G2 Esports are a team that never stops looking for ways to get an advantage; they are always finding new ways to win. Whether it’s working on unorthodox strategies, or Martin “Wunder” Hansen bringing out yet another support champion in the top lane.
The epitome of that philosophy is the willingness of the players to swap roles. Luka “PERKZ” Perković’s move into the bot lane from mid in order to make way for Rasmus “Caps” Winther in 2019 will go down in history as one of the greatest moves in League of Legends history. Two LEC titles, a Mid-Season Invitational trophy, and a Worlds final; there’s no doubt that last season is an incredibly difficult act for G2 to follow. And that’s exactly why there’s so much pressure on Caps’ shoulders.
Having been on the losing side of the last two Worlds finals, very few players will be more desperate to get their hands on the Summoner’s Cup. Those defeats undoubtedly influenced the Dane’s decision to move into the bot lane himself. It was time to try something different, and Caps will do everything in his power to bring that title to Europe.
The former midlaner explained to us that PERKZ was “frustrated with playing AD Carry,” which was a major reason for the change. “I wanted to try it out, because if I can do as good and enjoy it more, then we're happy as a team,” Caps added.
It’s a gruelling season and if G2 are to go all the way, team morale will need to be high to avoid burnout. If G2’s squad wants to get back to the finals, they have a long road ahead of them and after yet another role swap, there’s going to be plenty of bumps along the way.
The sequel
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Caps is still settling into the bot lane as he’s already experienced plenty of highs and lows
After two phenomenal performances against Origen and Fnatic in Week 7, G2 have taken back sole possession of first place, but this split has been far from easy for the reigning champions.
In fact, just a few weeks ago G2’s undefeated record ended after two shock defeats to Misfits Gaming and FC Schalke 04; the latter being the Royal Blues’ first win of the season. In the Misfits match, Caps died a record seven times within the first 15 minutes.
The Dane has seemingly struggled in lane with an average gold difference at 15 minutes of -64 and also he has the worst average CS per minute (8.5) of all the botlaners in the league. The former midlaner has always been a player who liked to push his limits and take risks, but the bot lane role simply does not cater to that.
Meanwhile, PERKZ has been thriving back in his old role. The Croatian has the most kills (63), assists (102), damage per minute (613) and earned gold per minute (298.5) out of every midlaner in the league. He’s even quickly picked up champions that were released during his botlaner stint, as he had an excellent performance on Qiyana on the opening day of the season.
There are no doubts of PERKZ’s mid lane ability but there are still going to be large questions over Caps’ ability to play ADC. However, those were the same questions PERKZ answered in 2019. The Croatian ended up becoming one of the best botlaners at Worlds last year, with a 100 percent win-rate on Xayah at the tournament, but it took him the majority of the year to get to that level.
Looking back at PERKZ’s Spring 2019 regular season stats, he had 36 deaths in 18 games – 20 more than his fellow bot laner Elias “Upset” Lipp. Caps is already just six deaths behind PERKZ’s tally with four games still to play in 2020.
Yet, the Dane managed to go deathless last week in both games against Origen and Fnatic, while recording a personal season-high of 864 damage per minute against the latter. There are clear signs of improvement. In fact, Caps has the highest kill participation (76.4) and damage per minute (630) of every LEC botlaner to date.
You get the feeling we still haven’t seen the best of Caps as a botlaner yet. With four games on both new champions Aphelios and Senna, the current meta perhaps hasn’t allowed him to start flexing many mages into the bot lane, with Taliyah the only traditional mid lane champion he’s played this season. Once he does, G2 could step up yet another level.
For now, G2 is in the driver’s seat but everything can change once playoffs roll around. There’s no doubt that the likes of Fnatic, Origen, Misfits and Rogue will push them to the limit, and we’ll quickly find out whether this version of G2 can top Europe – and the world’s elite.
**What have you made of Caps in the bot lane? Will G2 claim the Spring title? Tell us your thoughts on Twitter, [@LEC][1].**
[1]: https://twitter.com/LEC
