Looking ahead – G2 Esports versus DAMWON Gaming

This Saturday, we will see G2 Esports and DAMWON Gaming clash in the semi-finals of Worlds 2020. Which team is going to take the win and take on the winner of Suning versus TOP Esports in the finals?

To make things clear; this is going to be a hard one to call. Opinion seems largely divided on which team has a clear edge which was not really the case for the quarterfinals. DAMWON Gaming were the clear favourite over their opponents DRX and with G2 in a similar position, the bottom half of the bracket played out as expected (unlike the almost double upset on the top half of the bracket).

For the European fans, there is a lot to have faith in. G2 Esports’ track record against LCK teams has been stellar internationally for the last couple of years. While their Worlds performance up until quarters had been solid but not exceptional, their games against Gen.G clearly showed that when it comes to best-of-five series they can never be counted out.
Caps as a dominant force

While the entire roster has been performing well, the player who shone brightest during the quarters was Rasmus “Caps” Winther. Boasting some absolutely obscene Sylas gameplay, Caps felt like one of the biggest enablers for G2’s dominance. While Luka “Perkz” Perković and Mihael “Mikyx” Mehle sometimes were outshone by the sheer class of Park “Ruler” Jae-Hyuk, Caps had no such issues. While their early game can be slow, the midgame and late game calls and skirmishes that come out of G2 can accelerate a game at a blinding pace.

As mentioned previously, the slower and more macro-oriented LCK style has been getting decimated by this high pace gameplay for the last two years. G2 took out both Damwon Gaming and SKT T1 in Worlds 2019, while also eliminating SKT T1 during MSI 2019. All in all, this should lead us to the conclusion that G2 should clearly be favoured.

Built different

Unfortunately for EU fans (and fortunately for LCK fans), DAMWON Gaming is different. Their domestic record has been absolutely absurd, with a 16-2 score in the regular split as well as a 3-0 stomp of DRX in the finals. In conjunction to that, their Worlds performance thus far has matched this with them ending first in their group and dismantling DRX with a 3-0 yet again. Even the LPL team JD Gaming, who made it to finals in both Spring and Summer of the LPL, had to acknowledge them as the stronger team.

DAMWON Gaming has shown a variety of characteristics that make them very different from a lot of other LCK teams. Their entire roster consists of incredibly talented and mechanical players, but their real power comes from their flexibility and willingness to adapt, as well as their aggression. 

Their flexibility can be seen in both draft and itemization. One of the big criticisms that long-time LCK watchers will be familiar with is how hesitant they are to try out new item builds as well as pick up new champions. Build-related criticism has become a bigger part of League discourse, in part due to LCK caster Nick “LS” de Cesare, but Damwon has been exempt from this. We see similar tendencies in draft, where they consistently try out new champions and strategies following the LPL and LEC.

Decided in the early game?

The aggression is something that LCK teams have had an incredibly hard time with. They repeatedly dive towers, skirmish for kills and hard commit on early objectives in a way that is generally only seen by LPL teams. This is also where the matchup gets really interesting, because this is one of the few places where G2 traditionally has shown a lot of weaknesses. Despite all their strengths, their early game has never been their strongpoint. This is also shown in their international record against the LPL – which for Caps is particularly painful, considering his 0-6 record in Finals. If DAMWON Gaming can find a draft that allows them to harness their early game aggression and snowball the game before G2 can, it might be hard for G2 to appropriately respond.


The most important match-up is hard to pinpoint – I’d personally argue that the spotlight is not on one specific player, but on the Mid/Jungle duo’s for either team. How well Heo “Showmaker” Su and Kim “Canyon” Geon-bu match up versus Caps and Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski will either allow DAMWON Gaming to accelerate the pace, or G2 to set up their cross map plays.

Is G2 going to continue their stellar run against LCK teams? Or will one of the favourites of the tournament come in to take down the LCK killers and will the finals be back to LCK versus LPL? Join the discussion on social media or our Discord! 

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