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G2 Esports further solidified themselves as Europe’s strongest Valorant esports team on Sunday when they hoisted the WePlay! Invitational trophy.
The Spanish organisation launched their Valorant project on June 16 when they acquired ex-CS:GO pro Oscar “mixwell” Cañellas Colocho as their inaugural member. Joining him were three former Counter-Strike pros in Patryk “paTiTek” Fabrowski, Jacob “pyth” Mourujärvi and Ardis “ardiis” Svarenieks.
Rounding out the G2 Valorant roster was David “davidp” Prins, who teamed up with mixwell and co. for the Vitality European Open and WePlay! Invitational as a stand-in.
The European mix did not need long to leave a mark in the Valorant scene, winning the Vitality European Open with only three maps en route to their maiden title and €10,000 (≃ US $11,276) in tournament winnings. But it did not stop there for G2, who went on to claim their second trophy and $25,000 in prize money on Sunday at the WePlay! Invitational.
The WePlay! Invitational took off on Wednesday, July 15 with eight European Valorant teams in attendance, including fish123, forZe, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Prodigy, PartyParrots, need more DM and nolpenki. The tournament began with a Swiss bracket group with best-of-three (Bo3) fixtures, from where only top four teams advanced into the second and final stage of the competition.
G2 started where they left off at the Vitality European Open and won all three of their group matches against nolpenki (2-0), PartyParrots (2-1) and Ninjas in Pyjamas (2-1), thus securing the first seed in the playoffs with an impressive 97-78 map differential.
In the knockout rounds, G2 swept need more DM (2-0) with 13-3 on Bind and 13-7 on Ascent to book a spot in the grand finals. There, they meet with fish123, who had edged past Ninjas in Pyjamas (2-1) in the quarter-finals with a 17-15 overtime win on Ascent.
In the grand finals, G2 Esports opted for Sage, Sova, Cypher, Omen and Jett, a composition which they used throughout most of the tournament with a high level of success. With strong map control, they outclassed fish123 in the first half on Bind to set up a comfortable 13-9 win on the first map.
G2 started a bit slow on Ascent and finished the first half 5-7 down. The pace of the game took a sudden turn in the second half, however, as mixwell and his crew won eight of the next nine maps to seal the series with a commanding 13-8 win.
G2 Esports now have two Valorant titles in their possession, which makes them the most successful European Valorant roster. Like their League of Legends team, which boasts a strong Bo3 record, G2 have yet to lose a single Bo3 series in three Valorant competitions and also hold a 13-0 win streak.
