In the electric glow of Shanghai’s Mercedes-Benz Arena, Europe’s solitary torchbearer, G2 Esports, squares off against China’s explosive third seed, Top Esports (TES), in a high-octane best-of-five quarterfinal on October 30 at 2:00 AM CT. G2 enters with blue-side privilege from their gritty 3-1 Swiss Stage survival, shattering a brutal three-year “quarterfinal curse” – their first top-eight since 2020.
G2’s 2025 odyssey mirrors a phoenix: MSI disaster yielded to LEC Summer supremacy and Worlds resilience. Swiss Stage? A 32-minute Swiss Round 1 rout by TES exposed early-game woes, but they rebounded: 2-0 over Movistar KOI, a draft-masterclass upset of LPL top seed BLG, and a reverse-sweep of FlyQuest – sealed by Caps and SkewMond’s iconic skirmish, crowned Swiss Part 2’s top play.
Roster Anchors:
Toplaner Sergen “Broken Blade” Çelik’s unshakeable tanks, jungler Rudy “SkewMond” Semaan’s proactive invades (Xin Zhao, Trundle threats), midlane maestro Rasmus “Caps” Winther’s scalers (Azir, Orianna, Yone spikes), and bot duo Steven “Hans Sama” Liv with Labros “Labrov” Papoutsakis’ reliable engages. Their edge? Bo5 creativity – expect Fearless Draft curveballs like Anivia or Poppy to disrupt TES’s tempo.
Head to Head Sizzles:
G2 and TES clash with bad blood: 3 series total. G2 dominated MSI 2024 Bracket (3-0 sweep, 1h23m total—Hans Sama bullied JackeyLove). TES flipped it at Esports World Cup 2024 Semis (2-0). Worlds 2025 Swiss R1? TES steamrolled G2 1-0 in 32 mins—Kanavi’s invades crushed SkewMond early. TES leads maps 3-2 recently, but G2’s Bo5 mastery (LEC kings) eyes revenge. Psychological edge? TES chokers (Worlds ’24 0-3 T1); G2’s curse broken. Bo5 chaos awaits—scale or snowball?
Key Battles:
Top: Broken Blade’s unyielding K’Sante/Rumble absorbs TES pressure, enabling 1v2 sidelanes with SkewMond vision. 369’s Jayce/Jax surgically splits post-18 min, forcing rotations. Decisive: G2 Herald counter-ganks—Trundle pillars trap overextends.
Jungle: SkewMond’s proactive Xin Zhao invades (67% FB) vs. Kanavi’s prophetic Lee Sin pathing (82% KP), who stole 3 buffs early vs. G2. Decisive: 3:15 crab; pixel wards flip tempo.
Mid: Caps scales Azir/Orianna for shockwave teamfights, 1v2 heroics. Creme’s Sylas mechanically dominates (8.1 CSD@10). Decisive: 14-min priority roams.
Bot: Hans Sama/Labrov’s reliable Varus/Rell vs. JackeyLove/Hang’s explosive Draven all-ins. Decisive: Level 2 cheese snowballs lanes.
Best Betting Offers
