
LEC 2023 Winter Split Playoffs: G2 Esports vs KOI Recap
| Tags: League of Legends, LEC
| Author Paul Goño

The LEC winter split's playoffs went into full swing, as G2 Esports took on KOI.
What was perhaps the quickest split the LEC has seen in recent years came to a head as the remaining teams raced to the finish line for a spot at the Finals.
Following the Splits format changes that were announced for 2023, the playoffs series adopted the best-of-five (bo5) tournament format. Per day, one bo5 will be fought. The winner of the top bracket will advance while the loser will play a series against the lower bracket's winner. From there, the last two teams will clash to decide who will be our LEC 2023 Winter Split champions!
The #LEC Winter Playoffs Bracket! pic.twitter.com/TDcCoikLUV
— LEC (@LEC) February 19, 2023
Contents
G2 Esports vs KOI (Game 1)
Day 1 began with a match-up between two teams that were destined to meet at the end of every LEC season. With the winner of the 2022 Spring split going up against last year's Summer split champs, all bets were off when this amazing series started.
A pretty stock standard early game positioned both junglers on top side. In 5 minutes, Malrang claimed the first kill of the game at level 3. Overall, a strong mid lane advantage was owned by KOI for most of the early game. Mikyx's overextend gave KOI another kill, giving Malrang enough space to control bottom side jungle. Afterwards, Yike got a pick on Larssen's Viktor at 10 minutes, which allowed his team to collapse on fire drake uncontested.
The midgame gave way to a confident set by G2 as a lot of good damage came down on KOI, closing the score gap. Their aggressive playstyle won them tower plates but caused Comp to make messy blunders in botlane. BrokenBlade's Gragas followed up on a top tower dive, scattering KOI defenders to get picked off slowly. As the game went on, Hans Sama zoned with MF's Bullet Time whenever a teamfight got too dicey, giving G2 a good way to disengage. When Baron was up for grabs, both teams collided for the buff, which ultimately fell to G2. From there, KOI faltered in every clash and slowly lost the game.
- Teams: G2 1 – 0 KOI
- Time: 28:47
- Kills: 16 – 7
- Turrets: 7 – 3
- Gold: 55.0k – 46.1k
- Dragons: 4 – 0
- Barons: 1 – 0
deleted. pic.twitter.com/T4IYJghtbb
— G2 League of Legends (@G2League) February 20, 2023
G2 Esports vs KOI (Game 2)
An extremely chaotic jungle invade led to BrokenBlade's Olaf dying for First Blood. The playoffs stage was already seeing trades before the 5-minute mark. Seeking the fastest way to end the series, G2 doubled down on early aggressive plays to gain a killscore lead. The midgame didn't see much difference as G2 invaded botlane with Herald in a dominating show of force. Each and every teamfight resulted in more losses for KOI as G2 snowballed their way into another win. Another nail in the coffin for KOI in their playoffs series.
- Teams: KOI 0 – 2 G2
- Time: 23:17
- Kills: 2 – 14
- Turrets: 1 – 9
- Gold: 34.6k – 48.9k
- Dragons: 1 – 3
- Barons: 0 – 1
It might be a game 4 angle guys pic.twitter.com/Lx1XEZX6Ne
— G2 League of Legends (@G2League) February 20, 2023
G2 Esports vs KOI (Game 3)
Game 2 saw an epic snowball as KOI snatched their first win at playoffs.
Malrang once again dominates on Sejuani jungle and gains first blood after Yike's tragically failed to flash away from the tower dive. The reverse sweep got more hectic as Szygenda's lightning quick plays with Gnar bagged the midlane player a double-kill on toplane.
Despite owning the first Chemdrake of the game, G2 Esports could not make any plays happen to properly capitalize on the objective kill. Regardless of the situation, it was easy for KOI to pick G2 apart in every fight. Finally, a chaotic contest for the third dragon saw G2 dig themselves into a deeper grave as the score gap widened. KOI's strong convictions were enough as they pulled through with their first win of the day. All-around better lane control by Comp and Szygenda.
- Teams: KOI 1 – 2 G2
- Time: 26:28
- Kills: 20 – 7
- Turrets: 10 – 4
- Gold: 55.9k – 46.2k
- Dragons: 2 – 2
- Barons: 1 – 0
PENTA FOR @CompGRE! #LEC pic.twitter.com/SuKjH01VlA
— LEC (@LEC) February 20, 2023
G2 Esports vs KOI (Game 4)
All eyes were on KOI for the reverse sweep, and a very tense game 4 stayed extremely close all throughout.
Following very questionable botlane champ picks, what was potentially the last game of the series kicked off. Trymbi and Comp were on the receiving end of an aggressive G2 bot push, and was able to turn it into a 1-for-1 right out of the gate. Shortly after, a tower dive led by Comp had quickly turned around as Caps cleaned up 2 kills with one Tristana bomb. Better roams from G2 gave them some success from a top gank, but cost them kills from the allies who got left behind.
All eyes were on Hans Sama to get a fed enough Sivir for a win condition. The match remained close, with both teams recognizing that one lost teamfight could be fatal, and with a 1k gold lead, G2 had everything to lose in the midgame. Two more picks by KOI took away their gold advantage after a minute, but G2's impressive macro put them back on top after a messy Nashor contest. Regardless of their team's non-optimal teamfight, Malrang and Szygenda stayed alive long enough to keep G2 from claiming Baron.
Absolute chaos ensued in the late game as both teams carefully clashed on dragon side. KOI had to prevent their opponent from taking soul point, and they delayed the best they could. Despite their splintered approach finding very impressive picks, G2's BrokenBlade still had more than enough damage to become an unstoppable threat that ended today's bo5 series.
- Teams: G2 3 – 1 KOI
- Time: 38:49
- Kills: 25 – 19
- Turrets: 10 – 3
- Gold: 75.1k – 66.2k
- Dragons: 4 – 1
- Barons: 1 – 0
nope pic.twitter.com/aJyyz7TD4V
— LEC (@LEC) February 20, 2023
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