G2 Caps: “[This weekend was] probably more stressful than we’ll experience… for a long time.”
Q: Were you even stressed coming into this? Most fans probably thought, “Well, it’s G2 against FNC once again. No problem at all.”
Caps: Yeah, I would say we were definitely quite stressed. I think… I mean it was funny because… I don’t know, I think we felt like we were a bit safe this week. We were even talking about, “Oh should we start doing Fearless scrims?”
But we stuck to Bo1 scrims — just Game 1 over and over again. But then when we lost yesterday, we were like, “Wait. What are the cases we don’t make it out?,” And then we were watching backstage and like KC didn’t want us to make it as well, so we started being like, “Guys…”
But the thing that makes this very stressful is just that it’s Bo1. I think, if anything, it’s more stressful than a Bo5, even if there’s the same [consequences] at stake.
Sure, there’ll be upper bracket now, lower bracket, Bo3, Bo5, these kinds of things — but when you have more games, it’s just a bigger sample size of plays and stuff. Whereas here, if [our level 3 invade goes wrong and [3-4 people die], that can be very hard to recover from.
If it’s just a one game sample size of that, it can be a bit of a disaster. It was very stressful, I’d say. Also, coming off a loss yesterday, I think it’s usually a bit trickier to sleep and stuff. So yeah, it was stressful, I’d say. Probably more stressful than we’ll experience… for a long time.
Q: By winning, you also broke the hearts of LR fans, who were waiting for other teams to decide their fate. Did you know that was coming?
Caps: Yeah, I can imagine. I mean, I will say it’s a bit crazy the way the system worked, with so many teams ending up at 5 or 6 wins. I think most of us were around this area. It definitely seemed quite volatile.
And, in previous splits, we usually had the tiebreaker when it’s for elimination — […] some people will probably be a bit salty about no timebreakers.
I remember, [halfway] through the Split, we were like, “Wait, there’s no tiebreak for elimination” — I think it definitely makes it a bit stressful. But, at the same time, we also had 11 games, right?
For us, we really had a horrible split so far, I would say. That’s also what [made] it so close, right?
I think Los Ratones, [should] definitely be proud of what they did, because a lot of people were doubting them, myself included.
I think the fact that they got so many wins was definitely impressive — and they smashed us as well. But I can see them being quite frustrated with [themselves] in the first two weeks, because I think they ended up losing almost all their games, and that really came back to bite them now here at the finish line.
Q: What did you think of facing Nemesis again, specifically? He received a lot of praise for his individual play.
Caps: Yeah, it was definitely fun to play against him. It’s been a long time, and I think he still has some of the same habits, I guess — tendencies. So that was fun to see.
I think he definitely had a lot of very good games and he didn’t get to play as many … I don’t know, sometimes he likes to pull out a bit of his cheese picks, the comfort picks. I don’t think we got to see as many of those. Maybe if we had [seen more games], we could have seen more of that.
I mean, it’s been fun for me to watch them as well. Last year, I was watching a lot of their games — especially watching Baus, right? I think he definitely brings a different tone to the competitive games. I also really enjoyed watching his Gragas as well, because it’s always fun. He’ll always [make] some big play.
Q: Are you concerned about your level right now, or do you see it as a similar Bo1 randomness?
Caps: I mean, I think I’m always concerned about our level — [even] when we won the split, because I think, at the end of the day, we just have a long way to go. Even when we won last summer, we obviously had a long way [to being] like the best team in the world, right?
In terms of, “Are we top 3 right now?”… If I had to say right now, I’d probably say I’d feel pretty confident getting top 3, or beating most of the teams — but it would definitely be a lot of close games.
I think that’s also just the story of the split, so we want to clean it up a bit so [we don’t have] close games —[and we] become more of a favorite. That would be nice.
Q: Do you still think the KC/MKOI/G2 trio are the likeliest title contenders, or have strong Bo1 performances by teams like VIT and NAVI changed that?
Caps: Yeah, I mean, I agree with you on like the assessment on the teams. I mean, VIT are a bit of a crazy team — think the Carzzy teams are always a bit wild, so we’ll see how they do. They’re always fun to play against. They bring good vibes.
Na’Vi is the most interesting to me because I think they definitely built something interesting again — I think they play quite solid. I don’t know how it’ll hold up in the Best-of’s, right? Especially when people start preparing.
That’s also the big difference going into the Bo3’s now is like … people will prepare more for one team. [During regular season], when we’re preparing, we’re not preparing for any specific team; we’re just, like, practicing in general. When it gets a bit more specific, maybe we can find some flaws in their gameplay that we can use. […]
It’s less about scouting a specific team and more just about generic drafts, right? And I think when it becomes a bit more specific, teams like MKOI have proven themselves in the past, like we have proven ourselves, and KC — so I would [still] definitely look out the most for KC and MKOI going into the playoffs.
