It should be no surprise G2 Esports G2 Esports North America Rank #1 jawgemo Alexander Mor trent Trent Cairns valyn Jacob Batio JonahP Jonah Pulice leaf Nathan Orf is where it is. They are the current champions of the Americas, a title which took them three grand finals to achieve. But there's always an important detail to have in mind regarding this team: G2 is not a partner team.

Despite such skilled players, they hold a temporary ticket to the VCT. While the new rules leave G2 open to playing for at least another year, there is still a seemingly unlikely world where the team will have to fight for their slot or, at worst, be relegated altogether.

And yet, they are consistently one of the best teams in the Americas. Their lowest regional placement since the start of 2024 was in the first tournament, Kickoff, where G2 placed fifth. The team has attended every Americas grand final since, and just won its first title at home.

And, today, G2 guaranteed their first international grand final with an immense 2-0 over none other than the champions of the world.

G2 and EDG fist bump onstage Photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games

While some may have expected a close match, a hectic scrap through and through, today's upper bracket final was anything but. The first half of Lotus was the only part of this match that was close.

And even there, where G2 lost the pistol, they bounced back with a number of retakes that gave them a marginal 7-5 lead at halftime. The Americans turned up the heat in the second half, blazing a path to a 13-8 lead.

This win already seemed like a strong indicator of G2's level in these playoffs, but there was still a map to go. It was Split, a map G2 only played once this year, and they even lost on it. EDG, conversely, are a historically strong team. EDG should be fine, right?

EDG was not fine.

In fact, the same exact story played out on both maps. EDG won the pistol round and took a small early lead, but it quickly slipped from them because G2 found momentum as the map went on.

The second half was, again, stronger for the Americans. EDG threw everything but the kitchen sink at G2, but to no avail. G2 won 13-7 and took the match. The Ascension dreamers' fate was sealed, and their fate was to make the grand finals of Masters Bangkok.

“It feels good. This is the first time we've made Tier 1 grand finals. We've fallen short, like third-fourth a couple times, so it definitely feels good,” trent said in the post-match interview. “I think we're ready for it this time.”

Trent, alongside JonahP , was definitely ready for EDG today. They tied at a 1.22 rating, the highest of the match, but the star was definitely jawgemo . G2's newest addition had a marginally smaller 1.20 rating, but made up for that with 37 kills, 155 ADR, and seven opening frags

jawgemo poses onstage The star of today. (Photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games)

This time last year, G2 Esports was playing the Americas Kickoff and dropping out in the Play-In stage. Today, the same team just made it to the grand finals of Masters Bangkok after beating the world champions EDward Gaming 2-0.

The win comes with the sweet taste of revenge, as EDG was the only name to make a dent in G2's group stage run. It's also a huge show of force for G2: in eight Bo3 matches this year, G2 have won seven by way of 2-0 and lost one, 2-1, to EDG.

At this point, G2 are encroaching on the status of becoming EDG's kryptonite. This was the third match between the two teams, and the Americans' second win. In the first bout, G2 took a 2-1 over the Chinese in the winner's match of the Champions 2024 group stage. In the swiss stage of this Masters Bangkok, despite EDG taking the win, G2 was their greatest challenge.

“I think it'll be EDG again [in the grand final]. I think that'll be a good match for us,” trent told the broadcast post-win. “I think they're the best team here, so I'd like to play them.”

EDG lost but, make no mistake, they are a world-class talent.

Every one of earth's mightiest heroes have instances where they overcome their greatest challengers. Kryptonite or not, G2 are the best opposition EDward Gaming have faced in a long time, and they have a grand final spot to show for it.

If EDG want another shot at G2, they have to make use of their second life in the lower bracket final, the first for the team. In fact, historically, lower brackets are not nice for EDward Gaming.

In every international where EDG suffered an early playoffs loss, their lower bracket run never came to fruition. Bangkok is different, though, as EDG are placed in the Bo5 lower final, not in a Bo3 in the early rounds of the lower bracket.

They will play against T1 T1 Korea Rank #2 stax Kim Gu-taek (김구택) Meteor Kim Tae-oh (김태오) Sylvan Go Young-sup (고영섭) BuZz Yu Byeong-cheol (유병철) iZu Ham Woo-ju (함우주) or Team Vitality Team Vitality Europe Rank #2 trexx Nikita Cherednichenko Derke Nikita Sirmitev Kicks Kimmie Laasner Sayf Saif Jibraeel Less Felipe de Loyola Basso . EDG already beat the former, but have yet to test Vitality's meddle.

Only time will tell if EDG have what it takes to stand up to the greatest test their team has ever gone through, or if the kryptonite of G2 has worn them out too much to bounce back.