Crushing CBLOL in practice
On home soil, Brazilian fans never got to see G2 scrim in person, but the numbers tell a clear story: the Europeans dominated CBLOL opposition in practice. Across all sets against Brazilian teams, G2 posted a staggering 20–2 record, going 7–1 against FURIA, 4–1 versus LOUD, 6–0 against RED, and 3–0 versus paiN Gaming.
Before facing the rest of the field, they also warmed up against European opposition, notably playing SK Gaming twice for a clean 10–0 and sweeping MISA Esports 4–0. These one‑sided blocks fit a familiar pattern in G2’s scrim history: when they are clearly ahead of a region in terms of pace and preparation, the results tend to snowball quickly over large sample sizes.
Testing themselves against the best
The most interesting data points come from G2’s scrims against other major‑region representatives, especially given the narrative around First Stand as a mini‑international before MSI. Against LCS’s champions LYON, the record was perfectly balanced at 4–4, suggesting a matchup that could just as well have gone either way if they had met on stage.
Their sets versus Asian teams help contextualize the official bracket run. After sweeping Team Secret Whales 3–0 in the group stage, G2 beat them 3–1 in scrims, confirming that their on‑stage victory was not a fluke. More strikingly, Romain revealed that G2 had already defeated Gen.G 3–1 in practice before their now‑famous 3–0 upset in the semifinals, hinting that the European side entered that series with genuine confidence in the matchup.
The BLG set is almost a mirror image of that story. In scrims, G2 edged out the eventual champions 2–1, but on stage they lost to BLG twice: first 0–3 in groups, then 1–3 in the final. As Romain summed it up, they “beat the best teams, not the best team” this time. This was good enough to show the Samouraï has the potential to be among the best, but not yet consistent enough to claim the title. Also, G2 never scrimmed BNK FEARX nor JD Gaming at this event, leaving still a great question mark about how G2 would’ve adapted to other opponents and strategies.