Few esports organizations have built an identity as recognizable as G2 Esports. Over more than a decade, the club has evolved from a League of Legends project created by a former professional player into a global organization competing across Counter-Strike 2, League of Legends, VALORANT, Rainbow Six Siege and several other titles.
Its history has been defined by ambitious roster moves, international trophies and a willingness to build teams around star players. G2 has reached the biggest stages in multiple games, winning the Mid-Season Invitational in League of Legends, the Six Invitational in Rainbow Six Siege and some of Counter-Strike’s most prestigious tournaments.
At the same time, one achievement continues to elude the organization: a Counter-Strike Major title.
From Gamers2 to G2 Esports
The organization traces its roots to Gamers2, a project founded in 2014 by former League of Legends professional Carlos «ocelote» Rodríguez.
Rodríguez had already established himself as one of the most recognizable personalities in European League of Legends through his playing career with SK Gaming. His new project initially revolved around League of Legends, but the ambition was broader: building an esports organization capable of competing across multiple games.
The Gamers2 name remained in use during the club’s early expansion. In February 2015, the organization entered Counter-Strike by signing the former ESC Gaming roster, and later that year it acquired the former Team Kinguin lineup featuring players such as Adil «ScreaM» Benrlitom, Håvard «rain» Nygaard and Mikail «Maikelele» Bill.
The decisive branding change arrived in October 2015, when Gamers2 officially became G2 Esports. That name would soon become one of the most prominent in European esports.
League of Legends established G2 as a European powerhouse
League of Legends provided the foundation for G2’s rise. After reaching Europe’s top competition, the organization rapidly became one of the region’s dominant forces. But the defining period arrived in 2019, when G2 assembled one of the most celebrated European rosters in League of Legends history.
The lineup featured Martin «Wunder» Hansen, Marcin «Jankos» Jankowski, Rasmus «Caps» Winther, Luka «Perkz» Perković and Mihael «Mikyx» Mehle.
The arrival of Caps created an unusual situation because Perkz had been G2’s established mid laner. Instead of choosing between the two stars, G2 moved Perkz to the bot lane, creating a roster built around two of Europe’s strongest solo-lane talents.
The experiment worked. G2 won the inaugural LEC Spring title in 2019 before traveling to the Mid-Season Invitational. There, the European team defeated Team Liquid 3-0 in the grand final to claim MSI 2019, becoming the first European team since Fnatic at the inaugural World Championship to win a Riot Games international event.
G2 then added the 2019 LEC Summer championship and entered the World Championship with an opportunity to complete one of the greatest seasons in Western League of Legends history.
The run ended one series short. G2 reached the 2019 World Championship final, but FunPlus Phoenix defeated the European champions 3-0 in Paris.
Despite the loss, that season established G2 as something more than a dominant European team. For a period, it was a legitimate contender for the most important title in League of Legends.
Counter-Strike became another pillar of the organization
G2’s relationship with Counter-Strike has been considerably more complicated. After experimenting with Polish and international lineups during its early years, the organization signed the former Titan roster in February 2016. This began a long French era that included some of the country’s biggest names, including Richard «shox» Papillon, Kenny «kennyS» Schrub and Dan «apEX» Madesclaire.
Over time, however, G2 moved away from a French identity and toward international roster building.
That transition eventually produced teams featuring Nikola «NiKo» Kovač, Nemanja «huNter-» Kovač and Ilya «m0NESY» Osipov. With elite individual talent available across multiple positions, G2 became a regular contender at the biggest Counter-Strike tournaments.
One of its strongest periods came across 2022 and 2023. G2 won the BLAST Premier World Final 2022 before taking IEM Katowice 2023 and IEM Cologne 2023. Cologne was particularly significant: G2 defeated ENCE 3-1 in the grand final to claim one of Counter-Strike’s most prestigious trophies.
Yet Majors repeatedly proved more difficult. G2 failed to qualify for the IEM Rio Major in 2022 despite possessing one of the most expensive and talented rosters in the game. At the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023, the organization was eliminated before reaching the playoffs.
The transition to Counter-Strike 2 did not immediately solve that problem.
The chaotic IEM Dallas run and G2’s huge 2024 season
The 2024 season became one of the most eventful periods in G2’s Counter-Strike history.
At the PGL Major Copenhagen – the first CS2 Major – G2 reached the semifinals before being eliminated, finishing 3rd-4th.
A few months later, the team arrived at IEM Dallas under unusual circumstances. In-game leader Rasmus «HooXi» Nielsen was unavailable, forcing G2 to use Jake «Stewie2K» Yip as a stand-in.
