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We continue to keep an eye on what's happening at the LEC Winter 2024 Playoffs. We'll be talking about the top set of play-offs, where the main clash of the winter season awaits us.
Obviously, we are talking about the fight between Fnatic and G2 Esports. The duel will be held in bo5 format and the winner will get a ticket to the top 3 of the tournament.
Let's find out who of the Fnatic - G2 pair will be stronger and earn at least the top 3, and who will continue the path to a potential First Stand appearance from the bottom of the grid.
Let's go.
Fnatic Form
Let's open the Fnatic vs G2 Esports match with an analysis of Fnatic's form. In this match Fnatic are playing as favourites with odds to win at around 1.7.
Fnatic started their ascent to the LEC Regional Finals the season before last with an appearance at LEC Winter 2023. It wasn't a successful one, as the Orange finished the tourney in 9th place, not making it out of the group stage.
The following season, Fnatic gave one last chance to roster with Rekkles. They failed to use it, as FNC, after coming out of the group stage, lost in their first match against MAD Lions, thus ending the spring split at the top 8.
- Fnatic lineup: Oscarinin, Razork, Humanoid, Upset, Mikyx.
Two terrible splits resulted in major re-splits. ADC Rekkles and support Advienne left the band. In their place came Korean legionnaire Noah and experienced support Trymbi. The result was not long in coming.
Fnatic looked much better at the LEC summer split than at the two previous ones. The team managed to make it through the group stage and then made it to the top 3 of LEC Summer 2023, which allowed them to advance to the regional finals. Here's the truth, to the bottom set.
Fnatic played against Excel - the main opener of LEC Summer 2023 - in the match to advance to the Top 4 and won. They won 3-2 in a tense bo5.
In the match for the LEC Finals 2023 Small Final, Fnatic and BDS had a real fight (3-2), and Fnatic ended up here.
They also managed to beat MAD Lions, with whom they played for a place in the grand final. And again, the full-fledged bo5 with a score of 3-2 in favour of the Orange. But the grand final was not enough: G2 Esports beat Fnatic 3-1.
At Worlds 2023, Orange played to the best of their ability. The club lost the first match against LNG Esports, and then outplayed the Vietnamese from GAM Esports.
The last match on the way to a 1-2 set was a match against BLG, which Fnatic legitimately lost. Then FNC defeated C9 with a score of 2-1, and in the match for play-offs Ledge and WBG. The latter, by the way, became the vice-champion of the World Championship, so the result for the European club was excellent.
Fnatic will debut at LEC Winter 2024 with a match against Karmine Corp. Based on the experience of previous seasons, there is every chance to see the favourite (which is Fnatic) lose in that match. Next, they will face Vitality and this is where I would bet in favour of the Orange. That's pretty much how it turned out, except for the match against Karmine Corp: Fnatic closed two series, but lost in the match against SK Gaming.
Fnatic had a pretty good start to the regular season, but it got worse from there. Fnatic finished the regular season with a score of 5-4. The LEC Winter 2024 playoffs "Orange Longsong" with a very confident victory against MAD Lions. Next, Fnatic played against G2 Esports and looked good there, even managing to snatch a card, which no one has managed to do so far.
In the match for the quarter-finals Fnatic met with SK Gaming. The German club put up a fight, but Fnatic were stronger: 2-1 in favour of Humanoid and company guaranteed their passage to the top 4 of LEC Winter 2024.
In the next match, Fnatic were able to fight G2 Esports and take the map away from them, but they were unable to surpass the Samurai in the match. Fnatic also failed to get a grip on the tournament in the lower grid, where Fnatic lost to KOI with a score of 2-3. At the end of LEC Winter 2024, Fnatic finished in the top 4.
LEC Spring 2024 Fnatic finished the LEC Spring 2024 regular season in the top spot, something the team hasn't had since 2019. In the first round of the play-offs, Fnatic shut out GIANTX on a classy basis. In the match to advance to the upper grid finals, LEC Spring 2024 faced G2 and lost 0-2 without a chance. In the lower grid, they also had difficulties, like in the game against Heretics, but in the end they were able to defeat their counterparts with a score of 2-1 and move on. In the match for the top 3, Fnatic met Vitality and confidently ran them over with a score of 3-1.
