Recently, DotEsports published an article stating that they received information confirming that MAD Lions is preparing to file a complaint against G2 Esports for allegedly “poaching” some of their players to lure them to join G2 for the next season.
Sources indicate that MAD has accused G2 of this poaching behavior. Meanwhile, the reigning European League of Legends champion held a closed meeting with the leaders of 9 other teams in the LEC to vote on calling for the LEC organizers to pass amendments to the transfer regulations, introducing stricter rules to prevent the issue of poaching.
According to the above sources, 8 out of 10 participating teams voted in favor of supporting the amendment, with only G2 Esports and Vitality voting against it. G2 declined to comment on the accusations against them, while VIT argued that the current regulations are still suitable for the tournament situation and that any amendments could only be made with concrete evidence of poaching activities.
However, after consulting with representatives from Riot, DotEsports received feedback that Riot has not yet received any complaints regarding poaching by teams, raising serious doubts about the accuracy of the aforementioned sources.
Nevertheless, some opinions suggest that information regarding G2’s “tricks” in the transfer market is entirely plausible, as this is not the first time this team has faced similar accusations.
In mid-2016, G2 Esports was involved in a scandal when they were accused of circumventing the management of Origen (now Astralis) to recruit the player duo Zven and Mithy. In 2018, this team also raised suspicions regarding the recruitment process of Caps from Fnatic, and later Rekkles.
Several theories have been suggested that G2 intentionally used their players to propose personal contracts, also known as “oral agreements,” to lure players into refusing contract extensions with their current teams, coaxing them to submit transfer requests. All of G2’s blockbuster transfers share a common theme of targeting direct competitors for the championship (OG, the Spring 2016 runner-up, FNC, and MAD, champions in 2018 and 2021).
However, these accusations have never been legally proven, and simply put, there is no compelling evidence showing that G2 has engaged in these poaching activities.
One issue that many European League of Legends fans clearly see and often question is G2’s ability to acquire players from rival teams relatively easily. Viewed positively, this team indeed has a substantial allure, both in terms of performance and brand, but it is also not difficult to understand that alongside their top-tier transfer operations are suspicions about whether there are any “magical hands” from G2’s side involved.