G2 Esports concluded their 2025
League of Legends World Championship journey
with a 3-1 defeat to Top Esports. As the only Western representative to reach the quarterfinals, the LEC first seed brought hope to EMEA fans, but ultimately struggled to find the confidence and decisive playmaking that usually define their style.
In an interview with Sheep Esports, G2’s toplaner, Sergen "BrokenBlade" Çelik, discussed G2’s growth, the teams’ mistakes against Top Esports, and the sacrifices behind competing at the highest level of LoL Esports.
Sergen "BrokenBlade" Çelik: I think I lived with the words that I spoke. We gave it all to this Worlds. We really squeezed everything out of us. I'm proud of the boys. It's a bit rough. I thought we had it. Today was quite challenging, to be honest, we played a good team, so obviously, but yeah, I played with no regrets. I think we all played with no regrets. That's the best we could have shown today.
Can you walk me through the match and your unfiltered thoughts about it?
BrokenBlade: We were in good spots multiple times. We gave them a lot of respect, and especially game one and three, we just let them do whatever they wanted and we were just watching them do it over and over. The last game was decided on the Atakhan, we went there a bit too rushed because were in a winning position. I'm pretty sure we're going to win that game if we played a bit more controlled. Now we never know how it would've happened if we played a bit slower. But yes, for me this was overall a success. Obviously, I'm further than I was ever at Worlds, so I’m going to go and reflect on what happened this year and compare it to the other years and do my best next year again.
There have already been discussions about both of the Atakhans in game three and four and even the broadcast mentioned that you guys were in the lead, yet you didn't seem to play with confidence. Can you walk me through both of those moments in the games?
BrokenBlade: Yeah, if you play against very good players and you play with doubt, you will get punished and you can notice by the way you click and they click. There were moments of doubt and we still stuck with it and we made mistakes. No one had a hard saying that we decided as a team to go to the objective and we made the wrong decision, right? This is just how the games go. One team makes a good decision, another makes a bad one. Rather than today, we just decided poorly on key factors, and that is why we lost in my opinion. Other than that, we were in decent positions in most of the games other than maybe game one.
Do you think the personal and team growth you’ve experienced this year has, in some ways, made you more cautious in-game and less likely to play with the confidence and aggression G2 is known for?
BrokenBlade: It does make sense, but I don't think it applies to us. We have grown so much in having more confidence in our play and the way we speak, the way we talk, that was not the deciding factor of today. I don't think we were not confident enough, we just made poor decisions and from that point on, they played very good League of Legends. We are at Worlds, so you will get punished for doing mistakes and that's just how it goes. I'm very proud of my team, of how much we have grown. This is a roster where I had the most development both in and outside of the game in recent years. So I'm very proud of my team.
I know that it's all happening so fast, but could you maybe try and guide me through why you think those mistakes happened?
BrokenBlade: It's a hard question for me to answer why I made a bad decision. It just happens. We don't think about making a decision. We do them based on how many hours of practice we've had, and in some key moments you might say something wrong, you might make a wrong decision, and this is just what happened in the game and that's it. And they played better. They made mistakes and we punished them as well. We also got a game from them, but we just made more mistakes than the enemy and they punished it. That’s about it.
This year the anthem is Sacrifice, as you know. What is something that you personally sacrificed to be here at Worlds today?
BrokenBlade: Everything. To be honest, my life consists of League of Legends and League of Legends. I don't really have time to do many more things. I sacrifice family time, friends’ time, my own time, time with my girlfriend—everything I sacrificed to be the best player I can be and next year I will do even more.
What message do you have for younger players watching G2 and your career and aspire to reach Worlds and do well internationally?
BrokenBlade: Everything great comes with a cost, obviously, but as long as you enjoy it. Most pro players, you do what you love every single day. There's not a single day I regret being a pro player, especially with so many nice fans behind my back that support me and are with me through my whole career. To be honest, it is worth it. So just follow your dreams.
Do you have any words for the fans?
BrokenBlade: Thank you guys for sticking with us, having the delusion. In the end, it was not enough, and I hope you guys enjoyed the ride. It was fun. It was a fun Worlds to play. This year was precious to me, and I hope you guys could see that not only in myself but also the whole team. So thank you for the support, and hopefully next year it's going to be even better.
Header Photo Credit: Aiksoon Lee/Riot Games
