This article is part of our LoL Previews series.
It's about time for the EU LCS Summer Finals to kick off! As G2 have already qualified for Worlds through championship points, the results of this weekend's matches, and the subsequent Regional Finals gauntlet, will round out Europe's Worlds roster and determine seeding heading into the event. So, without further delay, let's head into our analysis to find out who we can expect to see atop the European podium on Sunday.
Splyce vs. G2:
Splyce is coming into the finals after a very close series against H2K in which they closed out the series in five games. We knew the series would be close coming in and both teams played extremely well, but it was the Danish side coming out on top to make it to the finals. Splyce will need to weather the storm against a flashy G2 side, but with strong macro play and under-the-radar stars blossoming before our eyes, they can certainly pull off an upset. In order for that to happen, Chres "Sencux" Laursen will need to continue his dominance in the mid lane. On top of that, Kasper "Kobbe" Kobberup and Mihael "Mikyx" Mehle will need to keep G2's dynamic bot lane in check early and not allow their lane opponents to snowball. Jonas "Trashy" Anderson has greatly improved over the course of the split and went toe to toe with Marcin "Jankos" Jankowski" last week to help Splyce to victory. He'll look to make a repeat performance this week against G2 to hopefully qualify his team for worlds. Martin "Wunder" Hansen has also improved and should be able to play in a carry or utility role based on whatever is needed from him. His flexibility is one of his greatest assets and will certainly be a key factor in whether or not Splyce will find success.
G2 refused to lose a single best-of-two during the split and carried that strong regular season performance into a dominant 3-1 semifinal win over Unicorns of Love. Although they dropped a game last week, they showed their ability to outclass lesser competition. Despite this, Splyce have proven that they are at a much higher level than UoL which will make for an extremely tense series. Even then, you have to give the edge to G2 who are the defending EU LCS champions. They have a star-studded lineup with excellent players that have consistently performed well past expectations. I think Splyce is finally getting the recognition they deserve, and although G2 are prone to having tilt-worthy moments, especially Luka "Perkz" Perkovic in the mid lane, the skill of these players as a whole cannot be discredited. They are simply at the top of the EU LCS in terms of pure skill. As long as G2 can teamfight as a unit, they should be able to take this hard fought series.
Key Matchup: Zven/Mithy vs. Kobbe/Mikyx
The Splyce duo lane improved greatly with Mikyx moving into the support role at the start of the Summer Split and Kobbe had a vastly better season because of it. Despite this improvement, Splyce are still at a small disadvantage against G2 and will be forced to pull out all the stops to take down the European titans in the bottom lane. I feel more confident in Splyce's other roles to at least go even with their opponents, meaning that the battle in the bottom lane could be the tipping point in this series and decide who will be crowned champions at the end of the day.
The Verdict: G2 3-2
Splyce will give the defending champs a run for their money, but I think in the end G2's class will slightly overcome Splyce.
