Rasmus “Caps” Winther is a Danish mid laner in League of Legends. He’s currently playing for G2 Esports in the LEC.
Image Credit: Riot Games/Flickr
Caps was born on November 17, 1999. Having started his professional career back in 2015, Caps quickly rose up the ranks and gained recognition as one of the most gifted mid laners the European region has ever produced in LoL esports.
For many, he’s considered the western mid lane GOAT, having equaled the number of domestic titles (10) as the LoL mid lane GOAT, Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok.
Despite not having the same amount of international titles as the Korean player, Caps still earned an MSI trophy in 2019, as well as 3 LEC MVP awards, 4 LEC FMVP (Finals MVP), and made it onto the LEC First All Pro Team for 9 times. He’s been a part of a team at the height of LoL for a long time, even though he’s only 24. Including winning LEC Spring and Summer in 2020, and Spring in 2022. The player’s high skill has been visible since he began his professional life, all the way back in 2015.
Rasmus “Caps” Winther began his LoL career on Enigma Esports. His team took part in the PGL Legends of the Rift Season 1. Enigma had a promising start with a 2-1 win over Kubyd’s Syndrome, but the following losses to Gamers2 and Hard Random eliminated them from the tournament.
After failing to qualify for the EUCS through the Open Qualifier at the start of 2016, Caps left the organization.
Following his participation in the offline event Lyon e-Sport 9, where he came third, Caps went on to join German organization mousesports where LEC bot laner Upset was also playing.
They took part in the 2016 EU CS Summer Qualifiers. Although, their 2-3 groups record wasn’t enough to advance further. Shortly thereafter, Caps and Upset left the team to play for Nerv in the 2016 EU CS Summer Season. But Nerv couldn’t stand up to the competition, and their 0-2-3 run (wins-ties-losses) resulted in a last-place finish.
After such a disappointing showing, Caps parted ways with the organization to join Dark Passage in the 2016 TCL Summer. Dark Passage had a strong showing in the league, placing second to secure a bye to the Semifinals. There, they took down HWA Gaming and SuperMassive eSports to claim their trophy.
After winning the TCL championship, Caps starting getting a lot of attention from LEC teams, and Fnatic decided to pick him up as the starting mid laner.
Joining one of the top organizations in the European region, which had top-tier players like sOAZ, Broxah, and Rekkles meant that Caps also had to face the pressure of delivering strong performances one after the other.
Their 2017 Spring Split was hectic with the team barely making it out of their own group with a 6-7 score (ROCCAT was eliminated for tiebreaker rules) and qualifying for playoffs.
In the Quarterfinals, they 3-0’d H2K by blindsiding them with a unique split push-oriented playstyle. And even though Fnatic fell short in the Semifinals against G2 Esports, they bounced back with a confident victory over Misfits in the third place match, becoming the last team to qualify for Rift Rivals NA-EU.
European lineups struggled to stand up to their North American counterparts, and his team was no exception. With a 2-4 record in the group stage, they failed to qualify for the finals.
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Despite the somewhat disappointing result, Caps made a name for himself as a mechanically gifted mid laner. He was second to none when it came to laning and outplaying opponents, but his lack of experience showed in the later stages of the game.
The turning point, however, came really quickly for Caps and FNC. In the EU LCS Summer, they topped their group with an 11-2 record and advanced to the playoffs. They were considered the favorites coming into the Semifinals against Misfits. But the up-and-coming lineup proved much tougher than everyone expected, and Fnatic lost the series with a 1-3 score. In the third-place match, Fnatic took down H2K 3-2 to win another bronze medal.
Still, if they wanted to qualify for the 2017 World Championship, they had to go through the Gauntlet. Fnatic were seeded directly into the finals. There, they clashed with H2K once again and secured their Worlds ticket with a quick 3-0 victory, and giving Caps his first-ever Worlds appearance.
At the 2017 World Championship, Fnatic had to go through the Play-In Stage. They had a strong showing and qualified for the Main Event with a confident victory over Hong Kong Attitude.
With many expectations on their shoulder, FNC kicked off the first round robin in the worst way possible, losing the first three games and putting themselves in a tricky situation. Having said that, the impossible happened: the team regained their composure and finished the group 2-4, tied with GAM and IMT. Fnatic went through two tiebreakers to finish second in their group. Despite the incredible comeback, they dropped to Royal Never Give Up in the Quarterfinals, as the team was too strong to beat.
Getting into the top 8 at Worlds was still a great result for Caps. 2018, however, was much better than that, as FNC was without a doubt, the best team EU had at the time.
Picking up where they left, Caps and Fnatic finished the 2018 League of Legends European Championship (LEC) Spring Split in first place, winning the regular split and demolishing G2 in the finals. Bwipo’s addition to the team gave more flexibility to what was already a really strong team.
At MSI, FNC proved to be the best of the rest, only ending behind the LCK and LPL teams Kingzone DragonX and champions RNG. Unfortunately, the Chinese team was far too strong, crushing FNC 3-0 in the semifinals.
