After making Rocket League Championship Series history in the 2022 season, G2 Esports are raring to go at the Copper Arena in London on June 29th. The reigning international champions won two out of the three North America Spring regional events and look to continue their dominant season at the RLCS Spring Major.
Taking a break from their Bootcamp at the Redbull Gaming Sphere, the G2 trio of Jacob “JKnaps” Knapman, Reed “Chicago” Wilen and Massimo “Atomic” Franceschi led by Matthew “Satthew” Ackermann all sat down to talk to Esports. gg about their plans and thoughts on the RLCS Spring Major.
G2 Atomic, JKnaps, Satthew and Chicago at Bootcamp for Major| Image Credit: Satthew
Learning from setbacks, heading into the Major with no pressure
How was it for you as a coach in your loss against Faze, you had to force a bracket reset and it has been a while since G2 had to do that?
G2 Satthew: It was a little different, I wouldn’t say we faced any sort of fatigue or anything. Like some other teams claim there is coming from the lower bracket. I think it was more just a lapse in, in play for a little bit. And that’s why we ended up losing that game seven to phase in the bracket reset. I think it was a good learning experience for the team and learning to go through that lower bracket and, you know, face a loss, but still try to win the tournament.
G2 are one of the favourites to win the Spring Major, how are the confidence levels, any pressure going into it?
G2 JKnaps: We have a lot of confidence. But at the same time, we’re not stressing ourselves too hard to try and win. Because we know the end goal is the World Championship at the end of the year. So I think if we stress ourselves too much about trying to get back-to-back wins it might have a negative impact on our gameplay.
G2 Atomic: Not really. Because I think like, we know the goal is definitely the World Championship and all of these tournaments before it is trying to perfect how we want to play going into that. So obviously, you know, when you’re on the stage, if you’re like in the finals, you’re gonna want to win, but we’re just trying to make sure that we have the best form possible going into Worlds.
Most anticipated match and region rivalries
G2-BDS at Winter Major. Image Credit: Psyonix
If you could pick any of your 15 teams to face if you are in the finals. Who would you choose?
G2 Jknaps: I would definitely choose BDS for the storyline. Everyone’s talking about how we’re the best teams in America and EU. If there’s one team I would want to face at this tournament just to let everyone, all the fans and stuff get the perfect storyline. I think that would be a good final.
What stands out the most about BDS for you?
G2 Satthew: They’re just a fantastic team, they run a fantastic system over there. They are super disciplined, and super hard to break down. So they’re just the most fun team to play because they just pose the biggest challenge in terms of how to score against them. And we really want to see them on stage, especially in front of a crowd, with all that excitement out there.
So asides from G2, which team do you think is the strongest?
G2 Atomic: Asides from G2, It’s probably BDS, FaZe, and Moist. I think any of those teams are pretty even. And like, I think on recent form, like us and BDS are probably top two. Then FaZe and Moist can beat both of us if they have a good day.
Do you expect North American teams to dominate Spring Major?
G2 Atomic: Yeah, although I think EU is also really good. And there are a couple of teams in the regions that are good. But I think NA’s top five are kind of on a different level than EU’s top five. Like I think it kind of falls off with EU a bit. NA top five like, realistically, any team could win from NA top five I think besides Envy, I guess.
I think NA’s top five are kind of on a different level than EU’s top five. Like I think it kind of falls off with EU a bit. NA top five like, realistically, any team could win from NA top five I think besides Envy, I guess.
G2 Atomic on NA teams
This is the last major before the World Championship. How would you rate the level of competition between regions this year?
G2 JKnaps: Obviously North America and Europe are the dominant regions. But I think from the minor regions, there’s always one team other than APAC that can do some damage in the tournament like FURIA.
I think FURIA is the only team in South America that could potentially win the whole thing. Same with Sandrock (now Falcons). I think only them from MENA can actually go far in a tournament. The lower teams from the minor regions are slowly catching up, but they’re not quite there yet.
Spring Major Format and G2’s in-game thoughts
You went unbeaten in the Winter Major till the grand final, do you think this is possible again?
G2 Chicago: With this format, I definitely think it’s possible. But then again, I don’t think it’s impossible for us if we ever get knocked down. Because I do think we have a good mental where we are able to regain and talk things through. So going from the lower bracket isn’t impossible. But I definitely think if we start feeling ourselves and figuring out how we’re playing and being locked in and on the same page with another. [Then], going through the upper bracket is definitely something I believe we can do.
What are your thoughts on the Major format?
G2 Chicago: Personally this is my least favourite format. I get it for the viewers and I get Psyonix trying to mix it up. So it keeps stuff interesting. But as a player, it’s I don’t really think it’s very fun because you lose two times and you’re out.
For regions like North America, South America, like you’re travelling across the world almost; and you can play two matches and be done. It’s not really too fun. In my opinion, I think it’s not very fair because you don’t really get to show what you’re actually about. Because you’re going to play two best-of-fives; and incidentally, if you’re not playing as well, as you know you could, your tournament could be over. So I definitely don’t think it’s very fun nor fair to the players. But I understand why they do it. And we’ve had success with this format, but by no means does that mean it’s our favourite.
From season seven, what is one update you give me have enjoyed so far?
G2 JKnaps: The voice chat, voice chats. I play with my friends. And we sometimes, I’ll queue with one friend and we’ll play threes and we’ll try to get someone who’s solo queueing who is also using voice chat. It’s a little bit fun, just hard commin with random people.
So if you could change anything about the game, what would you like to change?
G2 Chicago: I think Rocket League could be a huge game if they made the right moves. Now I obviously don’t know what those right moves are. But I guess I would say in the broad term of like marketing or getting the game in the viewers’ eyes that probably don’t know what Rocket League is.
I do think Rocket League has the potential to be a massive game. And I think it’s possible I just don’t know all the steps but I believe like they can do it to the marketing of the game. I think it’d be a lot better to try and grow the population of the player base.
G2’s Message for opponents and fans at RLCS Spring
G2 JKnaps and Atomic: To the other 15 teams, good luck. We are being humble, so yeah good luck. We’re not going to sleep on them.
To the fans, keep supporting us. I mean, it’s actually really nice to see. If we have a good series or even a bad series, they still support us. And they know we can like go all the way. It’s good to have that reassurance from fans that are always watching. So just keep it up.
G2 Esports will be in action at the RLCS 2021-22 Spring Major in Copper Arena in London on June 29th. You can catch all the action live on the RLEsports Twitch channel.
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