For the grand final of LEC Spring 2024 Fnatic fought against BDS and it was a real spectacle: the "orange" were 0-2 down, but on the character made a reverse sweep and closed the series in their favour. As a result, Fnatic will also go to MSI 2024. In the grand finals of LEC Spring 2024 Orange played against G2 Esports and lost that match.
Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) 2024 Fnatic started off with a 2-0 win over GAM Esports without any problems at all. In the top set match they met Top Esports and put up a good fight: they took the map, but eventually lost the series with a 1-2 score. In the MSI 2024 Fnatic again defeated GAM Esports 2-0 in the play-offs match. In the first Bracket Stage match, they lost to Gen.G with a score of 0-3, but they showed the game. But in the lower Bracket Stage match, Fnatic very unexpectedly lost to TL with a score of 1-3, thus leaving MSI 2024 at the Top 8 stage.
Prior to the Esports World Cup 2024 Long Convergence, Fnatic confidently advanced to the LEC Summer 2024 play-offs. As a result of EWC 2024 Fnatic finished in the top-8. On the home stage, they finished top-2 at LEC Summer 2024 and LEC Finals 2024. However, one of the most important achievements of Fnatic is getting to Worlds 2024, where the "orange" managed to finish in the top 14.
The team passed the group stage of LEC Winter 2025 with great confidence. They only gave up 1 card for the group stage, finishing it with a score of 9-1. Long Sogpeg playoffs were also confident, outplaying Heretics with a score of 2-0.
Fnatic's most popular champions
Jax (3 matches, 33% wins), Gwen (2 matches, 50% wins), Gangplank (2 matches, 50% wins), Jayce (2 games, 50% wins) take the top line.
In the woods, Maokai (7 matches, 42% wins), Sejuani (4 games, 25% wins), Vi (3 games, 66% wins) were permanent.
The centre line was most often occupied by Sylas (5 matches, 40% wins), Ryze (3 games, 100% wins), Akali (2 games, 0 wins).
Zeri and Sivir peaked equally often on the shooter position. Both heroes appeared 4 times, but the former won all his games, and the latter - none.
Ashe appeared most often amongst the Spurrots. Archer was chosen 5 times and won 2 matches. Yuumi (4 matches, 75% wins), Heimerdinger (4 matches, 25% wins) were also frequently played.
G2 Esports uniforms
We continue our analysis of the G2 vs Fnatic match with an analysis of the G2 Esports uniforms. In this match, they play in Underpassdog status for the first time in a long time with win odds around 2.
At the beginning of the 2023 season, the Samurai made their way to the UK capital to participate in MSI 2023 by winning the LEC Winter draw. G2 then made it to the grand finals without much trouble, also beating MAD Lions quite easily
At LEC Spring 2023, G2 Esports played worse. They entered the play-offs of the tournament from the second match of their group, making it to the bottom of the play-offs. While there, they played against the Lions again, but were unable to repeat the success of the LEC Spring 2023: G2 Esports dropped out of the LEC Spring 2023 playoffs, but made it to the Mid-Season Invitational 2023.
- G2 Esports roster: BrokenBlade, SkewMond, Caps, Hans Sama, Labrov.
Play-In for G2 Esports successful and even easier than BLG's. G2 Esports didn't feel LOUD and easily shut down PSG Talon, beating both clubs 2-0.
Things were no longer as rosy in the Bracket Stage. In the first round, G2 Esports played Gen.G, probably the main contender for the championship title, and managed to take a card from them, which in the realities of today's competitive scene is more than good.
In the bottom set, G2 Esports met their main rival, MAD Lions. The European derby on the international stage ended with a confident victory for G2, confirming them as the best team in the LEC.
At the end of the only international event so far, G2 Esports finished in the top 6. The result is a good one.
Before the LEC Finals, the Samurai took another trophy to their headquarters. It was the trophy for their victory at LEC Summer 2023, where G2 easily defeated EXCEL in the Grand Final.
In the first round of LEC Finals 2023, G2 Esports played against Team BDS. The French gave a fight, but failed to pull more than 1 map.
G2 Esports had no problems first with MAD Lions to advance to the grand finals of LEC Finals 2023, and then in the finals they defeated Fnatic.
