LYON stunned G2 3-0 at the League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational 2026, sweeping the LEC Number 1 seed in 3-0 fashion.
The victory for the NA roster meant that the LCS Number 1 and Number 2 seeds eliminated their counterparts in the LEC, reasserting the LCS’s success against EU opposition.
Nightmare series for G2, but LYON are Inspired
G2 went into the series as the significant favorites after eliminating Lee ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok’s T1 roster 3-1 to guarantee Top 4 at the event.
The result was the third significant win for G2 over the LCK in 2026 after wins against FearX and Gen.G saw them reach the Grand Finals of First Stand 2026. G2 had also taken down Top Esports earlier in the tournament to secure wins against both of the major Asian regions.
By contrast, LYON had progressed through the tournament with wins against FURIA and Team Secret Whales, dodging the LCK and LPL opposition.
But while G2 fans were focused on the relative power rankings of regions, they perhaps should have been more focused on Kacper ‘Inspired’ Słoma’s strong record against his former region.
The Polish jungler sowed the seeds of chaos in G2’s ranks throughout the series, proving to be the more disruptive and effective jungler throughout, especially shining on Lee Sin in Game 2.
LYON’s top side proved to be dominant throughout the series, but G2 could not counterbalance that through the Bot Lane with Steven ‘Hans Sama’ Liv delivering only two kills in the entire three-game series.
While Kim ‘Berserker’ Min-cheol’s Caitlyn starred in Game 3 to take Lyon over the line, it was Jonah ‘Isles’ Rosario who proved to be the consistent hero of Lyon’s Bot Lane, delivering 14, 13, and 16 assists in each game to secure LYON their shock victory.
Inspired delivers brutal post-match interview
To further stab the knife in, Inspired’s post-game interview on the broadcast held nothing back, calling the contest “easy” several times and mocking G2’s playstyle, noting G2’s lack of initiative in the contest.
“I knew we were the better team. I think they were just really lucky yesterday to beat T1,” adding, “Honestly, I wasn’t surprised by anything. I expected to sort of do nothing in the games, and they would do nothing, so it was pretty easy.”
When asked about what the result meant for his position as the best Western Jungler, Inspired plainly responded, “It wasn’t a debate for a long time.
“I’m the best since a few years already. A lot of people thought there was a competition. I’m happy I showed them the competition is still far away.”
Inspired and his men move on to the Lower Bracket finals, where Lee ‘Gumayusi’ Min-hyung’s Hanwha Life Esports await the NA Number 1 seed.
Can LYON defeat LCK opposition? Let us know your thoughts on the Insider Gaming Discord server.
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Darragh is an Esports Journalist for Insider Gaming specialising in Counter-Strike. He loves to explore how esports teams work, or why they very often do not.
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