Instead of collapsing, the improvised roster produced one of the year’s most memorable tournament runs.
G2 defeated teams including NAVI and FaZe before beating Vitality in the final to win IEM Dallas 2024.
The organization then reshaped the roster. Mario «malbsMd» Samayoa arrived, while Janusz «Snax» Pogorzelski took over leadership duties.
Results followed quickly. G2 finished second at the 2024 Esports World Cup, won the BLAST Premier Fall Final, defeating NAVI in the grand final, and later claimed the BLAST Premier World Final 2024 with a 3-0 victory over Spirit.
The team also reached the semifinals of the Perfect World Shanghai Major, giving G2 another 3rd-4th-place Major finish.
By almost any standard, it was an elite season. But it still did not produce a Major trophy.
Life after NiKo and m0NESY
Maintaining that level proved difficult. NiKo left the project after the 2024 season, while m0NESY later departed in 2025. Their exits effectively ended the core around which one of G2’s strongest Counter-Strike teams had been constructed.
The organization went through another rebuilding phase. Results became less consistent during 2025. G2 finished second at PGL Bucharest, reached 7th-8th place at IEM Dallas and ended the BLAST.tv Austin Major in 9th-11th.
Later in the year, however, G2 returned to the top of an elite event by winning BLAST Open Fall 2025.
By 2026, the CS2 project had evolved again. G2’s official roster lists SunPayus, MATYS, HeavyGod, malbsMd and huNter-, reflecting just how far the organization has moved from both its original French era and the NiKo-m0NESY lineup.
That constant willingness to rebuild has become one of the defining characteristics of G2’s Counter-Strike division.
G2 built a Rainbow Six dynasty
While League of Legends and Counter-Strike generated much of G2’s mainstream recognition, Rainbow Six Siege produced some of the organization’s most dominant international results.
G2 entered the discipline in 2018 by acquiring the hugely successful PENTA Sports lineup.
The impact was immediate. G2 won the Six Major Paris 2018 and later the Six Invitational 2019, defeating Team Empire 3-0 in the grand final.
That roster became one of the defining teams of early professional Rainbow Six Siege.
Years later, G2 rebuilt its Siege division and returned to the top. At the Six Invitational 2023, the team recovered from an early playoff defeat and completed an extended lower-bracket run before beating w7m esports 3-1 in the grand final.
The victory made G2 the first organization to win the Six Invitational twice.
Few organizations have managed to rebuild championship-level teams in the same esport across such different competitive eras.
A second rise in VALORANT
VALORANT provided another example of G2 reinventing itself. The organization had previously competed in Europe, but its modern VALORANT identity became closely associated with North America after G2 acquired the core of The Guard following the collapse of that organization’s esports operation.
The new project rapidly became one of the leading teams in VCT Americas.
G2 reached the playoffs at VALORANT Champions 2024 and finished 7th-8th. The following season represented another step forward: the team won VCT Americas Kickoff 2025, reached the grand final of Masters Bangkok, and later won VCT Americas Stage 1.
At Masters Bangkok, G2 came within one series of its first global VALORANT championship but lost the final 2-3 to T1.
The team remained internationally competitive afterward, finishing fourth at Masters Toronto 2025.
By 2026, G2’s official VALORANT roster featured jawgemo, leaf, babybay, valyn and trent.
From European challenger to global esports brand
G2’s history is unusual because its reputation cannot be reduced to one game.
League of Legends gave the organization its European dynasty and the historic MSI 2019 title. Counter-Strike produced victories at Katowice, Cologne, Dallas and multiple BLAST events. Rainbow Six Siege delivered two Six Invitational championships. VALORANT opened another route to international finals.
That multi-game success has allowed G2 Esports to survive major roster changes and entire competitive eras.
Players such as Perkz, Caps, Jankos, NiKo, m0NESY, kennyS, Pengu and Fabian have represented the organization at different points, but no individual roster has completely defined the G2 brand.
Instead, the recurring pattern has been aggressive ambition: acquire elite talent, accept the risks of major roster changes and target international trophies rather than simply regional relevance.
More than a decade after the Gamers2 project began, G2 remains active across a wide portfolio of esports. Its official 2026 team directory includes League of Legends, CS2, Rainbow Six and VALORANT alongside several additional competitive divisions.
For an organization that started as one former player’s attempt to build a League of Legends team, the transformation has been substantial. G2 Esports has become one of Europe’s defining esports organizations – and one of the relatively few brands to build championship histories in several major competitive games at once.
