overcoming MKOI by the same score to reach the final. In the grand final in Madrid, they delivered a dominant clean sweep in front of a Spanish crowd to claim the title.

While in previous editions, the Samurais carried enormous expectations as the only team capable of competing with the Asian giants, two failures against Bilibili Gaming over the past two years somewhat cooled the fans’ enthusiasm. Sergen “BrokenBlade” Çelik has had a mixed year: an excellent Winter Split, a much less impressive Spring, and a slow but steady return to form in the Summer. The legend Rasmus “Caps” Winther has been a reliable presence throughout the year, though not as sensational as in his previous seasons.

The botlane struggled significantly with a lack of cohesion early in the year, which was understandable. Steven “Hans Sama” Liv and Labros “Labrov” Papoutsakis took some time to find their rhythm, with the Greek support initially struggling to adapt to Europe’s largest organization. However, a strong showing at the EWC seems to have completely transformed the team, in an interview with Sheep Esports, SkewMond said: "I’ve learned a lot internationally. Even if MSI was disastrous, it taught me a lot [...] We’ve returned much stronger than before". During the Summer Split, all five players appeared to be on cloud nine, and Labrov truly exploded, delivering a strong split that confirmed he belongs among the LEC’s elite.

G2 is once again one of the West’s few hopes for a deep run in this competition, alongside FlyQuest, the LTA’s first seed. Advancing past the Swiss Stage would already be a solid start for the Samurai, and depending on the draw and their performance on the day, they could go further and reignite the flame that still burns faintly in the hearts of European fans longing for the thrills of the past.