In Game 2 of the 2019 Spring Grand Finals, G2 Esports spurred cheers and jeers from the crowd as they seemed to be drafting a funnel composition in order to counter Origen’s draft. After defeating Fnatic in the Semifinals, Origen came into the finals looking strong in their preparation. So G2 threw out their book and did whatever they wanted.

(courtesy Riot Games)

What is a Funnel Comp?

The funnel is a composition strategy in which a team builds their entire champion line-up in order to “funnel” the gold of a match into a single carry.

Instead of a mid-laner, you have a support paired with a hard-carry champion. This carry will pick jungler starting items, and select smite as one of their champion spells.

What this composition does is freeze almost everything on the opposing team’s laning phase, allowing a snowball to build. If done right, this snowball carry eventually gets so rich and hopefully fed that there’s eventually just no reasonable way of stopping it.

(courtesy Riot Games)

The opposing jungler can’t really do anything, because there’s no real champion that can take a 1v1 against a normal carry. The mid-laner is also frozen in the lane because they do not have the items nor the Summoner's spell to ditch the CS in lane and go wander the jungle with the funnel champ. It’s also a headache for bot-lane because normal funnel comps draft two support for their bottom lane. This means that control and zoning are outweighed, and a standard bot duo gets the handicap in farming.

A funnel composition is very lethal and versatile in the early to mid game but can be out-scaled if matches are to exceed the 40-minute mark, depending on the opposing champion picks.

Arrival in Holland

(courtesy Riot Games)

G2 Esports used their funnel composition in order to counter the Sona and Taric pick from Origen, and it worked flawlessly. On paper, G2 is a whole head above Origen to begin with. Give them a funnel composition with the skills and smarts of their players, and there’s just no real chance.

For Game 2 in the LEC Grand Finals, G2 drafted Xeyah and Rekan in the mid-lane, with their normal bot-lane duo. Adding LEC MVP Caps on support champion Pyke, and Jungler (and notable ex-support player) Jankos on Morgana in the bot-lane for roaming, and Wunder in the top-lane on a pretty standard Ryse pick.

Winning it all before the clock even struck 25-minutes, G2 Esports held a kill lead that more than doubled Origen’s, a 9-to-1 turrets destroyed counter, and a near 15k gold lead.

Does it Always Work?

No.

Okay, we’ll elaborate.

There aren’t endless comps that work in funnel strategies, and a team that can survive the early or mid-game may be able to come back and take a game against a funnel composition.

(courtesy Riot Games)

It especially doesn’t work in solo queue. The whole idea of a funnel composition is counter-intuitive to how solo queue is played. League of Legends players tend to get blinders on when it comes to solo queue, and it’s usually a selfish game within the game. Funnel compositions require so much potential sacrifice from other members of the team that it would be nearly impossible to convince your solo queue teammates to commit to it.

This strategy also takes a whole heap of communication and cohesion. Both of which are brutal at best while in solo queue. Take our word for it, the funnel comp requires immense team synergy, which is why a masterclass team like G2 was able to employ it.

For more on League of Legends and stories from the 2019 LEC Spring Split, be sure to stay tuned on Twin Galaxies.