There are few players whose tenure is longer than Faker’s at this point, though Caps comes pretty close. Since he dropped out of high school to play League of Legends full time, he’s been at or near the top of Europe, and he’s right back at Worlds 2024.
He came closer than anyone else in the West to winning Worlds back in 2019, with G2’s roster for that year falling just short of completing the Golden Road. They had the power to shift the narrative in favor of Western teams for the first time since Eastern teams came into the pro scene, but they failed at the last leg.
However, Caps is still chasing that goal. Until he’s able to get that Worlds title, he doesn’t plan on stopping. But he’s also determined to do it his way, in Europe, while staring down the player who inspired him to start playing. And, as it turns out, Faker’s still motivating him to win all these years later.
What’s more, Caps is confident. He has to be. After all, he’s the best hope the West has at this point.
Here’s our interview with G2 Caps, the shining North Star of Western League of Legends:
G2 Caps reveals how Faker’s still motivating him all these years later
I noticed at the tail end of your season in Europe, G2 was kind of sticking to more traditional drafts than you’d normally go with. Was there any particular reason you guys were playing safer, and do you have some unique picks in mind for Worlds?
I mean, we had the Gwen coming out, right? (laughs) I think it was quite hard to innovate, just a lot of AD carries, at least for mid lane. I definitely tried some of the more, let’s say, innovative ADCs. There are some situations where I could have pulled them off, but they didn’t necessarily end up happening? So… Yeah, it was a lot of the same drafts. But this meta is definitely a bit more crazy, it’s not as solved about, like, what champions are necessarily the best in mid.
I saw you pick Sion mid in champ’s queue and you restored my hope a little. (laughs)
(laughs) I didn’t say anything.
So, when we spoke at MSI this year, you were talking about how it seemed like people in the West were sort of losing the dream of winning MSI or winning Worlds because we’ve had such a hard time. Do you feel like the pressure is on you to carry the West’s hope at this event?
For sure. I think we really need to show that there’s some room for us. I think Team Liquid has actually been doing a great job in NA, it feels like some NA teams are starting to believe more because they had good form against Fnatic and solid form against T1. We need to step up for Europe as well, show we can win more than just a few games, that we can actually take best of fives and make it out of groups. I think it’s been four years since I’ve made it out of groups? Which sounds crazy. I think this one can be it.
This may sound like a strange question, but is there any part of you that wishes you lost more domestically? Because, you’ve been first or second place since, like, 2018 man. It doesn’t really seem like you have much competition in the LEC when it comes to mid laners. Do you wish there was someone who could really challenge you in your region?
That’s a hard question to answer because – of course, I mean, I love winning. (laughs) But, at the same time, the main goal is Worlds, right? If there was someone I could learn from more domestically, that’d be great. Someone like Perkz, I learned a lot from in the past. Playing against the LPL/LCK mid laners, I definitely learn more than I do when I play against European mids. There’s some room to catch up, and I think it’d be great to get more lessons.
It seems like Eastern teams waited until the last minute to get to Worlds this time around, didn’t really rush to scrim you guys or anything. Is the gap widening?
Yeah, we didn’t get to play many LPL/LCK teams… I think our scrims have definitely not been the best. I think we’re still finding our footing in the meta, we’re still testing things out and figuring out exactly what we want to do. We still need to figure things out, but I’m confident we can make a deep run.
Caps, you’ve been playing League of Legends for a very long time. And, I mean, if we’re being honest, you could step away right now, retire, and probably be set for years doing content or whatever you wanted to do, right? What do you love so much about League that you’re still competing at such a high level like this?
I mean, for me, it’s Worlds. It feels good to be here. Season 3, I watched Faker win Worlds, and I was like, ‘Oh, I want this to be me.’ Since then, I’ve just spammed solo queue. Eventually, I quit high school and joined Fnatic back in 2017, so I kind of joined with the mindset that I want to win Worlds, I want to be the best. So, as long as I haven’t fulfilled that, I can’t just stop. I can’t stop the grind. I really want to achieve that, and I will do everything in my power to do so.
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So you’ve been at the top of Europe for this long, but, like, you don’t think you’d be happy with your career until you actually win Worlds?
I mean, I don’t wanna say that I’m not happy because it can feel, in some ways, disrespectful to others, right? At the end of the day, it’s a competition. Not everyone can win. But, if I gave the phone to 16, 17 year old Caps and told him I haven’t won [Worlds] yet, he’d definitely be mad at me. (laughs) I will have to win at least once.
Is there any part of you that saw Rekkles go to Korea and went, ‘Damn, maybe I should try practicing in another region for a while?’ Is there any part of you that’d like to spend an extended amount of time in the LPL or LCK?
It’s something I’ve thought about to some extent, but I haven’t really had that many off-seasons. It’s not something I’ve thought about too much. But, at the same time, I think playing against LPL/LCK players would definitely be a lot of fun on a more regular basis. It’d probably be an easier way to win Worlds, to some extent, as well. But it would also remove a bit of the… I think it’d be the easier way out in that sense, right?
I mean, obviously, it would still be extremely hard to make it to a strong team and compete there, but it would also be an easier way to win Worlds than making it with a European team. It’d also feel wrong to some extent, I think, to play in a different region. But, I haven’t really had the off-season to think about it. I’ve had like, one off-season in my career.
Yeah, G2 is doing everything they can to hold on to you.
(laughs)
I mean, do you ever picture yourself leaving G2? You’re such a franchise player at this point.
I don’t really think too much about it, because it’s like – I mean, it’s just kind of wasted thoughts in a way. So many things change, right? Especially in esports these days, so many teams are going in and out, up and down. But, what I want has also changed throughout the years, like what I value in my team and teammates. I’m happy that G2 has done everything they can to accommodate as well when it comes to the team environment. I’ve definitely been happy here. I can’t talk about the future, right? It can change in a heartbeat.
So, I’m just enjoying the moment we have here. We’ve made it to Worlds, and we can definitely win this thing. We just need to play better than we’ve done so far, and we need to put everything into our scrims to make it so.
What would you say is the biggest thing that’s changed as far as what you want on a team between when you started and now?
I mean, I think things change all the time, right? Like, my mindset on the game – I mean, the game itself also changes to be fair, there are a lot of patches. But I think, when I first came in, I was very much in the mindset of just grinding the game 24/7, nothing else. Like, just only played league. And now I also value watching more VODs. I value getting a better understanding of the other lanes, getting a better understanding of my teammates lanes and their perspective, and making sure that there’s good team spirit as well in the team. Whether it be through playing like a board game or doing – like, we do a lot of one on one-on-ones on our team as well, something we do to, like, really get to know each other. If something is bothering them, they can share it.
So, [what’s changed] is very much more like relationships and stuff like that, I think, more than just the game itself. Because I think just playing the game can only take you so far, and you need to make sure that everyone else is also keeping up with you and your understanding of the game. There’s not just one way of looking at League. You can look at it many different ways, and, when you’re on a team, you need to have the same approach to the game.
Faker had a wrist injury last year, is there any part of you that sees that, especially with Faker being someone you looked up to earlier in your career, and goes, ‘I only have so much time to win Worlds?’ Is that something that’s on your mind?
A lot of people retire early in esports, right? And I definitely would have loved to win already, but I don’t think it’s something you can rush. And I also, if anything, saw the opposite. I saw Faker win Worlds last year after not reaching that height in many years. I was motivated for sure, seeing that. And, of course, I was also worried about my own wrists, right? Make sure I do some wrist exercises and stay in good shape. But it is true, right? Like, you never know what’ll happen next year. You never know if you’ll get another shot at Worlds, so this could be the last one. I have to make it count.