G2 Esports jungler Jankos gave League of Legends fans an update on his future, in addition to a reflection on the 2021 season as a whole in a video posted to his YouTube channel earlier today.
Jankos opened his personal update by looking back at the 2021 LEC season as a whole and speaking on how G2 will miss Worlds for the first time in the organization’s six-year history. “It’s very fair to say that the year was a disaster and a huge disappointment,” Jankos said.
G2 were eliminated from Worlds contention this past weekend when they lost a nail-biter of a five-game series to Fnatic in the quarterfinals of the LEC Summer Split playoffs. In that match, Jankos posted a scoreline of 13/15/30, playing exceptionally well in the games that G2 won but swinging to the complete opposite side of the competitive pendulum in the games that G2 lost. In the end, G2 came within just one game of qualifying for Worlds but ultimately went home empty-handed.
The World Championship drew particular interest from European fans earlier this week when it was announced by Riot that the event has been moved from China to Europe due to complications regarding international travel and the Delta variant of COVID-19. So although G2 won’t be able to attend Worlds, the team will see Worlds come to them in some capacity.
Related: All teams qualified for the 2021 League of Legends World Championship
“At least I can compete in solo queue against some of the best players if I cannot compete as a team,” Jankos said. “That’s pretty interesting, actually, and I’m pretty happy that the teams will come here.”
The last time the League World Championship was held in Europe, Jankos and G2 reached the grand finals of the event, coming just one series away from capturing the Summoner’s Cup. This year, they’ll be on the outside looking in.
“Every single player on our team tried the very hardest they could and gave themselves fully to the cause of competing at the highest level,” Jankos said about the 2021 season. Toward the back end of the Summer Split, G2 won nine of their final 10 regular-season games but couldn’t muster enough momentum to propel themselves through the playoffs. The team’s substandard display in the postseason has prompted discussion from fans and analysts alike regarding the team’s future and a possible rebuild spearheaded by team owner Carlos Rodriguez.
“Carlos already [said] that he wants to rebuild, and I don’t know what that means,” Jankos said in his update. “I don’t want to say anything or spread any rumors because I have no clue what will happen next year.”
Jankos is signed to G2 through the 2022 season, just as all players on the G2 roster are with the exception of Rekkles, who’s signed through the 2023 season. If Jankos—or any other player on G2—is going to be moved this offseason, their contract will have to be bought out by another team or G2 will have to trade them outright.
This year’s League free agency period is set to begin when players’ contracts start to expire across the globe on Nov. 15.
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