Photo by Yicun Liu/Riot Games
G2 Esports came out sharp against home crowd favorite TYLOO to kick off its Champions Shanghai campaign, taking the series 2-0 behind a statement performance from trent.
Head coach JoshRT said that the team, already surrounded by several different storylines, is dead-set on not repeating old habits.
Each of the team’s last two international events (Masters Santiago and Masters London) have started with losses, making the win against TYLOO all the sweeter.
“I actually talked to our team about how we tend to start kind of cold, and we don’t ramp up the way other teams do at internationals,” JoshRT told Ult Orb. “I think it has to do with some expectations going into it; usually we were off a regional win and were first place, and we’re feeling ourselves a little bit, maybe we skip some steps.”
After lifting four of the last five VCT Americas titles, G2 finished fourth at Americas Stage 2, breaking a streak of seven straight finishes in the top two. JoshRT said that when coming off of a regional victory, the team’s individual preparation may not be as tight.
“We kind of vowed that this has to be different,” he said. “We’re gonna do it much better this time, and we also didn’t win our regional. So now there’s a lot more to prove, there’s more hunger.”
BABYBAY, who during the pre-event press conference opened up about the team treating Champions Shanghai as one last ride with the five-player core that appears to be disbanding in the offseason, spoke on how the team has approached the event.
READ: ‘A last ride’: BABYBAY’s bittersweet outlook on G2’s Champions Shanghai campaign
“There’s like this line that you have to ride,” BABYBAY said on balancing the stress and expectations of competition. “I think that we’re treading it really well right now. Everyone was enjoying the moment up there.”
“There’s a lot of storylines, of course, but given that this could be our last, we felt like we had to do this right, and we showed it,” JoshRT said.
In preparation, JoshRT said that it looks different for everyone, whether it be playing more ranked, hanging out and talking with each other, or simply enjoying Shanghai and the food that it has. He says all of those efforts are geared towards fostering a low-stress environment.
“We’re ready to take on this challenge, and what better way than to take on the home crowd favorites? It was really fun,” he said. “I felt the energy in the comms, the players were really feeling it. TYLOO gave a really tough start, and we took on the challenge and went for it. I’m proud of my guys for doing that.
While the whole team worked as a unit to win, it would be remiss to talk about G2’s win without highlighting trent’s performance.
“His back broke on stage today,” BABYBAY said.
“From carrying so hard,” leaf added.
trent, playing Skye on both Lotus and Sunset in the series, finished the match with a game-best 38 kills, going 38/17/20 while also setting the pace with a 1.66 rating.
“I honestly don’t know,” trent said when asked what was behind the performance. “We were just out there having fun, and I really don’t know what was in the air today. I felt really good in game. I don’t really have much else to say, I just felt good in game. The comms were flowing, the game was flowing, and the ball was just in my court. That was it.”
After taking care of business in its opening match, G2 will take on a familiar foe in the Group C Winner’s Match: Paper Rex. Pacific’s No. 3 seed is coming off a 2-1 victory over Team Liquid. The two sides have met six times on the international stage over the years, with PRX winning the last four meetings.
The match will be played on Tuesday, September 29, at 2 a.m. PST/5 a.m. EST, or 5 p.m. local time.
