G2 Esports, also known as G2, is a European esports organization based in Berlin, Germany. The organization has teams that compete in games such as League of Legends, Valorant, Counter-Strike 2, Hearthstone, Rocket League, Rainbow Six Siege, Fortnite, iRacing, and EVA. G2 also runs G2 Minnesota in the Call of Duty League and G2 Football Club in the Kings League Germany. The organization was founded in Spain on February 24, 2014, as Gamers2 by former League of Legends professional Carlos "ocelote" Rodríguez Santiago and investor Jens Hilgers. It changed its name to G2 Esports on October 15, 2015.
G2's League of Legends team plays in the League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC), the top-level competition for League of Legends in Europe. The team has won eighteen domestic titles in Europe, more than any other organization, and was the first Western team to win the Mid-Season Invitational in 2019. G2's Rainbow Six Siege team competes in the European League (EUL), the highest level of competitive Rainbow Six Siege in Europe. This team has won two World Championships, a unique achievement. They won the Six Invitational 2019 by defeating Team Empire in the final and won the Six Invitational 2023 after a long journey to the final. G2's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team holds the second-longest LAN map winning streak with 22 victories and is one of three teams to win Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Katowice and Cologne in the same year.
G2 is also part of the Esports Foundation Club Partner Program, which is supported by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. This program provides teams with financial rewards for promoting the Esports World Cup tournament in a positive way and increasing interest in the event. Some people view the tournament as a tool used by Saudi Arabia to shift public attention away from its human rights issues.
Organization
Carlos Rodríguez left his job as CEO of G2 on September 23, 2022, due to controversy related to his relationship with Andrew Tate. Before becoming CEO, he was suspended from his position after a video showing him celebrating with Andrew and his brother Tristan Tate spread widely online. Experts later believed this event may have caused G2 to lose a chance to join the 2023 season of the Valorant Champions Tour. Rodríguez was later banned from competitions approved by Riot Games until November 13, 2022. To return to the LEC, he completed training on sensitivity and leadership.
Current divisions
In 2014, Gamers2 began competing in League of Legends with a starting team that included Top laner Jesper "Jwaow" Strandgren, jungler Sebastián "Morden" Esteban Fernández, Mid laner Carlos "Ocelote" Rodríguez, AD carry Soler "Yuuki60" Florent, and support Hugo "Dioud" Padioleau.
The team joined the Spring Expansion Tournament, where they defeated Reason Gaming in the seeding game and Team Strix in Round 1. Gamers2 was eliminated in Round 2 after losing to n!faculty.
In 2016, Gamers2 changed its name to G2 Esports after qualifying for the EU LCS Spring Season.
G2 Esports also had a sister team in Spain called G2 Vodafone, which competed in the EU Challenger Series on behalf of sponsor Vodafone. This team qualified for the 2016 EU Challenger Series Summer Split Qualifiers but did not advance to the EU CS. They won the Spanish 2016 Final Cup Spring Split.
The team failed to qualify for the LCS in three consecutive splits.
Later, the team finished first in the Challenger Series season and took second place in the playoffs, earning a spot in the 2016 Spring EU LCS. Gamers2 qualified for the LCS by defeating SK Gaming 3–2.
In the 2016 EU LCS Spring Split, G2 finished first in the regular season. In the playoffs, they defeated Fnatic and won the 2016 EU LCS in Rotterdam after beating Origen. This earned them a spot in the 2016 Mid-Season Invitational in Shanghai. However, the team took a vacation before the tournament and arrived unprepared. They lost 8 of their 10 games, with only two wins against the lowest-ranked team. This loss cost the EU LCS its first seed for the 2016 World Championship.
In 2018, G2 performed well and reached the Semifinals of the League of Legends World Championship, where they lost to Invictus Gaming. A notable feature of the 2018 team was their use of unusual bot lane picks, including AD carry Hjarnan, who played Heimerdinger, a rare choice.
For the 2019 season, G2 reorganized its team, releasing Hjarnan and Wadid and signing Mikyx as a new support and Caps as a new mid laner from Fnatic. Perkz moved to the bottom lane to play AD carry. After the name change from EU LCS to LEC, G2 won its first split on April 14, 2019, with a 3–0 victory over Origen.
In the 2019 Mid-Season Invitational, G2 defeated Team Liquid 3–0, becoming the first European team to win a Riot-sponsored international tournament since Fnatic won the Season 1 World Championship. They finished first in the 2019 LEC Summer Split regular season and defeated Fnatic 3–2 in the finals to win their sixth domestic title.
At the 2019 League of Legends World Championship, G2 finished as runners-up, losing to FunPlus Phoenix in the grand finals.
In the 2020 LEC Spring Split, Perkz and Caps swapped roles after Perkz wanted to return to mid lane. G2 finished first in the regular season but lost their first playoff match to MAD Lions, dropping to the loser's bracket. They won their next three matches and claimed their seventh title. In the Summer Split, G2 lost to Fnatic in the winner's bracket finals but defeated Rogue and Fnatic again in the Grand Finals to win the split. At the 2020 World Championship, G2 reached the semifinals but were eliminated by Damwon Gaming and finished in 3rd/4th place.
