G2 vs FNC – The battle between giants – LEC 2024 Winter Playoffs Preview

It’s time for G2 vs FNC once again: who is favored to win Round 2 of the 2024 LEC Winter Playoffs? Let’s find out in our match preview.

Image Credit: Michal Konkol/Riot Games

G2 vs FNC – LEC 2024 Winter Split Playoffs Preview – Will it be chaos?

G2 and FNC have both gone through Round 1 of the LEC 2024 Winter playoffs by getting 2-0 victories. However, the two teams’ performances have been quite different. While G2 dominated GIANTX from start to finish, FNC struggled to close off Game 2 in the series against MAD Lions KOI, winning the game off of an incredible performance by Noah on Varus.

The Korean ADC Noah is proving to be the main player on the FNC roster, alongside jungler Razork. Based on what we have seen so far, these two players are crucial elements that can raise FNC’s potential by a large margin if they are on a roll. The Spanish jungler has been given more chances to play carries, something that wasn’t as common last year. The Korean ADC, on the other hand, is consistently performing well in most games.

Now, however, FNC will go up against G2, who are probably still the no. 1 team to beat in EU. After a slow start, it looks like the team led by Dylan Falco found their groove and drafting approach to the new season. The best thing about G2 is that they have immense flexibility across the board, allowing them to get big edges in drafting whenever they want.

G2’s special drafts

In the series against GIANTX, G2 went for some atypical picks we haven’t really seen much in pro play. Zac and Yasuo from BrokenBlade, as well as the Senna-Maokai bot lane duo. So far in playoffs, G2 has been going for conservative drafts that revolve around scaling more than anything else, neutralizing the early game, and finding just a few plays to get the snowball going.

I’m expecting to see G2 take this similar approach in the series against FNC, and then see if adjustments need to be made based on the game. FNC, instead, have been drafting a lot more similarly to the LCK, looking to get bully lanes that can still scale well into the late-game teamfights.

Who is favored to win?

It’s always hard to judge the matches given that we only had a few matches. With the Bo3 format, the teams’ potential can heavily change (see the series between SK and VIT). That being said, I still favor G2 in the series: they have been far more consistent and they seem to always come up with a clear idea of what they want to do. The few times they mess up usually come down to execution more than anything else.

FNC, in that regard, will need to find great answers to G2’s drafts. As long as they don’t get dominated from start to finish, we should have a great series for us. Be aware of Oscarinin, as he might be the X factor: can he come back after the poor performance against MDK? We’ll find out at 20:00 CET later tonight.