Top Esports opened their Worlds 2025 campaign with a win over G2 Esports in the Swiss Stage Round one. Playing on home soil in China, the LPL third seed controlled the game from start to finish, taking down Europe’s top representative in just over 30 minutes.
The draft set the stage early. TES locked in Aatrox for 369, one of his signature picks known for frontline dominance and sustain. G2 answered with BrokenBlade on Sion, a tank designed to absorb pressure. The matchup would define the game’s pace.
TES didn’t wait long to execute their gameplan. Kanavi, the former JDG jungler now commanding TES’s tempo, repeatedly ganked top lane. BrokenBlade’s Sion died multiple times to coordinated dives as TES built an early lead through the top side. G2 offered little cross-map response, allowing TES to snowball plates and turret advantages.
The game’s turning point came at Atakhan, the new epic objective introduced for the 2025 season. TES started the objective with a gold lead, forcing G2 to make a decision. As TES neared completion, G2 collapsed into the river.
They focused everything on 369’s Aatrox.
It didn’t work. The Aatrox, built with Sundered Sky and Sterak’s Gage, soaked the initial burst and survived through his kit’s inherent healing. TES finished Atakhan while 369 stayed alive, then turned the fight completely. With the objective secured and their frontline still standing, TES wiped G2 in the ensuing teamfight.
From there, the game was over. TES pressed their advantage across the map. Caps found a few isolated moments on Azir, but G2 couldn’t manufacture the comeback fight they needed. TES closed cleanly, never giving G2 an opening.
Another Aatrox moment for the books
The Atakhan fight immediately had fans talking. Watching G2 collapse onto the tankiest target while TES secured the objective felt like a familiar script. The “Aatrox moment” has become shorthand for moments when LPL top laners take over teamfights on the champion, refusing to die while their teams clean up. 369 delivered exactly that, surviving what should have been a fatal engage and turning it into a game-winning sequence.
The result moves TES to 1-0 in the Swiss Stage, where they’ll face another winning team in Round two. G2 drops to 0-1 and will match against another 0-1 squad. In the Swiss format, teams need three wins to advance to the knockout stage or three losses to be eliminated. Both teams have plenty of tournament left, but TES made their statement early.
