G2 Esports Struggles in the 2023 North American VALORANT Season
G2 Esports had a strong start in the 2023 North American VALORANT Challengers season. However, they have recently experienced a significant decline, and they are now on the verge of elimination. This is a familiar feeling for most of the team members.
In the first split of the season, G2 performed well in group stage play, going 4-1. Despite an initial upset, they reached the final of the Mid-Season Faceoff. Unfortunately, since losing to M80 in the MSF final in March, the team has been on a terrible losing streak. They have lost all five matches in the second split and were decisively defeated by Oxygen in the opening round of the Challengers playoffs on May 31.
This is not the first time for the players involved to experience this kind of downfall, although it happened much faster this time. Four out of the five players on G2 have previously experienced initial success followed by a gradual decline.
Shahzeb “ShahZaM” Khan and Michael “dapr” Gulino went through a similar experience during their time with Sentinels. In the middle of 2021, Sentinels were considered the best VALORANT team globally, dominating the NA scene and winning Masters Reykjavik without losing a single map. However, their performance declined towards the end of the year, and they never reached that level again in 2022.
Erik “penny” Penny and Maxim “wippie” Shepelev, along with coach Ian “Immi” Harding, had a similar experience. In 2021, they made a surprising run with Version1 in the NA Challengers, reaching Masters Reykjavik. However, they were unable to replicate that success on an international level throughout 2021 and 2022.
Related: NA Challengers 2023: VALORANT scores, schedule, and standings
The issues with G2 are evident, as there is a noticeable lack of confidence and playmaking during official matches. In split two and the playoffs, the G2 players are ranked among the lowest in categories such as VLR player rating, ACS, KAST percentage, and K/D ratio.
Coach Immi mentioned on Twitter that the players have been working hard and need to translate their practice performance into matches. He also referred to their previous lower bracket run in the MSF but acknowledged that their current losing streak is a different challenge.
The former V1 core on G2 will have to face vanity, a familiar opponent, if they want to keep their hopes of Ascension alive.
G2 Esports, North American VALORANT Challengers, losing streak, confidence, playmaking, coach, NA Challengers, Masters Reykjavik, VLR player rating, ACS, KAST percentage, K/D ratio, Ascension.