G2 Esports completely smash Team Liquid in the MSI 2019 finals

Coming in hot after beating SKT T1 yesterday at the Mid-Season Invitational 2019, G2 Esports swept Team Liquid 3-0 to take home the trophy.

It was three easy and fast games for the European team, as they convincingly stomped Team Liquid. Game 1 was a complete rout, with G2 wrapping up the game in just 24 minutes. 

While Liquid did much better in Game 2, they just couldn’t find the answer to G2’s aggressive plays despite holding up relatively well in the early-mid game. However, a godlike G2 Rasmus “Caps” Winther shut down the Liquid squad and took the series to match point.

With one game left in hand, G2 went all out in the third game with insane aggressive plays that kept Liquid on their toes. Liquid just couldn’t find a way to counter this, and fell just after the 18 minutes mark, giving G2 the victory and the trophy.

Despite their loss, Team Liquid remained mostly optimistic, though you could see the disappointment on their faces at the post-match press conference. For the North American squad, making it out of group stages, or even beating Invictus Gaming was already an achievement, and the team is already looking ahead.

“We’re really optimistic about Worlds, and in this tournament we’ve already improved a lot and it’s a shame that we played so bad in this finals,” said Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng. “It was really cool we were able to beat IG and make it out of group stages. My teams feels very good.”

That said, Doublelift was still in the mood for quips about the fabled NA EU rivalry, adding that he couldn’t “argue with the results, EU is better”.

For winners G2 Esports, they were just as exuberant as they were yesterday after beating SKT T1.

“It feels good to win, I never expected to win playing as ADC,” said G2’s Luka “Perkz” Perković, who was a former mid laner. “I was put on a path and I just followed it and it’s meant to be to win MSI.”

G2’s top-laner Martin “Wunder” Hansen had earlier tweeted as a joke before the finals that it would be the fastest ever, and that turned out to be true.

“When it comes to the record, we weren’t trying to beat it, but we were trying to win all the games,” said Wunder. “Liquid plays a slow game, and we knew if we played well early we could snowball.”

Last but not least was tournament MVP Caps, who expressed regret that his team did not go up against Invictus Gaming at all.

“I’m really happy, but it feels incomplete, every time I play big tournaments, I always lose to China, but this time I didn’t even get a chance to face them. maybe in Worlds, I’ll get the chance,” said Caps.

G2’s win at MSI 2019 is the EU region’s first international win since 2011 and with the squad’s current strength, is likely the first of many to come.

Here’s a quick recap on how G2 dismantled Liquid in three games.

Game 1

Playing with their typically aggressive style that helped them beat SKT T1 yesterday, G2 took three kills at the six minute mark and already had a 2,000 gold lead. Team Liquid wasn’t giving up without a fight, however, as mid laner Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen on Orianna almost managed to kill off Caps’ Morgana.

As G2 piled on the pressure though, Liquid crumbled, looking for a kill even as G2 were 7-0 ahead at the 13-minute mark. The North American squad finally got a kill at the 14-minute mark, but in return, G2 took another four kills.

The G2 train continued to steam roll Liquid, and closed the game in just 24 minutes.

Game 2

Determined to not let the first game repeat, Liquid played much better in the second game, and held strong against the unending G2 aggression.

G2 had picked Pike, a hero they had used last night to defeat SKT T1, but Liquid seemed to have the answer. However, the rotation from G2’s jungler Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski on Rek’Sai was able to pick off Team Liquid’s support Jo “CoreJJ” Yong-in’s Braum in the early game.

Jankos continued to make plays, but Liquid’s top laner Jung “Impact” Eon-yeong’s Kennen managed to rotate in just in time to get pick offs on Caps and Jankos. Liquid continued to focus on objectives, but a big fight at the 21-minute mark derailed their plans.

Team Liquid started out strong but G2 got off an ambush and wiped out the team to go 10-6 in kills. 

From there, G2 continued to snowball and finished the game at the 27-minute mark with a godlike streak from Caps.

Game 3

It was do or die for Liquid, but G2 didn’t even give the North American squad a fighting chance. The European side started out with even more aggression than the last two games, and almost managed to pickoff Doublelift’s Syndra and Jake “Xmithie” Puchero’s Sejuanni in the first few minutes.

While G2 was trying to get kills around the map, Liquid’s Jensen managed to surprise G2 with a kill in mid. However, a failed gank at the 8-minute mark on G2’s Caps saw the European mid-laner picking off Xmithie and Jensen instead. 

In response, G2 moved down to the bottom lane and almost killed Doublelift, but Impact at the top lane wasn’t as lucky and died to a two-man gank, giving G2 the 5-1 kill score lead.

Refusing to learn their lesson, Liquid tried again for another gank at mid on Caps, but lost Jensen as a result.

With that, G2 started to snowball, and at the 17-minute mark, G2 was able to push into the base and wipe out Liquid to end the game.

SEE ALSO: MSI 2019 day 3 sees fans hyped for a great NA-EU finals (pictures)