The 2026 First Stand kicked off on Monday at the Riot Games Arena in São Paulo. G2 Esports faced Team Secret Whales, LCP champions and a dark horse not to be underestimated. Europe's representatives needed to make a strong first impression to give hope ahead of their matches against LPL and LCK. The Samurai delivered a clean 3-0, but the series was not without its share of hiccups.

G2 Esports got the job done in straight games, but not without some familiar turbulence. Playing primarily through mid lane and their star player Caps, the Samurai built early leads through an outstanding mid-jungle-support trio that dictated the pace of every game. That said, G2 continue to give themselves unnecessary scares with messy mid-game execution — a recurring issue since their LEC Versus Final against Karmine Corp. Whether that costs them against the best teams in the world remains to be seen starting Wednesday against BLG. Mechanically, the team does not look fully dialed in yet either, as they made a lot of silly mistakes that did cost them a lot. And when you look at the