Despite being highly regarded by both the community and professionals, G2 Esports ultimately could not overcome T1 in their rematch at MSI 2024. In fact, during this encounter, the LEC representative failed to secure a single victory. The unpredictable drafting strategy nearly vanished as T1 denied G2 any options that could surprise both the audience and their opponents. Moreover, the T1 members gradually adapted to the meta shifts and even forced G2 to struggle to keep pace with their every move throughout the match.
It is clear that G2, in their match against T1, revealed many issues and lost the essence of the G2 that once posed challenges to T1 or defeated Top Esports. There were not many surprise options left for the LEC representative to trouble the members of T1. The most consistently performing player in G2 throughout the matches seems to be Hans sama. However, clearly, “one swallow does not make a summer.” The stark difference in the recent version of G2 compared to previous matches raises suspicions about a potential “contribution” from… LPL.
Specifically, just before the match between T1 and G2 took place, there was information that LPL had prohibited this team from scrimming with members of the team formed by Uzi. Uzi’s team is a collection of former players participating in an impromptu tournament during the LPL’s hiatus. However, the LPL organizers and Riot Games China banned both sides from continuing this scrim. The reason stemmed from the fact that MSI teams are not allowed to participate in third-party events during the tournament period. Additionally, Riot expressed concerns that the results of the practice sessions could be leaked from livestreams.
It is unclear how exactly the LPL’s ban on G2 and Uzi’s team impacted them, but given the nature of a tournament that spans a short period, especially in LPL, losing a quality practice partner could cause significant damage. Moreover, LPL is in direct competition with LEC for the title of “second-best performing region at MSI 2024.” Therefore, it is highly unlikely that LPL teams would practice alongside teams like G2 in this tournament.
Furthermore, T1’s victory over G2, amidst Gen.G reaching the finals, also directly positions LPL as the second-best performing region at MSI 2024 and secures four slots for the upcoming World Championship. For this reason, the community’s conspiracy theories surrounding the LPL’s ban are quite understandable.