For the 2021 LEC season, G2 traded Perkz to Cloud9 and acquired Martin "Rekkles" Larson from Fnatic. G2 finished first in the Spring Split regular season with a 14–4 record but lost in the playoffs. In the Summer Split, they finished second in the regular season but were eliminated in the playoffs. G2 failed to qualify for the 2021 World Championship, the first time since joining the EU LCS in 2016.
In the 2022 LEC season, G2 released Grabbz, Rekkles, Wunder, and Mikyx. They acquired Dylan Falco and BrokenBlade from Schalke 04 Esports and Flakked and Targamas from other European leagues. G2 finished fourth in the Spring Split regular season but won the lower bracket playoffs, qualifying for the 2022 Mid-Season Invitational. There, G2 had a 24-game winning streak before losing to PSG Talon. They finished the tournament in 4th place after losing to T1 in the semifinals. After the tournament, Jankos announced he would leave G2, ending a 5-year partnership.
On September 1, 2022, G2 announced a full female League of Legends team called G2 Hel.
For the 2023 LEC season, G2 signed Yike from LDLC OL and Hans Sama from Team Liquid, and Mikyx returned from Excel Esports. G2 finished 4th in the regular season but won the LEC Season Finals with a 3–1 victory over Fnatic, marking their second domestic title of the year. They represented the EMEA region as the first seed at the 2023 World Championship but were eliminated by Bilibili Gaming. G2 announced they would not make roster changes for the 2024 LEC season.
In the 2024 LEC season, G2 won both the Spring and Summer splits, qualifying as the first seed for the 2024 Mid-Season Invitational. They lost to T1 in the semifinals but won matches against PSG Talon and Top Esports before losing to T1 again in a rematch, finishing 4
Former divisions
On September 7, 2016, G2 Esports signed the RLCS Season One world champions, former iBUYPOWER Cosmic.
On February 22, 2017, Brandon "Lachinio" Lachin and Ted "0verZer0" Keil left the team. Dillon "Rizzo" Rizzo and Jacob "JKnaps" Knapman joined the team on the same date.
The team won the ELEAGUE Cup 2017 tournament even though they did not participate in RLCS Season 3.
The team finished 7th–8th at the RLCS World Championship Season 5, even though they were the No. 1 seed from North America. They finished 9th–10th in Season 6 as the No. 2 seed from North America.
On January 7, 2019, the team removed long-standing captain Cameron "Kronovi" Bills. They added Reed "Chicago" Wilen from Evil Geniuses. Kronovi later joined Rogue. G2 finished 2nd at the RLCS World Championship Season 7 with Chicago.
G2 missed the RLCS Season 8 Finals after a 2–5 finish and a fight through Promotion Playoffs to keep their spot for the next season. After finishing second before the playoffs in RLCS Season 9, G2 faced NRG in the semifinals of the NA Regional Championship. They won 4–3 in a close Game 7, advancing to the grand finals against Spacestation Gaming. They defeated Spacestation, becoming the RLCS Season 9 North American Champions.
During RLCS X, G2 had quarterfinal exits in Regional Event #1 and Regional Event #2. The streak ended in Regional Event #3 when G2 defeated The Peeps in the quarterfinals but lost to Team Envy in the semifinals. Because of consistent placements throughout RLCS X: The Grid, G2 earned the Wildcard slot at the RLCS Season X – Fall: North American Major. There, they finished 3rd–4th.
On March 18, 2021, during RLCS X, Rizzo announced his plan to retire from professional Rocket League competition. He revealed the upcoming Regional Event would be his last event on the roster before leaving G2 Esports entirely on June 29, 2021. After Rizzo’s decision, 15-year-old Andres "Dreaz" Jordan played as a stand-in for the rest of the season.
On January 2, 2022, G2 traded Dreaz for Massimo "Atomic" Franceschi from Team Envy.
This roster won the RLCS Winter Major 2022 in Los Angeles, securing the organization’s first RLCS LAN tournament victory in 5 years.
G2 qualified for the RLCS 2021–22 World Championship as the No. 1 seed from North America. They went undefeated and reached the grand final, where they faced Team BDS, the No. 2 seed from Europe. G2 lost 4–1 in the finals.
On May 31, 2023, G2 announced a full female roster called G2 Luna.
G2 did not change their roster and qualified for the RLCS 2022–23 World Championship as the No. 4 seed. They finished 5th–8th, losing to Team BDS 4–1 in the quarterfinals.
After the 2022–23 RLCS season, G2 released Chicago and JKnaps. On September 22, 2023, it was reported that G2 would acquire Daniel "Daniel" Piecenski and Landon "BeastMode" Konerman from Version1. On December 5, the merger between the two organizations succeeded, confirming the RL roster rumors two days later.
This roster dominated the RLCS scene, making all 6 regional finals and winning 4 of them. They finished second at the first major in 2024 in Copenhagen, losing to Gentlemates. They also reached the finals at the second major in London, defeating Team Falcons to win their first LAN title in 2 years. With this success, G2 represented North America as the No. 1 seed and one of the tournament favorites. G2 started strong, going 3–0 in the Swiss stage. In the upper bracket quarterfinals, they faced their old rivals BDS. After a 7-game match, G2 lost but still had a chance to fight back. After close games against Furia from South America and K