Cover-Credits:
League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) 2023 is right around the corner and is all set to feature the best teams from around the world in a heated competition. MAD Lions and G2 Esports are the two teams representing the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) region and the League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC) at MSI 2023. With the tournament all set to happen in London, United Kingdom, the two EMEA teams will look to do well in front of their home crowd.
Pro players have been grinding their way to the top in Solo Queue, before Champions Queue returns, to practice for the tournament. G2 Esports mid-laner Rasmus "Caps" Borregaard Winther has already reached Rank 1 on the Europe West (EUW) server.
Caps’ ‘Faker Slayer’ account hits Rank 1
At the time of writing, according to OP.GG, Caps is currently Rank 1 Challenger in EUW with 1,855 LP (League Points) on his Faker Slayer account. Out of the last 20 games played, Caps has won 14 games, losing just 6, with a win rate of 70%. His overall win rate is 55%.
Some of his most-played champions in Season 13 Solo Queue include:
Sylas (61% win rate)
Jayce (68% win rate)
Cassiopeia (73% win rate)
Akali (68% win rate)
Tristana (52% win rate)
LeBlanc (50% win rate)
Aurelion Sol (41% win rate)
Interestingly, one Redditor pointed out, “This is the first time he's been Rank 1 since Worlds 2019 I believe?” Replying to this, another user said, “Caps is Madge. Hope his MSI performance is back to his usual standards.” Worlds 2019 was an important milestone in G2 Esports’ League of Legends history as the team played in the grand final of the championship.
Caps’ Solo Queue account is named Faker Slayer, a reference to the storied rivalry between G2 Esports and T1 at international tournaments. The rivalry between these two top teams is one for the history books given their previous nail-biting encounters and entertaining plays.
G2 is one of the very few teams that has defeated T1 in a dominant fashion at an international event. At Worlds 2019, G2 defeated T1 in the semi-finals, thus earning the name “Kingslayer.” The League of Legends community often calls Caps as ‘Baby Faker’ since the mid-laner is exceptional and mechanically gifted.
G2 Esports is best known for its brilliant social media engagement and fan following and it makes the most out of trash-talking other teams. After qualifying for MSI, all five members of G2’s starting lineup changed their League account names on 30th March, taking a dig at their Korean rivals: T1. Notably, their names call out each of their lane opponents:
Sergen "BrokenBlade" Çelik - Zeus Slayer (Top)
Martin "Yike" Sundelin - Oner Slayer (Jungle)
Rasmus "Caps" Borregaard Winther - Faker Slayer (Mid)
Steven "Hans Sama" Liv - Gumayusi Slayer (Attack damage carry)
Mihael "Mikyx" Mehle - Keria Slayer (Support)
G2 Esports was the first EMEA team to lock in its MSI 2023 spot after winning the Winter Split. However, after failing to win the Spring Split, G2 Esports will first participate in the Play-in stage at MSI before qualifying further.
It will be interesting to see if G2 Esports fights its way to the Bracket Stage of MSI 2023 and if the team really does go head-to-head against its Korean counterparts T1 at the tournament.
