The EU LCS Summer Split Playoffs come to a close on Sunday when G2 Esports and Misfits will play each other to see which team will get the chance to advance to Worlds as Europe’s number one seed.
There was never really a doubt in anyone’s mind that G2 would make it to this stage in the playoffs. Despite a difficult split and a lower seed coming into playoffs, G2 has yet to miss a finals appearance in their history in the league, and it didn’t seem likely that this would be the time to start.
What does set this finals appearance apart for G2 is that it’s the first they have entered looking somewhat vulnerable. In the first round of the playoffs, when G2 faced off against Splyce, the series came down to a tense fifth game that G2 only narrowly pulled out after 52 minutes of back and forth play. While it’s true that G2 bounced back in the semifinals, beating H2K handily in a 3-0 sweep, this is still the most difficult playoffs ever for G2.
Misfits on the other hand are a complete shock to see in the finals. All through the regular season it seemed that Misfits was on the verge of getting knocked out of the playoffs, and that every other playoff team was far stronger — they were the only team to enter the post-season with a losing record. But, when the games actually started, we were treated to an entirely different Misfits.
The playoff version of Misfits was fast confident and aggressive taking down two of the league’s top three teams with no trouble whatsoever, going 3-0 against Unicorns of Love before beating the regular season favorites Fnatic in a decisive 3-1. With a team performance this strong, and this different from what they showed us in the regular season, there’s not telling just how good Misfits will look coming into the finals.
The series will be a best-of-five and will be broadcast at 11:00 a.m. ET and will be watchable on Twitch, as well as Youtube.