Perkz: The Best in the West + G2 Esports Retrospective

Western League of Legends has always been playing catch up to their Eastern counterparts. The better half of the 2010s consisted of every other region, west or east, trying to echo the success of the aptly dubbed "Korean Overlords," who overtook just about every international tournament.

Korea and China are home to the best players to touch the game: Mid lane superstar Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok, now retired legendary AD carry player Jian "Uzi" Zihao, and Song "Rookie" Eul-jin - just to name a few. These players stand out for their utter dominance on the rift, crushing opponents in convincing fashion - a myriad of times. This dominance of play allows these athletes to hold multiple titles, both domestic and international.

Europe and North America has seen their fair share of wonderful domestic talent, particularly Europe - who always seems to outclass North America when it comes to the international stage. There is one Western player in particular who has proven countless times that he should be named the best player to come out the West. That man is no other than G2 Esports's Luka Perković, simply known as Perkz.

pictured above: Day 6 at the 2018 World Championship Play-In at LoL PARK in Seoul, Korea, on October 7th 2018.

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Perkz began his career humbly, under the now defunct organization, GSI Gaming. There Perkz would be introduced to the world of competitive League of Legends, alongside players like Aleski "H1IVA" Kaikkonen and Kristoffer "P1noy" Pedersen.

GSI had attended DreamHack Summer 2014 to medoicre results, starting to pickup steam during the EpicGear Cup 16 - which the team had won. GSI Gaming was disbanded at the end of 2014, and Perkz was left to look for a team that could use his emerging talent.

A fellow by the name of Carlos "ocelote" Rodríguez had just started an organization himself out of Spain, known as "Gamers2." At first, it would seem that Perkz didn't take a liking to Rodríguez's squad, as he would depart to leave for French org. Millennium after losing to Nevo in a tight 2-1 series. It's worth noting that Perkz shared a roster with current day EU veterans such as support Raymond "kaSing" Tsang and prominent AD Carry player Kasper "Kobbe" Kobberup.

Perkz's time at Millennium was cut short due to exams, staying with the team for only four months before reuniting with ocelote and Gamers2. By the time Perkz had been settled in to the new roster, Gamers2 had re branded to the name everyone knows them for today - G2.

G2 came out swinging in their inaugural split, contesting the likes of legendary organization Fnatic, and Enrique "xPeke" Cedeño Martinez's established powerhouse Origen. The regular season saw G2 clash with the likes of H2k and Vitality, who were also vying for that top spot. G2 remained the sole victor, clinching a 15-3 record in their first split.

Now with a playoffs underway and a bye under their belt, G2 swept Fnatic and Origen 3-1 to win their inaugural split and secure a spot to the 2016 Mid-Season Invitational. Notably, Perkz was also named Rookie of the Split for his confident and controlled mid lane play.

pictured above: Luka "Perkz" Perković after winning his first split with G2 Esports in Rotterdam, Netherlands, at the Rotterdam Ahoy.

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Many European fans were hopeful after G2 proved to be the very best their region had to offer, but it didn't go that way. G2 Esports unfortunately fell to 5th/6th place in the tournament due to a poor showing in the Round Robin portion of the tournament.

In a now deleted statement, the organization cited that their players had taken vacation time after a "rigorous Spring Split." G2 Esports and vacation became synonymous with each other, and quickly sparked thousands of memes throughout the community.

The backlash the organization received echoed to other regions, who also hopped on to meme and make fun of G2. By taking a look at the like/dislike ratio on much of the content G2 put out before the 2016 summer split, it is clear to see that many fans were angered, or simply just joining along with the hate.

Regardless, it was time for G2 to kick in to high gear, with some exciting new player acquisitions. With the arrival of European legends Jesper "Zven" Svenningsen and Alfonso "Mithy" Aguiree Rodríguez, the team continued to stomp domestically.

