G2 Esports became the undisputed champions of Europe when they took the LEC Summer Split crown after beating Fnatic 3-2 in an intense best of five in Athens last weekend.

And with that victory, G2, along with their opponent Fnatic, are being considered as some of the favourites going into the 2019 League of Legends World Championship .

Now, with Worlds just around the corner, LEC casters Daniel ‘Drakos’ Drakos and Trevor ‘Quickshot’ Henry have put aside their EU biases and given us a break down as to how they think the European teams will perform on the big stage.

Can a European team win Worlds this year?

No European team has managed to lift the Summoner’s Cup since Fnatic’s victory at the inaugural World Championship back in 2011. But now, perhaps for the first time ever, Europe are being hailed as one of the favourite regions ahead of the 2019 tournament – but are they expected to come out on top?

“I think G2 and Fnatic are the two teams that are truly capable of winning Worlds,” Quickshot told us. “But do I believe they’re the favourites? That’s a much more bold statement to make. Do I think they can win it though? Absolutely.

“If you go back and watch the LCS, LPL and LCK finals, G2 and Fnatic can beat every single one of those teams. They have the ability, the skills and the teamwork – but do I have full confidence and faith that G2 and Fnatic can play to the best level in every single game in a best of one group stage? Then I get a little more nervous.”

Drakos says EU teams have to respect the LCK and LPL © Riot Games

Drakos shares a similar sentiment: “I think G2 are the front runners right now. A lot will depend on best of ones; once they make it to the best of fives, it’s safe to call them a front runner.

“Inevitably a lot will change such as patch and meta but that’ll change things for every region, not just Europe.

“In terms of Fnatic, I’m not 100% sure because we haven’t really seen this version of them with Nemesis, unlike G2 who proved themselves at MSI.

“Are the European teams the clear favourites? I think people will call us that and I will call us that based on what we saw at MSI, but I still think you have to respect the LCK and you have to respect the LPL.”

What issues will EU face going into Worlds?

Despite G2’s dominance in Europe as well as at MSI, their domestic run was far from flawless and they still have some areas to perfect. Similarly, Fnatic also have their own issues and both Quickshot and Drakos believe the teams can go far if they can iron out their mistakes.

Quickshot said: “When G2 went into a five-game series with Fnatic, they individually underperformed. They, in my opinion, somewhat disrespected Fnatic and were somewhat arrogant in their first playoff series against them. Fnatic then got a little bit wrapped up in their own head, and I think they got a little carried away with being in such an advantage in game 3 that they made some decisional errors.

“It’ll all come down to our players and whether they allow themselves to make any mistakes. They will be the reason as to why they won’t advance or make a deep run, not because their opponents are better teams than them.”

Drakos added: “What we’ve seen in the way G2 have performed against Fnatic is that there is always a ramp up stage. They don’t always show their best form in game 1 and I think that could be a big issue going into Worlds because you have to give your best performance first.