G2 Labrov after the win vs FEARX: “This win gives us momentum and confidence that we can go for the title”

G2 Esports have just broken a six‑year streak of Europe’s defeats against the LCK in best‑of‑five series, delivering a clean 3–0 sweep over BNK FEARX in a one‑sided matchup. After an outstanding performance from Greek support Lampros “Labrov” Papoutsakis, he joined us to talk about the series, G2 restoring Europe’s pride, and the upcoming semifinal against Gen.G.

Congratulations on the win. You just played one of the best and most important series of your career. How are you feeling after this victory?

Labrov: I’m feeling good. We managed to win and show a better performance compared to our last series against Bilibili Gaming. This win gives us momentum and confidence that we can go for the title, so I’m just looking forward.

Rudy “SkewMond” Semaan said he didn’t expect a 3–0. Did you?

Labrov: I knew it was possible. Anything can happen depending on how well you play. From my last series, I learned a lot—I was playing badly and knew what I needed to focus on. I’m just happy we get to play another series and see what we can do.

This year’s format is different, played in best-of-fives compared to last year’s best-of-threes. Which do you prefer?

Labrov: Honestly, I prefer the BO5 format. It’s fun for me as a player and I think it’s fun for viewers too. They get to see non-traditional picks, even if we didn’t show too many in this series.

Speaking of picks, you first picked Seraphine for only the third time in your career. Why prioritize her today?

Labrov: Even though I haven’t played much Seraphine on stage, she’s one of my most-played champions in solo queue. I’ve played her both as support and ADC. We saw BNK FEARX doing really well with Ashe-Seraphine, so we didn’t want to give it to them. That’s why we first picked her.

BFX found the answer against BLG with Mel in Lee “VicLa” Dae-kwang’s hands, did you include in your preparation?

Labrov: We definitely talked about it, it was something that could happen but we didn’t focus too much into it. I was more focus on what they could play in bot lane and how we can have a strong laning phase.

In game two, BFX had a strong lead, but you turned it around with Nami—a champion you’ve barely used. What happened in that game?

Labrov: Game 2 was crazy. Early bot lane, we messed up and should’ve had a bigger lead. We played bad around grubs, Mel had no flash and we did not punish it. Later, we were behind and playing Nami into Nocturne is tough—you can just get ulted and die on cooldown. But I kept the mindset that if we slowed the game and played teamfights better, we could win. At some points, I thought we might lose, but I was very happy we managed to take that game.

Many gave the edge to Nam “Diable” Dae-geun and Kim “Kellin” Hyeong-gyu in the bot lane matchup. How was the 2v2?

Labrov: They played well, but I felt we had better matchups throughout the series. I don’t care who I’m playing against—whether it’s a European team, BLG, or T1—I’ll play the same way. My focus was on showing a better performance than in my previous series.

Some voices, like Marc “Caedrel” Lamont, have criticized the level of Western teams. How do you handle that?

Labrov: I didn’t watch the clip, but I can imagine. Our showing against BLG was poor, so it makes sense fans were disappointed. Asian teams have been consistently strong. But after today, maybe we can give people hope that we can contest and beat them on a good day. Against BLG everyone played badly, including me, but I’m confident we can bounce back.

This was the first time in six years that Europe beats an LCK team in a best-of-five. How satisfying is that?

Labrov: It feels good, but I’d feel even better beating a team with more international experience like T1 or Gen.G. Still, I don’t want to underestimate FEARX. Step by step—I’m just happy we’ll have another series tomorrow.

WHAT A FIGHT: TRIPLE for @Hanssama! #FST2026 pic.twitter.com/mNF83KH5da

— LoL Esports (@lolesports) March 20, 2026

Tomorrow you face Gen.G, the tournament favorites. Where do you see your chance to upset them?

Labrov: Gen.G doesn’t have many weak points. Their mid game is probably the best in the world. We’ve been studying their games and learning a lot. But with how the meta is right now, if we have a good early game, we definitely have a chance to win.

This is your fourth international event. How has your preparation improved compared to before?

Labrov: Thanks to G2’s experience, we adjust our schedule days before matches so it doesn’t feel different on game day. For my individual prep, I try to keep the same routine as in LEC to feel ready.

Finally, where do you rank Park “Viper” Do-hyeon and Luo “ON” Wen-Jun compared to other bot lanes in this tournament?

Labrov: I’d put Viper and ON number one. Personally, I think they are better than Ruler (Park Jae-hyuk) and Duro (Joo Min-kyu). Some might disagree, but that’s my opinion.