First Stand 2026 shock: Gen.G falls to G2 Esports, golden road dream ends
The First Stand (FST) 2026 tournament at Riot Games Arena in Sao Paulo, Brazil, witnessed a true shocker. In the semifinal on March 21, top favorite Gen.G suffered a crushing 0-3 defeat to G2 Esports, ending their tournament run much earlier than expected.
A shock in Sao Paulo
Before the match, Gen.G had been unstoppable, remaining undefeated since the season began. On the other hand, G2 Esports – the European champions – faced doubts after a clean loss to Bilibili Gaming (BLG) in the group stage. However, all predictions of an easy win for the Korean squad quickly collapsed once the match started.
Match recap: When resilience speaks
In game 1, Gen.G tried to control the bot lane with the Ashe-Seraphine duo. G2 Esports countered successfully with smart jungle interventions. The turning point came at 28 minutes when Gen.G attempted a Baron play to reverse the game but failed miserably, allowing G2 Esports to close the game with a decisive 16-4 kill score.
In game 2, mistakes from Duro (Alistar) caused Gen.G to lose control. Even though Kiin had a strong top lane pick with Vayne, the gold deficit of over 10,000 made any comeback attempt at 29 minutes impossible.
Game 3 saw a complete mental collapse from the LCK representatives. Gen.G lost four consecutive Dragons and crumbled during the Elder Dragon team fight, sealing a 3-0 victory for the European side.
Golden road dream shattered
This loss not only eliminated Gen.G from FST 2026 but also ended their Golden Road dream – winning all major Riot Games tournaments in a single year (including LCK Cup, FST, MSI, LCK Summer, and the World Championship). After recently winning the LCK Cup, Chovy and his teammates had to leave Brazil with disappointment.
G2 Esports: LCK nemesis returns
With this win, G2 Esports advanced to the final after defeating two LCK representatives in a row (previously BNK FearX), both with 3-0 scores. In Sao Paulo, the team dubbed the "LCK nemesis" seems to have reclaimed its brightest glory.
