The 2026 First Stand kicked off on Monday at the Riot Games Arena in São Paulo. G2 Esports faced Team Secret Whales, LCP champions and a dark horse not to be underestimated. Europe's representatives needed to make a strong first impression to give hope ahead of their matches against LPL and LCK. The Samurai delivered a clean 3-0, but the series was not without its share of hiccups.
An inconsistent series from the top laner. Game one on Rumble was serviceable, and game two on Kled created chaos but came with some clumsy moments — including an auto-attack cancel at an awful timing, symptomatic of the toplaner's lack of discipline in the series. His lane openings were a recurring issue throughout the BO5: he got caught out too often in the early levels whether 1v1 or jungle ganks, and game three on Shen was the perfect illustration — he started in the worst possible way, dying back to back. But once he weathered the storm, he completely took over, finishing 9/2/6 with 35.7k damage, the highest on his team and by far his best game of the series. His early laning needs serious work heading into the tougher matchups to come, eventhough the confidence and resilience he had can prove key.
Excellent across the board. Whether on Vi, Aatrox, or Trundle, SkewMond was a constant threat, enabling Caps at every turn and applying relentless pressure across the map. His game-three Trundle was arguably his best — 4/2/11 with 75% kill participation, playing a crucial role in turning the tide after TSW's early aggression, and unlike most of his teammates, pulling off some crisp mechanical plays throughout the series. That said, he needs to be more connected with his team during grouped phases and play more around his win conditions — his Aatrox game two being a prime example where the individual performance in early was there but the team coordination around his Ashe in mid game was a bit less.
The best player on the server across both games. His Ahri in game one was suffocating, finishing 7/0/12 with 32.5k damage and 86% kill participation. In game two on Galio he was less flashy and had a few oopsies, but he seemed to be the first to identify that the team needed to play around Hans Sama to close out the game. Game three saw him quietly take over on Azir, gradually building a CS, XP and scaling advantage against Dire after the Vietnamese mid sacrificed resources to roam. Not his most spectacular series, but clinical in every sense.
An encouraging series from the ADC, who had been somewhat in the shadow of his teammates in recent times. Hans Sama took more calculated risks and put himself in carry positions more than we have seen lately — game two on Ashe being the prime example, finishing 7/2/10 with 29.7k damage. The problem remains the same: his team still struggles to play cleanly around him when he is the one holding the advantage. It took G2 far too long to commit to peeling for him in game two, and only once they did could he fully take over. His Yunara in game three was quieter but efficient. The willingness to step up is there — now G2 need to meet him halfway.
The standout performer relative to expectations. His Bard in game one was exceptional — mechanically decisive, always first on the plays, and constantly provoking errors from TSW. His Braum in game two was equally impactful in the early game, though he played a bit too cocky in the mid game, looking more to engage than to peel his ADC. His Lulu in game three was quieter. Throughout the series, he played a big part in establishing G2's bot lane dominance in the laning phase. On top of his mechanical sharpness, Labrov also avoided the usual solo deaths that have plagued him in the past — a welcome sign heading into tougher matchups.
The most consistent TSW player for two games — then fell apart. His level-one solo kill on Olaf despite being counter-picked in game two showed real individual quality, and he even snowballed well from it but had a hard time converting in teamfights. He was already the only reliable lane for his team to play through in game one. But game three on Jax was catastrophic: 2/7/0, dying far too many times in the mid game especially given the advantage he secured early. If BrokenBlade needs to fix his lane openings, Pun needs to fix everything that comes after — finding better ways to snowball his leads and stay impactful beyond the laning phase.
The bright spot for TSW. His Naafiri game two was outstanding — 10/2/6 with 90% kill participation and 24.1k damage, doing everything in his power to keep his team in it. Game one on Jarvan was good in very early given his teammates conditions, but the young jungler showed signs of immaturity overextending and falling to obvious traps a few times. He dropped the ball in game three on Mundo though, playing a bit too disconnected from the rest of his team.
A rough outing for the 19-year-old mid laner. Game one saw him bullied relentlessly by the G2 trio, never finding space to breathe or impact the map. Game two on Akali was slightly better as he struck back at Caps in early, but he was a big reason TSW threw their comeback attempt by going too deep too many times. Game three on Sylas told yet another story: he sacrificed his lane, XP, and resources to roam and impact the map, but it only opened the door for Caps' Azir to scale for free — eventually punishing Dire in the 1v1 once the mid-game arrived. He was clearly a class below his direct opponent, but at least he really tried.
The same can not be said of his botlane who had a very quiet series. They got bullied for most of the games, and Eddie never found a way to punch back or take a game into his own hands even when his team tried to give him a lead (game 3). Game one on Corki was largely invisible, finishing 0/2/5 with 50% kill participation. Game two on Miss Fortune was better on paper — 4/3/10 — but he lacked the agency to carry fights on his own and got hard stomped in lane. Eddie never really showed up.
The other half of TSW's struggling bot lane. Game one on Rakan was particularly difficult, playing reactively rather than proactively while his mid laner was being dismantled by the Bard. Game two on Nautilus was no better — as they got demolished in the 2v2. Game three on Thresh offered little more, despite giving him more of a playmaking tool. The laning phase was consistently lost, and neither Bie nor Eddie ever figured out how to fight back and make a game their own. The gap in support between Bie and Labrov was one of the widest role differentials in the match.
G2 Esports got the job done in straight games, but not without some familiar turbulence. Playing primarily through mid lane and their star player Caps, the Samurai built early leads through an outstanding mid-jungle-support trio that dictated the pace of every game. That said, G2 continue to give themselves unnecessary scares with messy mid-game execution — a recurring issue since their LEC Versus Final against Karmine Corp. Whether that costs them against the best teams in the world remains to be seen starting Wednesday against BLG. Mechanically, the team does not look fully dialed in yet either, as they made a lot of silly mistakes that did cost them a lot. And when you look at the BFX–BLG series, and how little English they speak on the Rift, the mechanical differential could prove to be the deciding factor.
