LEC Versus 2026 Playoffs: G2 Esports Defeats Team Heretics in Upper Bracket Quarterfinals

The playoffs continue, and today Team Heretics faced G2 Esports in the Upper Bracket Quarterfinals. Team Heretics finished the regular season in 4th place, while G2 Esports finished 7th, so the match promised to be interesting. Let's see how the match unfolded.

Game 1 Picks:

• Team Heretics: Sion, Dr.Mundo, Anivia, Aphelios, Pyke
• G2 Esports: Gwen, Vi, Ryze, Caitlyn, Bard

Game 2 Picks:

• Team Heretics: Gnar, Pantheon, Azir, Miss Fortune, Nautilus
• G2 Esports: KSante, Trundle, Orianna, KaiSa, Neeko

The teams started the map very actively, trying to pressure each other in the lanes, aiming to gain an advantage even in the smallest moments. And after the first fight at the dragon - which seemed to start well for Team Heretics - it turned into two deaths and an advantage for G2 Esports in kills and gold. Although Team Heretics took the Mountain Dragon, they trailed by almost 3 thousand gold at the 10-minute mark.

By the 20th minute, G2 Esports had further solidified their lead. The score was 2-0 in favor of G2, with a 7 thousand gold advantage. Team Heretics tried to make plays and find solo kills, but G2 Esports' highly mobile draft offered no opportunities to regain the advantage.

The match began with First Blood in the mid lane for Team Heretics. After Caps died mid, Azir started to close the gap, but Orianna immediately secured a Double Kill and pulled ahead again. It was beneficial for both teams to play through mid, which is exactly what they did, so we observed many interesting skirmishes in the midlane.

G2 Esports tried to be proactive across the map, looking for favorable fights to build their lead. But in this game, Team Heretics responded well, trading objectives on opposite lanes.

The situation took a turn for the worse for Team Heretics when G2 Esports started playing as a unit and fighting 5v5. G2 also capitalized excellently on their opponent's mistakes, both in teamfights and map rotations. The biggest enemy for Team Heretics was time and the Miss Fortune pick. A static champion against G2 Esports' composition simply couldn't find her footing, and with every passing minute, it became harder for MF to find a position to deal any significant damage.

The game ended the moment G2 Esports decided to end it. After another teamfight win for G2, they went to Baron Nashor and immediately closed out the game.

This victory advances G2 Esports to the Upper Bracket Semifinals, where they will await the winner of the Karmine Corp vs GIANTX matchup. Team Heretics drop to the lower bracket, where they will face the losing team from that pair.

In 2026, the LEC Versus format does not include a cash prize. Instead of a prize pool, teams are competing for qualification to the international tournament, First Stand 2026. The match format changes during the playoff stage: early rounds are held as Best-of-3 (Bo3) series, while key and final matchups are played in a Best-of-5 (Bo5) format. These matches will determine the team that secures a slot for the international stage.