SkewMond from G2 Discusses the Power of Surprise Picks Against LCK Teams

For years, Western League of Legends teams have been on a quest to bridge the gap with the LCK and LPL. Each international tournament kicks off with hope, only for many squads to realize that simply adopting a cleaner version of the Eastern meta often leads to the same disappointing outcomes.

G2 Esports has consistently taken a different path.

From their unconventional drafts during their peak to off-meta picks in recent times, Europe’s most successful organization has carved out its international reputation by unsettling opponents and dominating their domestic leagues. At MSI 2026, jungler Rudy “SkewMond” Semaan believes this philosophy remains the West’s best chance to level the playing field, even as G2’s strategy has evolved beyond just surprising opponents with unexpected champions.

SkewMond has witnessed the success of unconventional strategies on the global stage. His Dr. Mundo jungle pick at Worlds 2025 caught many off guard, while G2 continued to experiment with champions like Shen and Kog’Maw during First Stand, where they reached the finals, defeating formidable Korean teams along the way.

These experiences underscored a crucial lesson—creativity is vital, but it must be supported by thorough preparation. “We as G2 have this power, in a way, and creativity to really surprise people with a lot of secret picks,” SkewMond shared in an exclusive interview.

“We have a lot of good ideas, but we really need to obviously have the good scenarios and the good conditions to pick them,” he added.

Instead of forcing unconventional drafts, SkewMond emphasizes that the team waits for the right moments to unleash those champions for maximum impact.

“We’ll just wait for the right moment to pick them. Hopefully, we’ll be able to just play our own game.” This approach reflects a more mature version of G2’s identity.

The aim is no longer to surprise just for the sake of it, but to create strategic advantages against opponents who may not have practiced those matchups. A prime example was their upset against T1, where BrokenBlade’s Kled turned the tide in the decisive game four.

Stepping into Jankos’ shoes came with high expectations, but SkewMond felt truly settled in G2 after lifting his first LEC trophy.

“I think since last summer when we won our first title, it definitely gave me more confidence as a player on how I’m fitting into this team,” SkewMond reflected. “Joining G2 and not really being able to win titles in Europe is seen as a failure.”

He acknowledged the pressure during his initial months with the team, especially given G2’s legacy of domestic success, but consecutive title wins have helped him feel at home.

“I had a lot of expectations and pressure on my shoulders, and it felt a bit rough in my beginnings. But since last summer, and this first half of 2026, I’ve been feeling pretty great here in G2.”

For SkewMond, the divide between Western and Eastern League of Legends is still significant. He believes that trying to match LCK and LPL teams champion for champion often plays directly into their strengths.

“I think for European teams, NA teams, like not the Asian teams, it’s really important to have this kind of secret strat to actually just take off guard the Asian teams,” he explained. “If you just go on equal terms, if you are being realistic, most of the time the LPL and the LCK team will just win against you if you play standard.”

That doesn’t mean abandoning fundamentals entirely, especially in Fearless Drafts, where you can’t always choose or blind pick these unconventional champions, as the enemy team may counter with strong meta picks.

SkewMond stressed that G2 still dedicates significant time to preparing conventional drafts because a best-of-five series can’t be won solely through gimmicks. While pocket picks can create opportunities, solid fundamentals are crucial once opponents start adapting.

“You really need to prepare some normal drafts as well sometimes,” he noted.

He also believes his transition from scaling utility junglers to aggressive carry champions reflects G2’s growth as a more complete team. “Playing slower champs and more scaling stuff, for example, Maokai, are usually always a safe bet,” SkewMond said. “It made us win so many games, even against the best teams like Gen.G.”

“At some point, I feel like you reach a ceiling,” he added. “Especially in Fearless Draft, when you need to have way more picks and playstyles, you really need to be able to adapt to the series and who you’re playing against.”

SkewMond pointed out that predictable champion pools become easy targets as tournaments progress. “That kind of playstyle is really hard, and it’s not really sustainable, especially in long tournaments like Worlds,” he explained. “People start to actually know how you play and what you are comfortable with, and so they can actually target ban you.”

Since Worlds, he believes G2’s overall improvement has made aggressive picks much more effective. “I think we’ve just changed a lot as a team, and we’ve been playing just better in general,” SkewMond said.

“So me picking champs like bruisers, like Pantheon, for example, just feels easier because we’re actually able to snowball properly. Whereas last year, it really wasn’t the case,” he added.

Despite emerging as one of G2 Esports’ key carry threats this season, SkewMond dismissed the notion that the team has intentionally shifted toward a jungle-centric identity. Instead, he stated that G2 adapts its strategy based on draft and champion needs, while still recognizing the importance of playing through Caps whenever possible.

“I think that we didn’t really have any specific talk or mindset in terms of how to just put me in good condition to carry the games,” SkewMond said. “Most of the time it just comes naturally, and we just go with the flow depending on the drafts and what we have in front of us.”

He cited his Nasus performance in the LEC Summer Finals as an example of how G2 adjusts around a champion’s requirements rather than forcing a rigid strategy.

“When I played Nasus in the last game of the finals, it’s really a champ that needs to get through the early game and needs a bit of resources from your teammates,” he explained. “So we played around that, and I was really able to just take over the game later on. But if I’m playing a champion like Xin Zhao or Vi, it’s a bit different.”

“Playing around Caps is usually always the good way to advance the game because he’s an exceptional player and he really knows how to progress the game,” he said. “Every game is different, and we are really doing our best to be adaptable.”

That adaptable mindset also extends to the external chatter surrounding him. When asked about the belief that he will surpass FlyQuest’s Inspired as Europe’s top jungler by year’s end, SkewMond acknowledged the comparison, understanding that fans want to know who stands out, but he also noted the difficulty in making such judgments.

“I think that it’s just a bit funny,” he said, recalling how the rivalry began after Inspired defeated him at MSI before G2 responded at Worlds. “A lot of people are comparing me and him because he’s always winning in NA and has consistently shown that he’s an amazing player, and I’m kind of the new rookie coming in.”

Still, he argued that comparing players across different teams overlooks too many variables.

“It’s not really realistic because the conditions are really different. We’re not playing on the same team. We don’t have the same players around us. We don’t have the same staff. We don’t have the same experience,” SkewMond explained. “For me, I just want to do everything in my abilities to win with my own team and prove that we are good, and me, I guess, good as well individually.”

While advocating for creative drafting, SkewMond isn’t relying solely on surprise strategies because he doubts G2’s capabilities. If anything, First Stand reinforced the team’s confidence in competing with the best after taking down two LCK representatives on their way to the finals.

“We know that we have this ability to beat the best teams,” he said. However, he cautioned against assuming that past success will automatically translate to MSI. The meta has shifted, opponents have changed, and every international tournament brings new challenges.

For SkewMond, this only emphasizes the importance of adaptability.

Whether through standard drafts or meticulously prepared pocket picks, G2’s mission remains unchanged: to force the world’s elite teams to confront unexpected challenges. If the West is to challenge the East once more, SkewMond believes it won’t be through imitation, but by making them play an entirely different game.

G2 Esports pulled off a major upset by defeating T1, but they faced a setback in their next series against North America’s top seed, LYON. This loss also led to a coaching change, with Perkz stepping in as head coach for EWC 2026.