After a perfect year in the LEC, G2 Esports arrives at the League of Legends Worlds 2024 with a similar status to previous international tournaments: the Samurais are, for many, the West's best hope against the South Korean and Chinese giants. A few hours before the European kings' first match in the competition against the Brazilians from paiN Gaming, Sergen “BrokenBlade” Celik spoke to Sheep Esports in an exclusive interview. The toplaner talks about the team's preparations and outlines G2's ambitions for the most important competition of the year.

How do you feel with just a few days away from the Worlds 2024 Swiss stage? Are you excited about your first match against paiN Gaming?

Sergen "BrokenBlade" Çelik: Yeah, I'm very excited. Usually, a couple of days before Worlds, there's always this kind of gut feeling, you feel the excitement. And today it's the same as all the other years where the excitement starts hitting. You see all the other people in the hotel lobby or in the hallways, and it's like, "Oh, this is getting real again!" I'm very excited to play against paiN Gaming. Last time we played against Brazil, it was pretty decent. Had a couple of highlight moments with Darius especially, but yeah, I'm excited.

The LCK representatives have just begun arriving. Are you excited to have your first scrims against Eastern teams soon?

BrokenBlade: Yeah, we already scrimmed one of them.

Did it go well?

BrokenBlade: It went well, yeah. I don't want to say too much or spoil anything; I just want us to play. I'm very excited to play. It’s very exciting to be in the hotel room. We joined a bit late, right? We already have an office in Berlin, but it’s not the same feeling when you have to go somewhere. In all the other years I traveled for Worlds, it was like 15-hour-plus flights. It’s always like, "Oh, the whole team is meeting up at the airport", and then we have to take long flights. Everyone's tired, and there’s jet lag. But this time around, it’s different. This time, the other teams, especially the Eastern teams, have to deal with that. So it’s nice for us. Let’s see how they will handle it because there can be problems like sickness, jet lag, and stuff like that. It’s really nice not to have those issues for us, so we can already start prepping and focusing on paiN Gaming.

Isma just ran the Berlin marathon, and now you’re about to face your own marathon for Worlds. How’s G2’s energy level, and do you feel ready for the challenge?

BrokenBlade: Yeah, the last few weeks have been great. Since we started winning every title in Europe, it’s been very nice, obviously. Worlds is always a bigger challenge, the big thing that everyone cares about. We have a lot of motivation and energy. We're going to do our best to deliver what we have learned throughout the year and last year. This is a roster that has been together for almost two years now, and we really want to show that we want to go out there and beat all the Asian teams.

We already did that this year at MSI. It’s been a long time since we last played, and this time we want to do the same and beat even more teams, not just one team. We were close to beating T1, but we got stomped in that series afterward. This time, we want to show a crazy performance. Just like we beat Top Esports 3-0, we want to go against paiN Gaming, beat them, and move to the second round of the Swiss stage, preferably beating an Asian team. That would be nice. Yeah, but I’m excited. I’m not sure what’s about to hit us yet.

Given that this is your second year with this roster, do you feel added pressure to perform since another failure could point towards potential roster changes next year?

BrokenBlade: I don't feel a lot of stress or pressure necessarily. I feel more secure actually because I have played another year with this team. I know how to deal with high-pressure moments; we’ve faced many of them together, both when we failed and when we succeeded. We've had a lot of good experiences, and I'm like, if this isn't our best chance, then what is? I'm very grateful to be part of this and to have this kind of experience. I've never had a team that stayed the same and went to Worlds twice in a row like this, so for me, it’s a big opportunity for our whole team to prove ourselves. We do this every year, and I'm very grateful for my team. I'm going to be there, and my team is going to be there.

G2 has historically started strong at Worlds but then struggled later in the tournament. What are you doing differently this time to maintain performance throughout?

BrokenBlade: First, it's always important to understand the goal behind all of this. One thing I really liked that Isma, our performance coach, said is that we didn’t win the Season Finals on the day we won; we won it through all the hard work in the weeks before. I want us to have already won the tournament before we actually do, so it’s going to involve a lot of effort, practice, and hard work—extra hours working harder than in previous years.

If you start off strong in an international tournament, you can get hyped, like, “Oh, we just beat Top Esports,” and that can affect you. I think it did get to us in the past. For example, at MSI, I had some really good performances, but I was a bit ahead of myself. I could tell in practice that I was playing cocky, and then I got a reality check very quickly. These things happen because you’re playing against the best players in the world, so you’ll get punished for mistakes. If you’re not ready, you’ll just get left behind very quickly.

For us, it’s important to be ready from day one and prepared when the high-pressure moments hit. As the one viewed as the leader and captain of the team, I want us to be emotionally ready and to support my team. Right now, I'm working really hard with Isma to deliver this to my team, and I'm very much looking forward to the games.

How do you view the chances of Western teams this year compared to last year?

BrokenBlade: Yeah, I think it's better than last year. I actually believe that North America is going to be much stronger this year than last year. I'm not sure how Fnatic will do; I hope they perform well. It's always nice to see a European team succeed. I know they sometimes struggle with momentum, so if they start off well, they can really do great. As for us, we always want to improve, especially after last year. Losing to NRG was not part of our plan or expectations, and we want to go far this time. Winning Worlds is never easy, but we’re going to take it step by step with each game, focusing on ourselves and our progress.

How beatable do you think Gen.G, Hanwha Life, and Bilibili Gaming are?

BrokenBlade: Right now it's hard to say because, as you mentioned, we haven't scrimmed them much. We have only had one scrim against an Asian team so far. It’s going to be exciting. I think the teams are closer in terms of competition compared to previous years, but we will see. I can’t really say for sure; I’m just excited to play against the best top laners in the world. Since 2020, I've always wanted to play against people like Bin (Chen Zebin) and Zeus (Choi Woo-je). For me, coming back to Worlds is a great opportunity to showcase what I can do. I think I did a great job at MSI, proving that I'm there and not being left behind.

Bin agreed to an arm wrestling rematch after winning the first time around. Are you confident you'll be able to win next time?

BrokenBlade: Bin is a very strong guy, not only in the toplane but also in real life. I had to experience that firsthand. However, I have been going to the gym over the past year, and a lot of people can probably see the difference from last year to this year. I've lost a lot of weight and gained a lot of muscle. I think it will be closer this time. I don’t know if I still match his strength in real life yet, but yeah, I hope he's ready for the rematch both outside and inside the game.

What is the minimum achievement for G2 this year? What would be considered a failure?

BrokenBlade: The obvious answer is that we want to get past the Swiss stage; otherwise, it would be a big failure. Last year, we thought we would at least make it to quarters, especially with the draws. Nowadays, we want to be very humble with whoever we play. We're going to give 100% of our best effort. I think underestimating our opponents played a part in why we lost before, and we don't want that to happen again. We won't underestimate paiN Gaming, for example. Every win is crucial, especially during the Swiss stage with these best-of-ones. For us, at least getting past the Swiss stage is a must; anything else would be a failure, and of course, we want to win.