The best of Caps at MSI 2019

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Rasmus “Caps” Winther was one of the standout players at the 2019 League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational. He was instrumental in G2 Esports’ victory over Team Liquid in the grand finals.

It’s almost as if Caps tosses a coin before a match begins. If it lands on heads, he destroys his opponents—tails, he feeds them. And there’s rarely an in between. Sometimes he looks like a shadow of his former self, and other times, he’s the best player in the world. This time it was the latter.

We saw the best and the worst of Caps at this year’s MSI. He had his off games, losing to Phong Vũ Buffalo. But mostly he was on the ball with quick thinking, cocksure confidence, and he showed moments of class.

Here are some of his best plays at MSI 2019.

Baby Faker no more

Believe it or not, Caps is 19-years-old. In just a short period of time, he’s won split after split and taken the European circuit in his stride. He’s made his mark on international soil, proved he’s worthy enough to compete at the highest level, and earned himself the title of “Baby Faker.”

But does he truly deserve this title? He went head-to-head with Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok at MSI and came out unscathed on the other side. Faker is still the greatest player of all time, but Caps should never be underestimated. And he proved that this weekend.

Caps isn’t afraid to tower dive. He doesn’t hesitate to take the initiative. This play isn’t revolutionary, but it was pivotal for opening up the game and allowing G2 to take the mid tower, and eventually push for the win. Caps could have easily sat back and waited for his team to engage, but instead, he led the way.

The battle for Danish mid lane stardom

We didn’t know how Caps would do against Team Liquid’s Nicolaj Jensen. We imagined the two Danish mid laners would be evenly matched, but that was far from the case.

Caps didn’t hold back in the first best-of-one between the two Western representatives. He crushed Jensen to pieces, and it was pure and unadulterated humiliation.

He took advantage in the laning phase, immediately putting Liquid’s mid laner on the back foot. But Caps wasn’t done there. He took duel after duel, shut down Jensen, and snowballed out of control. By the end of the game, he was untouchable.

Revenge will have to wait

G2 lost twice to China’s Invictus Gaming at MSI. The 2018 world champions had a dominant group stage, going 9-1 before being taken out by Liquid in the semifinals.

It was a monumental day for North America, but for Caps and G2, it was a disappointment. They’ll have to wait until next time to take their revenge.

Although G2 were outclassed by iG in the group stage, Caps had his moments. In a best-of-five series, it could have easily gone either team’s way. If Liquid beat them, then G2 certainly could, too.

From Craps to Claps

We’re accustomed to seeing both sides of Caps at international tournaments. At the 2018 World Championship grand finals, Caps had an underwhelming performance. He let iG’s Song “Rookie Eui-jin walk all over him and was quickly beaten 3-0.

Since then, he’s moved on from Fnatic in one of the most risky roster swaps in League of Legends history. Caps could have easily regretted his decision to leave the most successful team in Europe, but so far, he’s proven otherwise.

He didn’t allow himself to slip in the finals of MSI. He trusted in his team’s ability to take on Liquid and his confidence shined through. Teams, especially Western teams, are notorious for choking when it matters the most. They may have strong runs in tournaments, but when it counts, they crumble under the pressure.

This time it was different. It was West vs. West. And G2 came out on top. You’d imagine Caps to slow down and play a more cohesive and team-oriented style, especially when G2 took the two-game advantage. But no, he continued skirmishing, taking duels, and outplaying his opponents.