Despite that, FNC went on to dominate the domestic region again, taking back-to-back LEC titles, and securing Worlds as the #1 seed.
In 2018, the team was definitely on a roll: FNC ended first in their own group, and then quickly defeated EDG and C9 to secure EU’s first-ever Worlds Finals. And considering the final was against IG, who they already faced in the groups, the expectations by fans were high. Things, however, turned for the worse really quickly, as IG swept FNC in the finals and never looked into a position to win the series.
Image Credit: LoL Esports Photos via Flickr
It looked like a perfect year for Caps, but it ended up in a bitter way. And what was more surprising, though, was Caps leaving the organization that brought him up to join the biggest LEC rivals, G2 Esports.
The announcement was shocking for most FNC fans, but it ended up benefitting EU as a whole. G2 and Perkz were willing to bring the guy in even if it meant spending money and moving Perkz from his own main role to the bot lane.
With the lineup of Wunder, Jankos, Caps, Perkz, and Mikyx, G2’s roster was undoubtedly the best EU had ever seen. And they quickly proved it to everyone: 1st place in the LEC Spring regular split and a dominant win over OG in the Spring Finals were just the appetizer for what was about to come.
At MSI, people weren’t hoping much after G2 ended third behind the LCK and the LPL once again. That said, the miracle happened in the semifinals against SKT T1: Caps and the rest of the squad made the upset happen, taking the series 3-2 against Faker. And with TL surprisingly beating IG in the other semifinal, G2 knew they had a shot at the title.
In the MSI finals, G2 swept TL to take their first-ever international trophy, and Caps’ first international achievement so far.
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And just like the previous year, G2 and Caps dominated the following Summer Split, locking in their spot at Worlds. It looks like everything was repeating once again: G2 went through Groups with a 5-1 score and then went on to beat DWG in quarters, and SKT was again in the semifinal.
With Worlds taking place in the EU and the entire crowd cheering for them, it was G2 and Caps’ time to get the Grand Slam. But once again, the EU team succumbed to the LPL again. Getting destroyed 3-0 by FunPlusPhoenix.
After an entire year at the top, it must have felt terrible to drop at the last second. Nonetheless, G2 stuck with the same roster going into 2020, knowing they had the potential to repeat the feat again.
2020 took everyone by surprise when Perkz and Caps decided to swap roles in the Spring Split. The outcome, however, didn’t really change: G2 went on to win their third consecutive LEC title. MSI was cancelled that year due to the Covid-19 pandemic so G2 didn’t have the chance to go up against teams from other regions.
In Summer, G2 decided to swap back Caps and Perkz and went on to win their fourth title and get the #1 seed from the LEC at Worlds 2020.
At Worlds, G2 made it through the group stage but they eventually lost to the then world champions DWG in the semifinals. Caps closed off the season with a 4.7 KDA and a 67.% win rate, playing a total of 30 different champions.
After the 2020 season, G2 decided to go even bigger, picking up Rekkles from FNC as well and parting ways with Perkz, who joined C9.
What was supposed to be an upgrade, however, turned out to be a downgrade. Even though Caps was still arguably the best mid laner in the league, G2 failed to click, finishing third in the Spring Split.
The worst, however, came later. The team was unable to find an identity that worked out for them. G2 ended up missing Worlds after losing to FNC in the Summer Playoffs. The experiment was disastrous considering what G2 achieved in the past two years. Caps was arguably the only one carrying the team on the shoulder, as Wunder and Rekkles were both weakside players.
At the end of the season, G2 parted ways with both Wunder and the bot lane of Rekkles and Mikyx.
It was clear that G2 needed changes and that’s what they did. They brought in BrokenBlade and rookies Flakked and Targamas from the ERLs. It worked out well. G2 and Caps took their fifth title together in Spring.
Still, the team’s potential wasn’t enough to go up against the best teams. G2 lost to T1 at MSI and were dominated at Worlds. Going 1-5, ending their journey in the group stage.
But what was most important was that Caps was no longer dominating on his own. He was able to have lots of influence in the key moments. But the player registered negative individual stats at 15 minutes. This was also because the mid lane role lost a bit of carry potential due to the meta. But it still showed that other players were catching up.
In 2023, G2 brought back Mikyx and picked up Hans Sama. With a new bot lane and Caps regaining some of his carry form, G2 was the most consistent team the LEC had.
Image Credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games
They won both the Winter and Summer Split. Plus, they were the only team to not drop in the second half of the standings throughout the entire season. The three-split did create more volatility but Caps showed up. Willingly picking up non-traditional picks like Zac, Kled, Ncoturne, and K’Sante.
While he’s not as dominant as he used to be in the past, Caps makes up with years of experience and incredible team fighting capability. Their results at the 2023 World Championship weren’t quite a big win. Coming in 9-11th. This far into his Pro career though, he’s still on top of the game in some events.
In 2024, Caps with G2 has continued to clock up big wins. So far, they’ve won both LEC seasonal events Spring and Winter. This is a fantastic start to the year for them. If this is kept up, making it high in the Season Finals and getting to Worlds again looks certain.
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