We had the same thing with, I think, Mad Lions [two or three years ago], at this point. They also came in as the 8th seed [for playoffs] with three wins or something — and then they won the whole thing.
I definitely trust, I guess, these teams a bit more. But Na’Vi has been full of surprises so far, and maybe they keep it coming.
Q: Nemesis mentioned that he was impressed by Poby’s individual level on NAVI. Are you inclined to agree?
Caps: Yeah, I mean, that’s fair. To be honest, I … haven’t really played that much against Pob. I think we played against him 2 games last year and then 1 game this year. so still not that big of a sample size, I think.
But from scrims, I think he’s quite decent. I could imagine he’s probably a big part of the success as well for Na’Vi — I wouldn’t be surprised. Fnatic were doing decent as well last year [after] he came in.
Q: Between you, Nemesis, Poby, and Humanoid, that’s four former FNC mids that might be even better after leaving. Nemesis tended to agree with this — do you think that’s a pattern?
Caps: Well … I’m not sure about that. I think if you want to be technical about it, I think like… it’s hard to say if, for example, Poby got better, right? I think he did well last year — I think even in the matches I did see, when they played against KC and stuff, he was doing quite well.
They did finish third — and I don’t know if Na’Vi will make it that far, to be honest. And Nemesis as well — he was also good with FNC, […] I would say he was probably better as well, when he was on FNC than he is now. But it’s also like — I played them one game and we didn’t have many games to judge them, whereas back then, I played against him like [15-20 times], so it was a bit different.
I also played against [Nemesis] on different roles. He couldn’t quite handle my AD Carry *laughs*, but that’s a different story.
Q: Do you ever feel weird as the “older veteran”? You’re still so young, but you started playing so early that you’re now considered old.
Caps: Yeah. I actually started [playing League] when I was 11 — before that — when I was playing a lot of other games with my brother. So I’ve definitely been playing League, like, most of my life.
And it is a bit weird because in school I was a November kid, so I was always like the youngest in my class — youngest whenever I went to football and stuff, and youngest like amongst my siblings as well. So it is definitely a bit weird to be one of the oldest on the team and getting like new players — like with Skew joining especially, I guess, but even back in the day, right, with Yike, Flakked, and all these players who came in who are younger than me.
And … it’s definitely like a very different feeling from how my life’s been, in general, before that.
But yeah, I mean, I still feel young in some ways. Like I was playing solo queue this morning and I solokilled in mid lane at level three, and I was like, “FIRST BLOOD TO BABY FAKER!” *laughs*
Q: Did you type it in chat or just say it to yourself ?
Caps: No, I just said it — I don’t even know if I said it, maybe I just thought it, but I was giggling, you know? I was giggling about it.
Q: Inside you’re still Baby Faker.
Caps: I still have some things to prove, yeah.
Q: There’s a similar effect with Faker: People characterize him as a macro-focused player without mechanical prowess, but he’s had an incredible 2026, individually, so far. Have you seen that?
Caps: Yeah. I mean, I think, I think you can’t really [care] much on what people say, in general, right? I think, at the end of the day, people will just say a lot based on our latest games.
Now, if we go and win this playoffs, I wouldn’t be crazy surprised —[but] then everyone will be like, “Oh, G2’s good again.” But if we lose, everyone well say I’m mega washed and stuff — [to them], I think the most important [thing] is just our latest game, right?
Already, when we started losing in like Season 11, everyone was like, “Oh he’s mega washed,” but when we started winning again, then maybe it wasn’t completely true, right?
So we just have to show strong results and it starts with this playoffs, right? I wouldn’t say we’re the strongest right now, so we definitely have some things that we need to work on — uh, a lot of things.
But we’ve done it before, and I think we can get back on the horse again and win the trophy.
Q: Well, since you seem confident, do you have an opponent you’d like to face if you make it to First Stand?
Caps: At First Stand? I don’t know.
Honestly, at this point, it’s just usually fun to play against some of the similar teams — like we go up against like T1, BLG [every year], right? I think these matchups are always fun. Change a player here and there, you know, [make] small differences in vibes, but especially, I guess, T1 — being the reigning champions, once again.
Q: Any NA teams you’d want to face?
Caps: I’m not sure if there’s anyone I’m particularly looking out for, I guess. The thing is, it’s always fun to play against some of the same teams, the same players. I always thought it was fun to play against APA. We did some 1v1’s and stuff as well, at some of the other tournaments, so I think going against him would be fun. But yeah, I’m not sure. […]
*laughs* And, I guess, a lot of the NA players are coming here now, so…
Header Image Credit: Riot Games
