Perkz
Luka “Perkz” Perkovic, having represented G2 Esports for over three and a half years, has become one of the team’s pillars. Not only has Perkz made a name for himself as one of the best mid laners in EU, he also excels at, and currently rivals, some of the best ADCs in the world.
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Development as a star mid laner
Perkz initially began his competitive League of Legends careers with GSI Gaming as the team’s starting mid laner. While they were not a major name in the scene, they nevertheless fought their way through to enter the DreamHack Summer 2014 from the fierce online qualifiers. Unfortunately, the team failed to recover following their 5-8th place finish at DreamHack Summer 2014, sending Perkz to look for a new team in the off season.
Soon after, Perkz signed between Gamers2 and Millenium, which allowed him to rapidly develop as a player. In the beginning, Gamers2 had even failed to qualify for the 2015 EUCS. However, as the year went on, Perkz supported his team to take first place in the Summer split of the EU CS, and subsequently, defeating SK Gaming 3-2 to enter the EU LCS.
Gamer2 becomes G2 Esports
As Gamers2 rebranded to G2 Esports, Perkz soon followed, starting his journey to become one of the biggest names in the EU LCS. Ever since joining G2 Esports in October of 2015, Perkz had consistently dominated the mid lane role in EU while the team went on to claim the top spot in the EU LCS.
Moving to the bot lane
While G2 Esports had found success in the EU LCS, they insisted on improving in the international scene. The end of 2018 saw G2 Esports lay their eyes on Fnatic’s promising mid laner Caps, an experienced yet young competitive player, who had been able to rival Perkz. G2 Esports opted to develop Caps as the team’s mid laner, with Perkz supporting the decision and moving to the bot lane.
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Perkz Domestic Career
2014
Luka “PerkZ” Perković began his LoL career on CSI Gaming. Together with his teammates, he attended DreamHack Summer 2014, however, CSI couldn’t make it past the group stage. They bounced back with victories at EpicGear Cup 16 & 17, but in the end, the team decided to disband.
2015
In the beginning of 2015, Perkz briefly joined Gamers2. They took part in the International Invitational Tournament 4. Their 2-0 victory over ATLAS eSports showed some promise, but Gamers2 were unable to gain much momentum and fell in the following round against HWA Gaming.
A similar narrative unfolded at the 2015 EU CS Spring Qualifier. Gamers2 kicked off the tournament with a 2-0 win against Team Refuse, but quickly ran out of steam and lost in the next series against Team Nevo. After such a disappointing showing, Perkz decided to part ways with the organization.
He found a new home on Millenium. His team showed a lot of promise and even finished second at the Gamers Assembly 2015, right behind Origen. But upcoming exams caused Perkz to stop practicing with the lineup. Shortly thereafter, he left the organization.
A month later, Perkz rejoined Gamers2 in the 2015 EU CS Summer Season. The team performed well, going all the way to the Promotion Tournament and taking down SK Gaming in a close 5-game series to qualify for the EU LCS. Afterward, Gamers2 attended PGL Legends of the Rift Season 1. They had a strong showing in the group stage, but they were eventually defeated by To Infinity and Beyond in the playoffs. During this time, Gamers2 rebranded as G2 Esports.
2016
G2 entered the 2016 Spring Split as underdogs. But it quickly became apparent that they were here to stay, and the up-and-coming lineup rose to the top of the EU LCS ladder. In the playoffs, G2 dismantled Fnatic and Origen to claim their first trophy and qualify for the 2016 MSI. During this time, Perkz put on a clinic on assassins, and many hailed him as the next great European mid laner.
G2 continued their reign in summer. With a massive 10-8-0 record (wins-ties-losses) over the regular season, they entered the playoffs as the clear-cut favorites. And while UOL and Splyce tried to disprove this narrative, they were ultimately unsuccessful, and G2 found their second EU LCS victory. With that, they qualified for the 2016 World Championship. At the time, Perkz had to adjust to the meta changes. His trademark assassins were no longer at the top of the League of Legends food chain, and Perkz had to learn how to play control mages.
2017
Even so, he fully adapted by the 2017 Spring Split. Once again, G2 displayed unrivaled domestic dominance over the regular season. They entered the playoffs as the #1 seed and breezed through Fnatic and UOL to secure their third consecutive EU LCS trophy. With this victory, they earned the nickname of Kings of Europe as well as a chance to redeem themselves at the 2017 MSI.
Things went much rougher in summer. Because G2 had to attend so many international events, they didn’t get any time to practice in the off-season. Other teams caught up, and G2 found themselves sitting at an 8-5 record in the regular season. But the Kings of Europe weren’t about to go down without a fight. In the playoffs, they took down Splyce and H2K to qualify for the finals. And while their last opponent—Misfits—seemed to be on the upswing, G2 put an end to their momentum with a confident 3-0 victory.
Perkz International Tournaments
2016
On G2 Esports, Perkz went to his first international tournament, the 2016 Mid-Season Invitational. G2 had a lot of hype coming into the event, but inexplicably, the entire team struggled to stand up to the competition. With a 2-8 record in groups, they failed to advance to the knockout stage.
Half a year later, he attended the 2016 World Championship. But once again, G2 had a hard time replicating their domestic success. Despite being seeded into of the easier groups of the tournament, G2 produced a 1-5 record and couldn’t qualify for the playoffs.
2017
G2 also took part in the IEM Season 11 World Championship. The group stage loss to Flash Wolves put them on the verge of elimination, but G2 managed to come back through the loser’s bracket. In the playoffs, they defeated ROX Tigers before falling prey in the finals series against Flash Wolves.
Perkz finally proved his worth at the 2017 Mid-Season Invitational. Together with his teammates, he struggled to show up in the group stage, and G2 barely qualified for the playoffs. In the Semifinals, they pulled off an upset against Team WE. And while they fell 1-3 to SKT T1 in the finals, this was still G2’s best international showing to date.
Because of their performance in the 2017 Spring Split, G2 were invited to the Rift Rivals (NA vs EU) event. Surprisingly enough, North American teams proved to be a cut above their European counterparts. G2 faltered in the group stage and failed to qualify for the finals.
G2 came back in full force for the 2017 World Championship. Unfortunately, they were seeded into the same group with Samsung Galaxy, RNG. Both of these teams proved too hard for them to handle, and G2 once again fell short with a middling 3-3 record.
