G2 Esports and Karmine Corp will face off in the LEC Winter 2025 upper bracket finals, and we’ve got the information you need to make an informed betting pick. While G2 is the favorite to win and proceed to the grand final, smart bettors may wonder if Karmine Corp has upset potential that could lead to a more favorable outcome.
A total of ten European teams have been duking it out in the LEC Winter 2025 tournament for the year’s first LEC title. With qualification for the year’s first cross-regional competition First Stand 2025 on the line, G2 Esports and Karmine Corp have made it to the upper bracket final.
The winner of this game will move on to the grand final of the playoffs, while the loser will compete with the lower bracket team that makes it to that bracket’s respective final. With equal records of 6-3 during the LEC Winter 2025 regular season and both teams going undefeated so far in the playoffs, G2 Esports and Karmine Corp have shown strong recent performances.
Regardless of their identical wins and losses, Karmine Corp remains the underdog. Both teams are fairly strong, but Karmine Corp could create an upset by winning the match and continuing its undefeated streak in the playoffs.
While both G2 Esports and Karmine Corp have shown an excellent performance in the LEC Winter 2025 playoffs, the level of opposition hasn’t been the same for the two sides. The last major tournament G2 participated in was the 2024 League of Legends World Championship, and while the team’s performance there left much to be desired, Karmine Corp wasn’t even able to qualify for the event. G2 was the team to knock KC to the lower bracket during the LEC Summer 2024 playoffs, which eventually resulted in Karmine Corp ending fourth in the overall tournament standings. It was thanks to this that KC didn’t qualify for Worlds or the LEC Finals.
Additionally, Fanatic was dominating the LEC Winter 2025 tournament only losing to KOI in the regular season. G2 Esports was the first team to then defeat Fnatic in the playoffs, and it did so with a definitive score of 2-0.
Below are the rosters for both teams in the upcoming match.
G2 Esports
Karmine Corp
While G2 Esports and Karmine Corp both switch their champions around with some frequency, there are a couple of constants players will likely see in the upcoming Bo5 match. G2 is very likely to bring champions like Leona, Ezreal, Aurora, Vi, Xin Zhao, K’Sante, Cho’gath, and Warwick to the fold. As for bans, Draven has a 77% ban rate against G2, and the champion will likely be banned here as well to prevent Hans Sama from playing him.
Karmine Corp has a similar champion pool as the team’s go-to picks are usually Leona, Rell, Ezreal, Viktor, Xin Zhao, Jayce, and Ambessa. The two teams have identical primary bot-lane picks and the course of at least the first game may be determined by which team gets the first pick. The team that doesn’t get Leona as its support will likely pivot toward Rell in response, pitting a pair of hard-engage supports against each other.
G2 Esports and Karmine Corp have faced off against each other six times in the past. While Karmine Corp won the most recent match as part of the LEC Winter 2025 regular season, G2 has the overall upper hand with four wins and a 67% win rate against KC.
Despite their similar performance during the ongoing tournament, G2 Esports is the favorite to win the upcoming match at 1.68 compared to Karmine Corp’s 2.15 odds. These odds favor G2 as the winner even though G2 lost the two most recent games against KC, showcasing overall confidence in the team’s skills.
Even though G2 Esports is the favorite to win the upcoming match, Karmine Corp has had excellent recent performances. The team will likely give it everything right off the bat to ban G2’s most common picks and try to nab picks like Leona and Ezreal before the opposing team. This, combined with the fact that Karmine Corp tends to be more aggressive with its 44.4% first tower rate, suggests the team could sroll G2 in the first game.
However, it’s important to note that KC has only won against G2 in single-game matches. The only time the two teams faced off in a Bo3 was in the LEC Summer 2024 playoffs where G2 won by a convincing 2-0 score.
While KC may win the first game, G2 has overall better adaptability thanks to its recent performance in international tournaments like Worlds. Since the upcoming match is a Bo5, G2 may have enough time to start playing for the long game. This would favor G2 considering it has better objectives-per-game stats and a more diverse champion pool, making G2 Esports a smart betting pick, while those looking to place deeper bets could also go for KC winning the first game despite losing the overall series.
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