Just three weeks ago, February 9, 2025, became a landmark date for Vitality, as the French organization secured both the Katowice IEM title in Counter Strike 2 and the VCT EMEA Kickoff championship in VALORANT. In stark contrast, Sunday, March 2, will be remembered with far less fondness by G2 Esports, who experienced the bitter disappointment of losing two finals just hours apart. The ordeal began with a 3-2 defeat at the hands of T1 in the VALORANT Masters Bangkok final—an especially agonizing loss given that the Kickoff Americas champions had taken a 2-1 lead in the series and held two match points.

To make matters worse, Alexander “jawgemo” Mor and his teammates faltered in the final two maps—Split and Pearl— in overtime. G2 had even reached a 12-10 advantage in the deciding game on Pearl, positioning themselves within touching distance of victory with one last round to win. However, they wavered at the crucial moment, allowing T1 to claw their way back to 12-12 before succumbing 14-16 in overtime, letting the title slip through their fingers.

The End of G2's Reign

A few hours later, G2 Esports faced yet another crushing defeat, this time in the LEC Winter Split final against Karmine Corp. A resounding 0-3 loss that ended G2’s reign of six consecutive League of Legends EMEA championships. It also marked an off-day for Rasmus “Caps” Winther, who was nearly unrecognizable on Sunday, suffering only the second grand final defeat of his career. The loss echoed his previous setback in Summer 2022, when G2 were similarly dismantled 3-0 by Rogue. Despite his remarkable 14 titles, both of Caps' defeats in finals have come by the same crushing scoreline.

Beyond the loss, G2’s failure to claim the LEC title also cost them a spot at the First Stand, the first international League of Legends event of the year, which will feature champions from the five major regions (LCK, LPL, LEC, LTA, LCP). This marks the first time since 2021 that the Samurai have failed to qualify for a global competition. More broadly, G2 is navigating a challenging period, with the club itself highlighting on Twitter that eight of its rosters are currently on a losing streak.

Despite this setback, there is little doubt that the German organization will rebound swiftly. As early as Monday evening, G2 Gozen will have an opportunity to recover from their first loss in Stage 1 of the VCT EMEA Game Changers. Sitting second in the standings with a 5-1 record, Michaela “mimi” Lintrup and her teammates will face NASR Ignite, who currently sit at the bottom of the table with one win and five losses.