BUSAN, South Korea -- Marcin "Jankos" Jankowski joined G2 Esports to make history. But not even the star Polish jungler could see this one coming.

In the quarterfinals of the 2018 League of Legends World Championship, Jankos and G2 Esports pulled off arguably the greatest upset in the game's history with a 3-2 victory over tournament favorite Royal Never Give Up from China. RNG, led by world-renowned AD carry Jian "Uzi" Zi-Hao, was seen as an almost shoo-in to make the finals following its rival, KT Rolster, who dropped earlier in the day to Invictus Gaming, the same team RNG defeated in the Chinese domestic final.

After going up 1-0 in the series, China's champion played too much on the careless side, and from there, the series was on. Even as the third-seed of the European region, G2 Esports demanded respect.

"In game two since they stomped the first game, I feel like they were playing really cocky," said Jankos. "I think the rest of the games they played kinda cocky as well, but I think they played good. I don't think we're a bad team. I think our solo laners are really strong and we were able to capitalize off of them."

RNG is known for being the best teamfighting squad in the world. Repeatedly during the year, they've found themselves with their backs firmly against the wall to bring things back to their favor through a perfectly executed five-on-five brawl. G2 never let them get the fight they wanted. Playing an entirely different style to RNG, G2 funneled its resources and attention into their top and mid lanes, helping the team's one-two punch of Martin "Wunder" Hansen and Luka "Perkz" Perković start doing work on Summoner's Rift.

It was never G2's intention to play RNG's game. Instead, they forced the Mid-Season Invitational champion to play theirs, and it resulted in back-to-back dominant victories to finish off the five-game series.

Next up for Jankos and the crew: RNG's year-long adversary, Invictus Gaming.

"I think iG is actually good and will treat us with way more respect than RNG did," he said. "I think the games will be more difficult. Also, they will prepare for us better. I think they will present a different style, seeing as they play more to mid."

While the winner of the unexpected Invictus Gaming and G2 Esports semifinal will make their way to Incheon on the first week of November to play for the coveted Summoner's Cup, the other side of the bracket still needs to shake out. Over on the opposing bracket, G2's own domestic rival, Fnatic, the champion of Europe, sits as the favorite to make it to Incheon, first playing another Chinese team, Edward Gaming, before moving on to play the winner of South Korea's final hope in the Afreeca Freecs vs. North America's Cloud9.

Fnatic and G2 have traded back-and-forth for years, the "new kings" and the "old kings" becoming the overarching narrative of Europe's domestic league. Jankos, smiling, believes that the clash for the proverbial crown might occur this time on a grander stage. This time, the throne might not just be for Europe -- it might be for reign over the entire world.

"I think Fnatic should be able to make the finals," he said. "No matter who wins Cloud9 and Afreeca, Fnatic should be able to beat them."