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G2 Esports Secure Quarterfinals Spot at Worlds 2025 after EU vs NA Showdown
What better time to exact revenge on your opponents than with Worlds Quarterfinals on the line? After a thrilling back-and-forth match that saw EU and NA's best go toe-to-toe, G2 Esports managed to overpower FlyQuest in the end.
Having completed their revenge for their elimination from MSI earlier in the year at the hands of FLY, G2 now return to playoffs at Worlds for the first time since 2020.
EU vs NA Delivers a Showdown
Having both G2 and FLY match up on the upper side of the Swiss Stage meant that, one way or another, we would have a Western team in the Quarterfinals. Looking past the implications, though, the match turned out to be a bigger spectacle than expected between two sides who continue to build on their rivalry.
Admittedly, the series started off a little slow, with the first kill of the match only arriving after the 11 minute mark. After a slow and methodical Game 1 win for FlyQuest, first game jitters started to dissipate. G2 then quickly punched back to even out the series after suffocating their rivals in the second game.
The real show, however, came in the deciding game of the series. With both squads eager to secure the first Western playoffs spot for themselves at Worlds, G2 and FLY left it all on the line in a bloody and exciting final bout.
After 32 kills, countless objective trades, and several evenly matched teamfights, it came down to none other than G2's fearless leader, Caps, to make the decisive play as he caught four members of FlyQuest with an Orianna Shockwave, sending his rivals to the grave swiftly afterwards. Teamfight won, G2 marched down the Mid Lane to secure their return to the Knockout Stage of Worlds once more after years of disappointments.
SkewMond Continues to Level Up
In our preview to the match, we discussed how the series would largely come down to G2's rookie SkewMond and his ability to keep up with one of the best Junglers the West has ever seen in FLY's Inspired.
Things looked dire to kick off the series, with Inspired absolutely running the map in the first game, putting up a 4/0/4 performance on Wukong. As he has done throughout all of 2025, though, SkewMond leveled up once more.
The G2 Jungler was largely responsible for getting his team to playoffs as he put up a total KDA of 9/3/18 over the last two games of the series on Trundle and Dr. Mundo, showing the world he's more than ready to tango with the best in the position.
What's more, while Caps will rightfully get much of the credit for his game-winning Shockwave, it was actually SkewMond who set up the play by flashing into the FlyQuest backline mid-Shockwave animation with the Orianna ball on him, leaving FlyQuest absolutely no time to react.
The move may have flown largely under the radar, but it was exactly the kind of committed play and split-second communication that veterans of the scene will often use to tilt tight games in their favor; only this time it came from a rookie player attending his very first World Championship.
Thanks to SkewMond's cool head and presence of mind, G2 now joins KT Rolster, Anyone's Legend, and Hanwha Life Esports in the Quarterfinals, putting an end to their 4-year-long playoffs dry spell at Worlds.
FlyQuest Down to Their Last Life
While G2 takes a few days off and waits to find out who their Quarterfinal rivals will be, FlyQuest drop down to a 2-2 scoreline in the Swiss Stage. This means that the next game the North American champions play will be do-or-die. A win gets them to playoffs, while a loss will see FLY return home far sooner than they would have liked.
First, though, Round 4 action continues at the Swiss Stage with Movistar KOI taking on Team Secret Whales up next with elimination on the line. Will G2 become the only European squad left at Worlds, or can MKOI live to fight another day? Tune in tomorrow, October 23rd, at 10 am CET to find out!
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Featured image credit: Liu YiCun/Riot Games
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