Seo “Kanavi” Jin-hyeok might be one of the best League of Legends players in the world, but even the superstar jungler can acknowledge the talent of his fellow professional peers.
In an interview with Naver, Kanavi revealed one of the squads he faced during JD Gaming’s recent scrims, specifically naming Europe’s own G2 Esports as a unique team he believed was very good in practice. This was a sentiment shared by his superstar teammate Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk, who mentioned G2 and Dplus KIA as standout teams in scrims.
For a long while, G2 has been known for an unorthodox style of play, with wild champion picks and strategies that can catch top teams off-guard. Over the last couple of seasons, the meta has settled into a more traditional style of play, but their aggressive playstyle has remained—and they are already leaving a hefty impression on the competition.
For example, Gen.G’s star mid laner Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon said G2’s Rasmus “Caps” Winther stood out as one of the only European players to leave a significant impression on him. The team has also turned heads by averaging the most kills per game among major region contenders, which is proof of their bloodthirsty tendencies.
Now, Kanavi previously played against the iconic EMEA organization back at Worlds 2022, but G2’s roster looked very different, with veterans like Martin “Wunder” Hansen, Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski, and Luka “Perkz” Perković all featured in the startling lineup. JDG also beat G2 in every match they had during the group stage, ending with the team dropping out of the event with only a single win.
This year, however, G2 has some new faces on the roster looking to make their mark, such as rookie jungler Martin “Yike” Sundelin. The rising star can solidify his place as the best jungler in the region with a decent performance at Worlds and could bring enough spice to the Summoner’s Rift with his energetic style of play.
In the meantime, Kanavi and the rest of JDG’s star-studded roster will be facing off against Team BDS, another European team that barely squeaked into the main stage after an exciting reverse sweep vs. PSG Talon in the play-in stage of the tournament. As expected, the LPL first seed is a heavy favorite for this first matchup, but it should still be a great match to see what kind of form the Chinese juggernaut has as they begin their journey to the Summoner’s Cup.
The Worlds 2023 main stage will begin on Thursday, Oct. 19 at 12am CT.
Published: Oct 17, 2023 12:58 pm