For nearly a decade, almost every European title ran through Fnatic or G2 Esports — and most of the time, through both. More recently, the region changed. New contenders broke the duopoly, and the rivalry that defined Western League of Legends slipped out of the spotlight.

Two pillars of European League of Legends

Fnatic is one of the oldest and most enduring names in European League of Legends. The org lifted the 2011 World Championship — still the only Worlds trophy a Western team has ever held — and won seven domestic split titles, the last in 2018 under the old EU LCS banner.

G2 Esports entered the EU LCS in 2016 and rewrote the regional record books. The org is now the most decorated team in European history, with 19 domestic titles, an MSI crown in 2019, and World Championship final run in 2019.

perkzrekkles
Photo Credit: Riot Games

The peak: 2018–2020

The rivalry reached its height between 2018 and 2020, and the storyline turned personal. Rasmus "Caps" Winther won two titles with Fnatic in 2018 — then moved to G2 ahead of 2019. G2 took the 2019 domestic split, MSI 2019 and a Worlds final; Fnatic stayed the second-best team in Europe and G2's most direct obstacle.

The 2020 Spring final captured the dynamic. G2 swept Fnatic 3-0 for their seventh European title — three of G2's finals in this era came against Fnatic.

The balance of power

The head-to-head tilts heavily one way as G2 leads the all-time series 80 games to 50 — close to 62% of every game the two have played.

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Image Credit: RFT.GG's Head-to-Head Tool

The title gap is wider, Fnatic's seven trophies all predate the 2019 LEC rebrand. Since then, the org has reached eight finals and lost all eight — seven of those defeats came against G2. Counted from the LEC era alone, Fnatic sits on zero domestic titles. G2 kept climbing, including a 2024 Grand Slam across all three shields and the Season Finals. Fnatic still reaches the final four most splits — it just stopped winning the games that matter, and G2 was usually the team closing the door.

The new rivals since 2023

G2's grip slipped in 2021. The org signed Rekkles — Fnatic's franchise AD carry for most of the previous decade — to play alongside Caps for a second time, in a roster billed as the biggest superteam Europe had ever assembled. It won nothing. G2 missed Worlds for the first time since entering the league, eliminated in the decisive qualifier by Fnatic — Rekkles's old team — in a 3-2 loss. The lineup was broken up within months.

The duopoly cracked the same year. MAD Lions won both splits in 2021 behind a young core of Elyoya, Humanoid, Carzzy and Kaiser. That lineage now competes as Movistar KOI, one of the region's most successful organizations.

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Photo Credit: Riot Games

Then came Karmine Corp. The French org announced itself in Winter 2025 with a 3-0 sweep of G2 in the final. Riot framed it as the possible start of a new era for EMEA. G2 answered in 2026, beating Karmine Corp 3-2 in the LEC Versus grand final, then 3-2 again in the Spring final. The top of the LEC is now a three-team picture — both KC and Movistar KOI took a trophy off G2 in 2025.

Fnatic vs G2 has a successor. The rivalry that now defines the LEC runs between France and Spain. Karmine Corp and Movistar KOI are the two most-watched teams in the LEC, their meetings packing Riot's Roadtrip arenas in France and Spain and built around the Caliste – Supa duel. G2 still sits above both, the org has won the last three LEC titles.

What's left of Fnatic vs G2

The rivalry still carries a decade of weight, and any meeting between the two draws on it. But it no longer settles who rules Europe. The balance was never even — G2 pulled ahead and stayed there — and the region produced new contenders capable of beating both. Fnatic–G2 remains the LEC’s defining historical rivalry, but it is no longer the rivalry driving the title race.