Los Angeles, with its long flights and its jet lag, is where Europe’s best League of Legends side has spent the weeks before the 2026 World Championship. G2 Esports arrive having done something no one else managed this season: they won LEC Versus, Spring and Summer, all three European titles.
The record behind the run
G2 are headquartered in Berlin but began in Spain in 2014, and the organization has won twenty domestic titles in Europe, more than any other. In 2019 they became the only Western team to win the Mid-Season Invitational. This year’s international form has been strong if uneven. At First Stand, G2 beat tournament favourites Gen.G 3-0 in the semifinal, then lost the grand final to Bilibili Gaming. Their later international results were less consistent.
A different team from the spring
Steven “Hans sama” Liv, G2’s veteran bot laner, told GosuGamers that the side now at Worlds is not quite the one that started the year. “We’ve learned a lot how we play as a team,” he said, adding that G2 kept developing as the meta shifted and rivals improved. He admitted his own start was slow and that his confidence grew toward the end of the season.
Macro play is the area he singles out. “I think we improved our macro a lot these past couple of weeks,” he said. “It was not at its very good state, even in LEC finals.” That included the Summer grand final, a sweep of Movistar KOI. Liv said the team has been “implementing that well” and wants to see whether it holds on stage against the strongest opposition.
Bootcamp and mindset
After arriving in Los Angeles, G2 bootcamped for several weeks to adjust to the time difference. “We’ve been having a good time practising, having a good bootcamp, getting better from the jet lag,” Liv said. The squad also focused on staying healthy and keeping a good mental state. For his part, he relies on self-talk and meditation, and he says his partnership with support Labros “Labrov” Papoutsakis improved considerably in Summer. “I think the mental creates the performance when you’re skilled enough,” he said.
Odd picks and the meta
G2 are known for unconventional drafts, among them Sergen “BrokenBlade” Çelik’s Kled and Shen, Labrov’s Bard and Liv’s own Syndra in the bot lane. Liv says such picks come down to individual champion expertise and whether they fit the composition, and that veterans help the team revive strategies others have dropped. Mid laner Rasmus “Caps” Winther, the first Western player inducted into the League of Legends Hall of Legends earlier this year, is part of that experience. “Having that old knowledge as well helps us do some stuff that maybe you would say forgotten today,” Liv said.
He does not think the patch at Worlds changed much: “Nothing really, really hard changed.” Regional styles from China, Korea and elsewhere may matter more. Figuring out the meta faster than other teams, he said, is the key to a deep run. “If you are ahead of the meta, you have a decent chance to go far.” Asked about a champion he might play, he joked about Draven, “because he got a buff.” Liv named Hanwha Life Esports and Gen.G as styles he wants to study, and Bilibili Gaming’s bot lane as a matchup he looks forward to. “I like to face strong opponents,” he said.
His message to supporters before the Swiss Stage was short: “We can go both sides, but we’re not going to give up. Let’s go all the way.”
Sources
- Exclusive: Hans Sama on G2's evolution and chasing the Worlds 2026 final | GosuGamers
- G2 Esports
- G2 Esports vs. 100 Thieves
Photo: G2 Esports (CC BY 3.0)
