After winning the LEC Season Finals at the Sud de France Arena in Montpellier, I sat down with the newly-crowned champion and G2 jungler Martin “Yike” Sundelin.
Image Credits | Michal Konkol/Riot Games
G2 Yike – The rise of the LEC rookie
As a fellow jungle player, I was stoked at having the chance to chat with Yike after he rightfully earned his LEC Championship. You could feel the happiness in his eyes when he lifted the trophy, even though he revealed he was a bit anxious during that moment:
I was actually very scared of dropping it. I knew people were saying it’s heavy, so I was quite nervous, but it ended up working out fine.
After dominating in the LFL last season, the Swedish jungler joined the European League with great hype but also had a big responsibility on his back: be a star player on G2. And he delivered. When asked about what allowed him to get to this point his aggressiveness:
I have a very unique playstyle. I like playing aggressive and my team made me become so good at it. Last year, when I played in the LFL, I was much more passive, but after joining G2, Dylan made me become so aggressive and my team also helped me in that process.
Aside from his in-game improvement, there was another key element Yike thought he grew a lot on:
I think the other important thing was my nervosity and stress level. Initially, I was barely handling it, before every game I was so scared I could barely eat. Even though I still have some similarities right now, my performance coach helped me so much to improve things like my breathing, taking care of myself, sleeping good and eating well.
Going into the final, many people were looking at the jungle matchup between Yike and Razork as a key to the outcome. Despite FNC’s jungler having more experience, Yike and G2 ended up coming on top. Nonetheless, the Swedish jungler praised Razork:
I think he’s an insanely good player. He stepped up so much more this summer, and it was probably the hardest jungler to play against in the LEC Finals. Maybe he got caught a bit too much this series but I think he’s still insane.
Setting our eyes on Worlds 2023
G2 will now head to Worlds 2023 as the top EU representative, which means they are supposedly to be the best shot the LEC has against the eastern competition. When asked about which team he would like to face, Yike had his eyes set on one squad:
[It’s] For sure JDG. They won MSI and they were the scariest team and their jungler, Kanavi, is probably the best in the world. JDG is going to be the funniest but also the hardest team.
Apart from Kanavi, there is another one Yike is looking forward to playing against and that is Canyon: “I really want to play against him as well as he and Kanavi are the two I’m most hyped about.”
With Worlds being in Korea, Yike mentioned it is going to be his first time going to the country. I asked him if there is anything, in particular, he wants to do once he flies there:
I for sure want to try the food. I think my team talked so much about the food there so that’s one of the things i’m most excited about. I heard it’s very spicy and I like eating spicy food.
As someone who loves Korean food, I think it was fair to tell him to try all sorts of fried chicken.
Image Credits | Esports.net
Before rounding off the interview, Yike took the chance to send a message to all his fans:
I want to thank every single fan that’s been supporting me and my team. I want to make Europe proud at Worlds and I want to make sure we can play as good as we can because I think we can go really far.
Yike and the rest of the G2 squad will be heading to South Korea soon to start their practice ahead of Worlds 2023. But before that, it will be celebration time: G2 achieved the great milestone of 10 LEC titles, as they continue to solidify themselves as the most successful team in EU.
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