It truly became the G2 dynasty, as the team would go on to win for another year with back to back titles in both the 2017 spring and summer splits. The legendary duo of Zven and Mithy went off to play in the NALCS for Team Solomid, a bid not many were expecting from the North American organization.

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2018 saw some key pickups for the organization, acquiring jungler Marcin "Jankos" Jankowski from H2k, and top laner Martin "Wunder" Nordahi Hansen from Splyce. Molding the roster around Perkz, who at this point had won four consecutive splits under the G2 name, Jankos and Wunder would prove to be key players in forming the eventual "superteam" G2 would become.

Domestically, 2018 was not the best time for G2, and saw the org. finally end their legendary run of domestic titles at the hands of a Fnatic hungry for revenge. Although they would lose to Fnatic in 2018 spring, and not even make it into the top 4 in 2018 summer, the team would soon see their best international run yet.

At the 2018 World Championship, G2 would make it to the semi-finals, falling to the eventual victors of the entire tournament, Chinese superstars Invictus Gaming.

2019 is the true turning point for the organization, and the best place to cite where Perkz is deserving of the title "best in the West." After dropping their Team ROCCAT botlane duo of Petter "Hjarnan" Freyschuss and Kim "WADID" Bae-in, G2 Esports acquired hopeful support player Mihael "Mikyx" Mehle and the best midlane Europe had to offer: Fnatic's Rasmus "Caps" Borregaard Winther.

With the recruitment of Caps onto the G2 roster, it gave Perkz only one option: leave the role of mid in the hands of Caps, and head in the bot-lane alongside Mikyx.

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This selfless decision to become the team's AD Carry is what separates Perkz into the best of the best League of Legends has to offer. Although Perkz was likely more comfortable as a mid laner, the acquisition of superstar Caps into the mid lane forced Perkz's hand. To become the best in any sport, you must make sacrifices for your team, and this is exactly what Perkz did.

In the face of sacrifice and adversity, Perkz excelled, and only catapulted G2 Esports further into the colossal dynasty it has become today. Perkz shined as an AD carry, showing his versatility and adaptation in such a different role. Perkz boasted a 5.4 KDA in the regular season, commanding his team to victory.

As the playoffs dawned, G2 looked unmovable. Origen had taken down Fnatic in the semifinals, and the finals showcased an on fire G2 versus a less than excellent Origen roster. G2 decimated Origen, with a record 74:31 minutes across all 3 games played in the best of 5 set. This would go down as the fastet playoff series in LEC history.

With the 2019 Mid-Season Invitational on the horizon, G2 Esports were touted as the tournament favorite, alongside Korean powerhouse SK Telecom T1. G2 finished the group stage with a 5-5 record, where they would face the Korean hopefuls in the semifinals. In a nail-biting 5 game series, G2 overcame the favorite, and faced North America's Team Liquid in the first ever international battle of regional rivals North America and Europe.

Safe to say, G2 Esports came to play, and handily picked apart Team Liquid in just about every way imaginable. Perkz and Mikyx toppled Liquid's Yilliang "Doublelift" Peng and Jo "CoreJJ" Yong-in in the bot-lane, showing off why they are the better duo. G2 made history yet again, this time sweeping Team Liquid 3-0 in the fastest international Bo5 series in League of Legends history, hoisting the Mid-Season Invitational trophy.

pictured above: A now infamous interview where Perkz warned legendary SK Telecom T1 player Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok to "be scared because Claps is coming."

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Perkz continues to show resilience as a player, and should be put in the running when considering best League of Legends players of all time. He is unequivocally the best player to emerge from the West, and his decorated career shows.

Seven EU LCS / LEC titles, Mid-Season Invitational winner, World Championship runner up, all while playing from either mid lane or the bottom lane. Perkz is unique in a way that cannot be described; his creativity, game knowledge, and selfless leadership within G2 Esports is what makes Perkz a stand out among the crowd.

Uma Jan is the best in the West folks, don't you forget it.