This year’s G2 Esports vs. Fnatic finals matchup was the most viewed League of Legends European Championship series of all time, Riot Games announced today.
The three-game sweep peaked at 952,339 concurrent viewers, up 16.7 percent compared to the previous year, according to lolesports. The series also averaged 819,414 viewers watched at the same time, an increase of 70 percent compared to last year.
Despite advancing to the finals from the lower bracket of the playoffs, G2 manhandled Fnatic, exposing the squad’s glaring weaknesses. This was G2’s eighth European title and fifth consecutive domestic finals win.
In total, a massive 40,041,750 hours were consumed over the course of the 2020 LEC Summer regular season and playoffs, an increase of 85 percent compared to 2019, making it the highest viewed European season in history.
The regular season was an even playing field, with teams battling it out for the top spot. In the end, underdogs Rogue came out on top with a 13-5 record, closely followed by rookie squad MAD Lions.
The usual contenders, G2 and Fnatic, fell short before making a comeback in the playoffs. It was simply one of the most competitive seasons yet.
G2 improved their playoff performance this split after being dropped to the lower bracket last split by MAD Lions. They won the first round but then lost to Fnatic in the second in one of the best series this year. Both teams pulled out all the tricks up their sleeves, but Fnatic triumphed in the end.
G2 bounced back, however, and took down Rogue in the lower bracket in another close best-of-five series. That set up their desired rematch against Fnatic and they took down their rivals 3-0, mimicking the Spring Split finals.
The series began with a surprise Shen pick in the jungle by G2. They countered Fnatic’s aggressive playstyle by using Shen’s ultimate to stop their opponents from outnumbering them in small skirmishes. Jankos popped off, leaving Fnatic flabbergasted as they kept losing all fights due to his ultimate.
Following the huge Jankos performance in the first game on Shen, his pick was banned in the first draft phase by Fnatic in match two. Jankos was given Sett instead, one of his best-performing picks this split. Fnatic failed to properly deal with the juggernaut, who roamed everywhere around the map and ensured his laners had backup whenever Fnatic went for a play.
The last game looked the closest with both teams bringing out their most powerful picks. Fnatic banned away Shen once again but still gave up Sett to Jankos, who secured early leads and had good dragon control. While Fnatic managed to equalize the gold lead, one crucial skirmish for the Dragon Soul sealed their fate. They lost the teamfight, the Dragon Soul, and the series shortly after.