G2 Esports Finalize Their LEC Roster With the Addition of Yike From LDLC OL

G2 find the final piece of their 2023 roster in the LFL.

For the longest time, the jungle position of G2 Esports have been occupied by the same player. Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski has been with the team since 2017, winning multiple trophies in that time, but it was reported last month that Jankos was leaving the team after five years. With big shoes to fill, the eyes were on G2 as many expected them to get an already-established star jungler.

In an unexpected twist, G2 Esports decided to move forward in another direction. According to a report from Brieuc “LEC Wooloo” Seeger today, G2 has reached an agreement with Martin “Yike” Sundelin from LFL’s LDLC OL. Wooloo also tweeted that G2’s first choice for the position was MAD Lions jungler Javier “Elyoya” Prades Batalla, but the Spanish organization rejected G2’s €800K offer.

[Sources] Yike 🇸🇪 will complete G2 Esports roster for next year, replacing Jankos 🇵🇱 in the jungle.

With LDLC OL, Yike won two LFL championship this year. It was his first year in ERLs as a rookie. pic.twitter.com/BZ0qG93rZi

— LEC Wooloo 🇪🇺 (@LEC_Wooloo) November 5, 2022

Possible problems with G2’s timelines

This will not be the first time G2 Esports tried to get a star player from another LEC team, but failed and had to move forward with an ERL player. G2’s recent signing Steven “Hans Sama” Liv was also a transfer target for them last year, which didn’t happen due to high buyout demands from Rogue. So G2 then signed Victor “Flakked” Lirola Tortosa from MAD Lions’ SuperLiga team. For 2023, Hans Sama will reportedly replace Flakked in the ADC role.

Now this situation happens once again. And if G2 needed to settle for an ERL jungler, Yike is definitely not a bad option. 2022 was the first year the Swedish player played in LFL and he managed to win back-to-back Splits. He also made one final and one semifinal in the European Masters he attended with LDLC OL, cementing himself as one of the best ERL prospects available. But just because he is a prospect doesn’t mean he will be the right fit for G2.

As an organization with a player like Rasmus “caPs” Borregaard Winther, and considering they just brought in Hans Sama, G2 is looking to win immediately. And a player that just played his rookie year in the ERLs might not be the best choice for a win-now team. While Yike can contribute from start, there is a chance this might hurt him in the future, if he fails to show up at every single opportunity he has. We saw this with Flakked, a prospect even less hyped than Yike. Flakked was a fine LEC player, and even had some good international games, but he didn’t win exceed the immense expectations the G2 organization had. Just hoping the same doesn’t happen with Yike.