The ever-triumphant G2 Esports are back in full force after slaying Fnatic in the first week of the League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC) playoffs. As the team now prepares to face Karmine Corp, legendary midlaner Rasmus "Caps" Winther sits down with Sheep Esports to discuss his team's recent improvements, his excitement for the upcoming best-of-five, Fearless Draft, the growth of the EMEA region, and finishes with a message to his dedicated fanbase.

Are we seeing G2 at its peak this split so far, how much more room for improvement is there?

Rasmus "Caps" Winther: Yeah, I mean, I’d say we’re at our peak so far, but it’s only been three or four weeks. I don’t even think it was just about form—we had some big hurdles early on, especially with how we played around Atakhan. The differences between scrims and stage were also noticeable, but we’re much more aware of that now, which has helped a lot.

That said, we still have a long way to go. These games weren’t exactly what we aimed for, especially for me. In both Game 1 and 2, the early game didn’t go as we hoped. But I do think our team level is improving. Once we clean up some of these early game issues… I mean, we’ll always make mistakes, but the more we improve, the better we’ll be.

With this win, you’ve secured a spot in the best-of-fives and the semifinals. Are you excited to finally play a Fearless Draft BO5? And how do you feel about facing Karmine Corp in your next match?

Caps: Best-of-fives will be really fun. We've had two 2-0s, so we haven’t fully explored Fearless Drafts yet. Of course, we've been scrimming it, and it gets pretty crazy in the later games, so those are always exciting. It’s weird to say, but I kind of hope for a five-game series against KC. It’s fun, but also a great experience ahead of First Stand.

Honestly, if we win 3-0 and go straight to the finals, we might actually be at a disadvantage compared to teams that go through the lower bracket, play multiple BO5s, and get more experience in sets with more games. So in a way, I’m a little conflicted. Obviously, we want to win, but at the same time, the experience with this format is really valuable. We’ll do our best and see what happens from there.

The LEC was the only major region to have a best-of-one group stage, limiting early exposure to the Fearless Draft format. Do you think starting with BO3s would have been better? Could the lack of early experience negatively impact teams in the long run?

Caps: In the long run, there'll only have been one split of Fearless, so maybe it won’t matter too much. But for these playoffs and First Stand, I think it could make things a bit harder.

When we first moved from best-of-ones to best-of-three Fearless, we had no idea what we were doing in the later games. The first week of scrims was rough—we lost nearly every game three to five in the series we played. Luckily, we had a week off from LEC, and by the second week, we started figuring things out. We understood what we should be looking for, how to counter champions, and got much more confident in our drafts.

Now we’re moving into best-of-fives, and I imagine we’ll need time to adjust again—especially to games four and five. The later games will always be different, but there are patterns and logic to follow when figuring out what’s strong and how to counter opponents. That’s something we’ll be focusing on this week, practicing as much as possible. I’m super excited to see how it all plays out.

Fearless Draft encourages creativity, and G2 has long been known for its innovative play styles. Would this format benefit G2 in the long run if Riot were to extend it over the entire year?

Caps: It’s hard to say, right? We definitely like being creative, and Fearless gives you more agency and options in the later games. Since it’s so different, you have to think really fast. Right now, there’s not much time between games, so you have to quickly figure out what you want to do.

It’s definitely difficult, but it’s the same for our opponents, which means there’s a lot of room for making just the right bans and picks to gain big advantages. So draft might become even more important, and staying level-headed in those late games could help us internationally. But it could also make things harder—it’s tough to predict. In theory, it makes sense that we’d play more unique or unexpected champions, but we’ll see how it plays out if we make it to the international stage.

Many feel that the overall level of the LEC has improved this year, especially in terms of average team strength. How do you see the evolution of the LEC in 2025? Do you think the league is on its way to regaining its former glory, with teams pushing each other to a higher level?

Caps: It’s always hard to compare splits or regions because those comparisons are often wrong. A lot of times, when people say Europe is weak, we actually do well—like in 2019, when we won MSI and made Worlds finals. Other years, people think we’re strong, and then we lose in groups. It depends so much on how the patches shake out before international tournaments.

That said, I do think the league has been more competitive this split. Fnatic was on an eight-game win streak before this series, and they’ve been doing really well, just like last year. The biggest improvement has been from Karmine Corp. They’ve stepped up a lot compared to last year, and adding Yike was a big boost for them. GIANTX started strong but seems to be slowing down. KOI is doing decently, but they were already solid last year. So overall, Fnatic, KOI, and even us are performing similarly to before, while KCorp is the team making the biggest jump.

Earlier this year, you mentioned wanting Rudy "SkewMond" Semaan and Labros "Labrov" Papoutsakis to not just fit into G2 but expand on the team. What do they bring to the squad that previous lineups didn’t, and could this become G2’s best roster?

Caps: Yeah, I definitely think we can be the best G2 team ever fielded. But honestly, I’d say that every year we’ve had the potential, right? We’ve always had really strong players, and this year is no different. If everyone keeps up the same level of work ethic we’ve had so far, I really believe in us, and I believe in Labrov and SkewMond as part of the team.

SkewMond has been on fire since we started Fearless and has been performing really well in the last few weeks. Labrov was very decisive today, which was super important—especially in game one. If he hadn’t been so proactive, that game could’ve gone differently. They both bring their own strengths and perspectives, which has been fun to see develop. It took some time to get used to each other at first—not in a bad way, but just in the sense that they needed to get comfortable expressing themselves. They weren’t just here to fill a role; they had to bring their own ideas and show what they could do. And I think they’re really starting to do that. So yeah, I’m super excited to see what we can achieve together.

You’ve mentioned focusing on the present, but after more than six years with G2 and so many different lineups, what does 2025 mean to you? Is this the year you finally surpass what you achieved in 2019?

Caps: Yeah, I think this could definitely be the year. For the past few years, we’ve been failing a lot—losing in groups and such. Since the 2019-2020 G2 roster, it’s been tough for Europe. In 2021, we didn’t make an international tournament, and in 2022, we got destroyed by the LPL and LCK teams. In 2023, we got into some good situations but struggled with execution. Last year, we won against Top Esports, took games off T1 and BLG. We were so close, but not quite there—we were still behind many LPL and LCK teams. This year, we want to take everything we’ve learned and finally beat them. We’ve got a lot of experience now, along with new ideas from Labrov and SkewMond, and we’re aiming to make it work.

You have a huge fan base, even with your very own Discord community. I saw that they even made you a birthday gift in November. What does it mean to you to have such dedicated fans?

Caps: Yeah, big thanks to all my fans. It means so much to have that support, especially from the Discord community. It’s always amazing to see everyone there, with a whole channel just full of support and cheering us on. Over the last few years, they’ve been doing these crazy birthday gifts that just keep getting bigger every year, which I’m super grateful for. It’s like a gift from so many people coming together. I definitely wish I could be more active and supportive of my fans—I haven’t been streaming or as active in Discord for a while, but I want to do that at some point. At the same time, we’re still striving to reach the level we’re aiming for. I’m hoping that 2025 will be the year where we not only achieve success internationally but also give our fans the content and gratitude they deserve.

How likely is it that G2 is going to win the Winter Split and make it to First Stand?

Caps: Probably like a 97%."