Jankos and Flakked out of G2, Hans Sama and Mikyx are likely replacements

2022 was an up-and-down year for G2 Esports, ending with a Group Stage exit at the 2022 League of Legends World Championship. Despite looking like the best team in Europe for most of the year, their deficiencies got exposed as the year progressed. Losing to the eventual LEC Champions in the upper bracket semifinals of the 2022 LEC Summer Split must have been hard. But after a disastrous second week at the World Championship, changes must be made. 

Jankos and Flakked allowed to explore options

As soon as the plane carrying the G2 roster members touched down in Berlin, rumors started to swirl. Once the heat of the moment had died down, we got our first report. LEC Woloo reported that both jungler Jankos and bot laner Flakked, have been allowed to explore options for 2023. This meant that they were made available to teams willing to pay the buyout for the one year remaining on their contracts.

After some Twitter shenanigans, Jankos came on stream and talked about the entire situation, while Flakked addressed it through a Twitter post.  Jankos mentioned that he had been informed about this decision two days after landing in Berlin, with G2 looking for other options like Razork or Elyoya. While he has desires to stay in the LEC and defeat G2 like his former teammate, he noted that the LCS gives him the best chance for a Worlds appearance. 

Unfortunately, with the change in approach, the LCS is taking, finding suitors for his fat contract seems to be unlikely. Jankos refused to share any information about the upcoming changes to the LEC format, but he confirmed that something is coming in the near future. In the worst case scenario, Jankos will remain under G2 for the 2023 season as a streamer. If not team is willing to pay the buyout, the weeks following his trip to Korea can be crucial for his career moving forward. With all this unraveling, its a sad time for League of Legends fans. Caps is the only remaining member from the magical 2019 G2 roster that reached the Grand Finals at the World Championship. Coaches, CEO, players, everything that made G2 one of the best teams in the world, is gone.

Hans Sama finally to G2, Mikyx likely to follow suit

But it seems that Flakked isn’t the only G2 bot laner being replaced this offseason. Just a year after G2 decided to infuse the lineup with youth, it looks like support Targamas might be on his way out. Another LEC Wooloo report came out, that said former G2 support and member of the infamous 2019 roster, mikyx, is rejoining the team in 2023. 

Per reports, he will be slotting in alongside ADC Hans Sama, who last played for Team Liquid of the LCS. After years of being the most consistent bot laner in Europe, 2022 was a down year for Hans Sama. Despite playing on an eight digit star-studded roster alongside the likes of Bjergsen and World Champion CoreJJ, Hans saw a significant drop in form. 

With reports stating that he was the most important domino to fall, we can expect an interesting off-season in the LEC. After Team Liquid terminated his contract, making the French star a free agent, Hans Sama has been the most coveted piece on the market. With teams like Karmine Corp, Vitality, Fnatic and G2 being interested in his services, its certain he had no shortage of lucrative offers. 

On the flip side, G2 Esports finally get their man. We heard a lot of rumors in the 2021 off-season that G2 were pushing to acquire the services of the French native. But similarly to the Perkz and Rekkless situation with G2, Rogue decided not to sell their star player to their competitor. This did work out for Rogue, who won their first domestic championship in the summer of 2023