G2 vs H2k – 2016 EU LCS

Lore & Background

The 2016 G2 roster is spoken about in almost mythic terms by EU LCS fans. xPeke's top-lane presence, Jankos's relentless jungle pressure, and Bwipo's mechanical bot-lane dueling created a team that could win any single lane and then snowball into an unassailable mid-game. Perkz, still only in his early twenties, added a layer of creative, high-risk mid-lane playmaking that made every G2 game feel like it could swing on a single all-in. Mithy's vision control and peel anchored a backline that rarely got caught out.

Against a side like H2k, the contrast was stark. H2k were a solid, organized European team, but they lacked the individual ceiling that G2 possessed. The 2016 series between the two became a study in how a team built around five elite players can dismantle a well-coordinated unit simply by being faster, more decisive, and more mechanically superior in every skirmish. Fans remember the G2 side of those matches not for any single heroic play, but for the sheer consistency with which they converted small advantages into game-winning teamfights.

This era also carries a bittersweet weight for the fanbase. It was the last full season in which this exact five-man group competed together in Europe. The 2017 split to North America, the roster reshuffles, and the eventual departure of key players mean that 2016 G2 is often remembered as a team that existed in a single, perfect window of time.

In Their Own Story

The arena in Cologne hummed with the low buzz of a crowd that had come for the big names but was about to watch something quieter and more devastating. The H2k players loaded in, ran their usual pre-game checks, and settled into their seats. Across the stage, the G2 players were already in a different headspace—xPeke cracking his knuckles, Perkz muttering a half-joke to Jankos, Bwipo adjusting his headset with the calm of someone who had already decided how the game would end.

The first game went the way the crowd expected: G2 won, but it was the second that stung. H2k found a rhythm, held the mid-lane, and for eleven minutes it looked like they might actually keep it close. Then Jankos dove the bot lane, Bwipo followed, and the snowball was on. By minute twenty the H2k players were clicking through the surrender prompt one by one, and the G2 side of the stage was already laughing, already talking about dinner.

The crowd didn't boo. They clapped, because they knew what they'd just watched. And somewhere in the back row, a fan with a G2 jersey pulled over his head whispered to his friend: "They're not even trying yet."

Reader's Guide

EU LCS 2016, regular season. G2 enters as the team to beat; H2k are a solid mid-table side looking to prove they can hang with the top. The stakes for G2 are minimal—maintain the lead, keep the streak alive—but the fans in the arena and watching at home know this is the season that will define them.

Game one is a textbook G2 performance. Jankos and xPeke create early pressure, Bwipo wins his lane, and by mid-game the map is simply G2's to play with. The teamfight at the second Baron is over in seconds. H2k's support tries to peel, Mithy is already in the right position, and the five-for-one seals it.

Game two gives H2k their best chance. They hold mid, deny the jungle, and for a stretch it looks like a real contest. But Perkz's mid-lane all-in at minute twelve changes the trajectory. One good play, one good dive by Jankos, and the momentum flips so hard the H2k players are scrambling for a response that never comes.

Game three is a formality. The crowd is on its feet, not because of a single flashy play, but because the entire sequence—lane, jungle, mid, bot, teamfight—unfolds like a rehearsed routine. The G2 players lean back in their chairs before the final turret even falls.

Fans still bring up 2016 G2 in every discussion of EU LCS dominance. The H2k series isn't the single most famous match of the year, but it crystallizes the feeling: a team so far ahead that even a competitive opponent looks like a speedrun. That gap, that effortless superiority, is what makes the 2016 season the one everyone keeps pointing to.

Did You Know?

• The 2016 G2 roster of xPeke, Perkz, Jankos, Bwipo, and Mithy is frequently cited by EU LCS fans as the most mechanically complete five-man unit the league produced in that era.
• This was the last full European season for this exact lineup; the 2017 roster split and subsequent changes meant the group never competed together in the EU LCS again in this configuration.
• Perkz's 2016 mid-lane play—characterized by high-risk all-ins and creative champion picks—helped establish the aggressive, individualistic style that became a hallmark of EU LCS during that period.
• H2k Gaming, as a German-based franchise, represented the broader European competitive scene that G2's 2016 dominance effectively overshadowed for the duration of the season.