In the first match on the main stage of the year, G2 Esports played against Dplus. Being an outsider, the team managed to beat the titular Koreans, all thanks to Hans Sama's crowning Draven. Then they managed to beat not just anyone, but WBG, who subsequently took the top 2.
And then came the miscues, and quite serious ones at that. First they lost to Gen 0-2, then to Ledge or NRG 0-2 (which was a shocker), and finally they dropped out of Worlds 2023 after losing to Bibili Gaming.
G2 Esports will start their journey to LEC Winter 2024 with a match against BDS, one of G2's main rivals on their way to their championship. Expect a solid performance from G2. Next up will be a match against Karmine Corp where it should be easier than the game against BDS. In fact it was, but the match with Rogue was probably the first sensation of last week, because G2 Ledgeili. Well, that's what the Bo1 is for.
During the regular season, LEC Winter 2024 demonstrated a standard game for themselves. G2 Esports won 7 out of 9 matches, sharing the top 1 of the table with BDS.
In the Long Corner play-offs LEC Winter 2024, G2 Esports easily defeated GiantX 2-0. Next, G2 Esports faced Fnatic in the quarter-finals, where the Orange looked good: they were able to pick up a map, but it didn't affect the outcome of the match. Next, G2 Esports met BDS in a match to advance to the grand finals and swatted the Frenchmen 3-0 without a hitch. Almost the same fate awaited MAD Lions KOI in the grand finals, with only one card difference.
G2 Esports attended the Mid-Season Invitational 2024 and showed a very solid result there. They managed to reach the top 4, which is a pretty high result for a team from LEC.
Before the Esports World Cup 2024, G2 Esports guaranteed themselves a place in the play-offs of LEC Summer 2024. At the EWC 2024 itself, G2 Esports Long Sogpeg with a win over FlyQuest, but then Ledgeili TES in advancing to the grand finals.
The LEC Summer 2024 Playoffs started with a pretty solid 2-0 win over Karmine Corp. Next, an equally easy win over BDS and as a result, they made it to the top 3. In the match to reach the grand final of the upper grid of LEC Summer 2024, G2 Esports played against Fnatic, where they lost with a score of 2-3. In the lower grid match, they defeated BDS 3-2 and went on to become LEC Summer 2024 champions by defeating Fnatic in the final.
LEC Season Finals 2024 Long Long started with an unexpected defeat to MAD Lions KOI (2-3). However, that didn't stop G2 from comingback through the bottom set, beating all their opponents and eventually becoming the champions of LEC Season Finals 2024.
Their debut at Worlds 2024 came in a match against paiN Gaming, where G2 was stomped by the combination of Yone + Yasuo. In the next match, against LCK Summer 2024 champions Hanwha Life Esports, taqi fThe Internationals didn't work and G2 lost. But they got into the net 2-1, winning WBG in a pretty confident manner. However, they went on to lose to T1 and BLG, dropping to the Top 12.
The group stage of LEC Winter 2025 went 6-3 and 3 wins. In principle, this is not bad, but remembering the performance of G2 last season, we should expect a completely different and better game in the play-offs. In the first round of the play-offs they showed just such a game: they outplayed GiantX 2-0 without much chance for the latter.
The most popular G2 Esports champions
Gragas (3 matches, 66% wins) is sent to the top line.
In the forest, either Belveth (2 matches, 100% wins) or Maokai (2 games, 50% wins) or Gragas (2 matches, 50% wins).
On the centre line variety: Yasuo, Sylass, Cassiopeia, Sejuani and Yone have appeared in spades once each and won their game.
Of the shooters, Draven (3 matches, 66% wins) is playing.
On Support Nautilus (2 matches, 50% wins), Nami (2 matches, 50% wins).
History of head-to-head meetings between Fnatic and G2 Esports
G2 Esports have won three times in the last 5 matches, but Fnatic won directly at LEC Winter 2025.
Predicted result of G2 Esports vs Fnatic at LEC Winter 2025 Playoffs
In this match I will expect a beautiful League of Legends. I think we will see something like HLE - T1 with a close fight. If we talk about the winner, I think Fnatic will win this time, they look great in the new season.
Bottom line: Fnatic wins.
CTBC Flying Oyster
GAM EsportsWatch match
