G2 nukkye On Doubters: ''You Come To LAN And We’ll Show You How To Play''
From fourth seed in the EMEA region to the top four teams in the world – in the space of two weeks. This is the rise of G2 Esports, and the sky is their limit.
After missing out on the VALORANT Stage 2 Masters, G2 Esports nuked the majority of the roster, with the same old magic number four being the operative number. Four out, four in. Centring around the versatile IGL Óscar "mixwell" Cañellas Colocho, G2 Esports added some of Europe’s most exciting talents to their roster, cherry-picking top quality from their competitors.
The trio of Žygimantas "nukkye" Chmieliauskas, Auni "AvovA" Chahade, and Jose "koldamenta" Luis Aranguren Herrero arrived from Team Heretics and Acend respectively, to join the Spanish organisation, whilst the young French prodigy Cista "keloqz" Wassim arrived from out of the blue.
This transformation flipped G2 on its head. From failing to qualify for Iceland, G2 Esports landed in Berlin with a team that was only moving from strength to strength.
Ahead of their semi-final bout with Gambit, G2’s nukkye has sent shots at his EMEA counterparts, claiming that they’re an online team, compared to G2 who thrive on LAN.
Speaking in a press conference, nukkye said, "We’re fourth seed, but it’s very simple. The EU teams that we’ve seen are all online. They’re only good at playing online and we are all LAN players – almost". A glance at the rookie keloqz was enough to create a chuckle in the camp, before continuing his bold claims.
"We mostly have CS experience and playing on LAN," he said. "So when people are winning online they are running their mouths. You come to LAN and we’ll show you how to play."
Click to enlargeG2 Esports and Nukkye are now set to face their EMEA first seed rivals, Gambit, in the semi-finals, a team that got the better of them during the qualifying stage.
Both sides have enjoyed successful tenures at Masters Berlin, with G2 unsettling a rocky Sentinels team that previously looked untouchable, and Gambit overpowering a Vision Strikers team who looked imperious to cause an upset.
Whether G2’s LAN experience will prove pivotal over Gambit is yet to be seen, although experience will be pushed to the test if they come across 100 Thieves in the Grand Final, whose 31-year old duo of Spencer "Hiko" Martin and Joshua "steel" Nissan come in with the most experience in the competition.