G2 Esports are in the middle of revitalizing their roster, and look to rebuild post ESL One New York 2019. After being at an absolute low with the Kevin "Ex6TenZ" Droolans crafted all French lineup, G2 Esports bounced back with some fresh blood; along with Team Vitality, we saw a resurgence of French Counter-Strike to the top of the world. G2 Esports did not see trophy success, but performances such as a grand final appearance against Team Liquid at EPL S9 Finals breeds confidence that G2 Esports are on the right side of a rebuild. How will they fair up against the likes of Team Liquid, Astralis and NRG?
Read More: CSGO: ESL One New York 2019 Dates, Tickets, Format, Teams, The Return of Cache and More
Roster
Kenny "KennyS" Schrub (1.11)
KennyS has been the star that G2 Esports has always expected him to be this year, after putting on several electrifying performances at high-level events. If you are looking for a surefire fantasy points performer, KennyS seems to be Mr. Reliable once again.
Lucas "Lucky" Chastang (0.99)
Lucky is one of the players reportedly on the chopping block and unfortunately for him, it makes sense. He has been ok at best in his role and there are better up and coming players both in the region and the world as a whole.
Audric "JaCkz" Jug (1.09)
JaCkz is in a bit of a renaissance seeing as the 27-year-old has been an extremely solid fragger. If you are looking for a cheaper player to pick up for your HLTV fantasy team, JaCkz is a high-quality budget option to choose from.
Francois "AmaNEk" Delaunay (1.04)
AmaNEk was hailed as one of the best French prodigees in recent years besides Matthieu "ZywoO" Herbaut, and his performances on G2 have been good but never great. Hopefully, the young Frenchman continues to improve as the team makes roster/role changes.
Fabien "kioShiMa" Fiey (1.09)
One of the controversial figures in French CS history, kioShiMa saw his stock value boost considerably when he joined the international Cloud9 project. While the team was not extremely successful, his performance as an individual was extremely commendable. Look for kio to put on some killer performances in the NYC group stage.
Recent Form
Online:
GG.BET Beijing Invitational 3rd-4th
ESL One: New York 2019 EU Qualifier: Qualified
Offline:
StarLadder Berlin Major (9th-11th)
IEM Chicago (5th-6th)
EPL Season 9 Finals: (2nd)
G2 Esports face the problem/benefit of having a sub for NYC. Shox has been one of the greatest French players of all time and has been in really good form, so replacing him is hard. Luckily, kioShiMa is a veteran talent who excelled in his last role on Cloud9.
G2's placings take a bit more of a backseat since the team will operate differently without their captain, but their two most recent LAN events show that a change was incoming. Look for G2 Esports to be good, but the lack of time to prepare a quality gameplan could come to hurt them.
Potential for success
Playing with a sub can be both a positive and a negative. Teams such as Team Liquid have had great success with star players as subs (think s1mple at MLG Columbus), but often the honeymoon period does not last long. G2 Esports have an excellent coach in Damien "maLeK" Marcel and a very good core of players, but their schedule is not favorable.
I expect G2 Esports to lose their initial matchup against ENCE, beat eUnited, and then lose again to ENCE in their final matchup to finish 5th-6th. Surprises can happen and ENCE's form is questionable, but G2 are in the midst of another rebuild and expecting a lot from the team this early is unfair/unrealistic.
Written By: Ezekiel Carsella@jamaican116