On July 29, H2K Gaming mid laner Fabian "Febiven" Diepstraten made a bold prediction in an interview on The Shotcaller: The European League of Legends Championship Summer Split final would pit H2K against G2 Esports.

At the time, G2 Esports had shown signs of recovery from its debacle at Rift Rivals and seemed poised to contend with Fnatic for the top spot of Group A. Meanwhile, H2K was seeking ways to entrench itself at the top of Group B in the midst of tough competition from the Unicorns of Love and Splyce.

But on Saturday, the two teams will face each other in the semifinals -- one step earlier than predicted. It will not be the "final before the final" this split; Fnatic and Misfits have proven their mettle during the season and, in Misfits' case, in the playoffs.

If their encounter on July 20 is any indication, G2 Esports vs. H2K Gaming will be fun to watch. G2 ultimately won 2-1 thanks to its teamfighting prowess and a crucial misdraft from H2K. That series helped H2K's head coach, Neil "PR0LLY" Hammad, to spotlight his squad's points of emphasis down the stretch: It boiled down to building muscle memory to avert stage panic.

As a result, G2 faces a squad that has been particularly ruthless on the blue side, with a 15-3 win-loss record on that end of the map, which poses problems for a red side-dominant G2. The issue is exacerbated by H2K's deep champion pool across all five positions and its ability to flex Cho'Gath and Marcin "Jankos" Jankowski's lethal play on Elise and Zac.

Throw in two draft problems: Should Andrei "Odoamne" Pascu be allowed to play Rumble whenever team compositions allow for it? And should G2 turn Summoner's Rift into a no-Rakan zone (36 percent bans overall by G2 during the season) or a no-Thresh zone (58 percent)?

In return, H2K deals with players who match its own in all five positions.

At support, G2's Alfonso "mithy" Aguirre Rodriguez and H2K's Choi "Chei" Sun-ho have impacted encounters frequently. Chei had better numbers this season: a 24 percent first blood rate to mithy's 12 percent, a 5.7 K/D/A (kills/deaths/assists) ratio to mithy's 5.1 and 75.9 percent kill participation to mithy's 69.2. However, mithy has recently demonstrated his teamfight cunning against Splyce, when his Alistar play in a decisive Baron Nashor battle single-handedly sent G2 to the semifinals.

Their bot laners have also had comparable performances. H2K AD carry Shin "Nuclear" Jung-hyun (5.4 KDA, 67.1 percent kill participation and 26.3 percent of his team's damage) and G2's Jesper "Zven" Svenningsen (5.2 KDA, 61 percent kill participation and 27.9 percent of team damage) have proven integral to their squads.

The obvious difference lies in the top lane. G2 gets Ki "Expect" Dae-han (69.7 percent kill participation) involved in more teamfighting and pick situations than H2K's Andrei "Odoamne" Pascu (63 percent). And a clearer contrast emerges in the jungle and mid lane, where H2K shines.

Although Jankos' tenure as the EU LCS "first blood king" might be at an end, H2K's jungler still has a sizable lead in that category for this matchup, with 48 percent of his team's first kills compared with Kim "Trick" Gang-Yun's 27 percent. The meta's shift to a more mid-centric playstyle has also helped Febiven shine for H2K and earned him Summer First Team honors. Numbers don't lie: His 6.0 KDA is way ahead of other EU LCS mid laners, including G2 mid laner Luka "PerkZ" Perkovic, who has a 4.0 KDA.

Despite those disadvantages, G2 is no slouch.

The team has demonstrated its ability to perform regardless of side selection and has a winning record on the red and blue side. G2 also has the upper hand in teamfight execution and excels at dictating tempo to enable its win conditions.

G2 is also strong in its objective collection. The team takes down the first tower 70 percent of the time, and it also nabs Rift Herald in 79.2 percent of matches compared with H2K's 43.5 percent share. The draft often goes G2's way, too, because it forces Caitlyn bans 39 percent of the time and can take advantage of teams that make the mistake of not blocking her.

The most recent match tape might be a boon to both teams. G2's narrow victory over Splyce during the quarterfinals showcased the former's weaknesses in positioning fundamentals, but G2 might have shored up those mistakes going into this semifinal. For H2K's part, Splyce's pick-focused draft compositions might factor into the H2K playbook.

These teams know each other well, and they know how even the matchup is on its face. The team that gets the finals berth will likely come down to which group gets the advantage in drafts -- and if not that, which one makes the most of crucial moments.