Corporal confident after tight G2 loss at MSI 2022: “It was much easier than I thought”

Oceanic underdogs ORDER had an uphill battle to turn heads in the Western group of life at MSI 2022. However, after a tight loss to G2 Esports got some talking, Corporal is more confident than ever the LCO representatives can upset the major regions.

For many in the West, ORDER had lost from the moment they stepped into the Busan Esports Arena against G2 Esports at MSI 2022.

The Oceanic underdogs fought their way through the LCO 2022 Split 1 lower bracket to make it here. After being written off in their home region by many, the expectations when it came to the global stage were even lower.

However, a tight game has put the “group of life” on notice. ORDER, with their confident draft around solo laners Brandon ‘BioPanther’ Alexander and Ronald ‘Kisee’ Vo on Aatrox and Yone, nearly got the edge.

G2 pulled ahead early, but strong team fighting in the mid game from ORDER gave the OCE underdogs a lead. However, a miscued baron call saw the house of cards tumbling down. The European favorites did claim the nexus at 26 minutes, but ORDER’s spirit was resolved after seeing the weaknesses in their opponent’s armor.

The nametags did spook them at first, support Ian ‘Corporal’ Pearse told Dexerto, but once they saw how G2 Esports played, they knew the “group of life” was more than just a meme tag.

“Honestly, it was the exact same as the Chiefs best-of-five [in the LCO 2022 Split 1 grand final], I remember. The night before the Chiefs best-of-five I was worried about how it would be, but as soon as we played them I felt like their level was not that high,” he said.

“It was so winnable, and I feel like we showcased that plenty of times throughout that game, but unfortunately we had that egregious baron throw which gave away a 3,000 gold lead at that point. If we play a bit more standardly and optimize a few of those things, we’ll take those games.”

The LJL training arc

The former LJL pro has found refuge back home in Australia after two years finding himself overseas.

Corporal left Australia defeated back in 2019. He had gone 1-20 on Dire Wolves, and being last place in one of League of Legends’ weakest regions tanked his stocks. Getting picked up in the LJL gave him “a new lease on his career”.

• Read More: How Saigon Buffalo are putting VCS back on the map at MSI 2022

“I was no longer being given any chances. When I went overseas, it gave me hope for what I could become,” he admitted.

“League of Legends is my entire life, I live and breathe it, so all I can say is that I was super grateful that I could go there because it genuinely saved my career and I don’t know what I would have done without it.”

The skills he learned over two years in Japan were ones he took home ⁠— and eventually brought to Busan with ORDER. One of them was better matchup knowledge, which came in handy domestically to win lanes alongside AD carry Nathan ‘Puma’ Puma.

The second, which is much more valuable at MSI 2022, was confidence.

Having scrimmed the best players in the world, he felt like playing G2 Esports on stage was no different to just practicing against LCK and LPL stars. Even though it’s his first time on the international stage, he’s as unfazed as they come.

“For bot lane, it felt really standard. I’ve had a lot of international scrims in my time in LJL, and it felt like another one of those scrims. It was just two names I never played against and I versed them in a certain champion matchup. It was whatever. I didn’t feel any more pressure from these two than another duo,” he said.

While the baron call “in hindsight [was] not a good decision,” ORDER had the confidence in the play to commit to it ⁠— and that’s a hard mental hurdle for OCE players to jump when they come into a group many have written them off in.

That negative energy is what is spurring ORDER on; the thought of proving the doubters wrong.

“I’m feeling really good. From this game, I just realize that it’s so winnable. It’s so winnable. These games, we win these games. After playing for five minutes, I just knew it was going to be so much easier than I thought. It’s a lot of sh*t to talk when we just lost but we brought it to them.”

More than just Pentanet 2.0

There’s been a lot of comparisons between the ORDER roster and Pentanet.GG’s run at MSI 2021 that put Oceanic League of Legends on the map. They got given a chance in a three-team group, and they’re going to use that “glorified best-of-five” to their advantage.

• Read More: League saved BioPanther’s life. Now at MSI 2022, he wants to do it justice.

However, Corporal wants fans to know there’s a key difference between Pentanet’s achievement and ORDER’s goal.

“Maybe at the start I was thinking [there was pressure after Pentanet’s run], but I don’t want to dampen what they’ve done. They played Unicorns of Love in a glorified best of five. We’re going up against two major regions. We have our own independent path from PGG and it’s not comparable.”

With all that being said, there’s now a new hope in the ORDER camp that they can make that miracle run. A miracle run which didn’t just start from MSI 2022 groups, but from their lower bracket playoffs match against Dire Wolves four best-of-fives ago.

It’s their own path to blaze, and the Oceanic representatives aren’t afraid to talk themselves up after one tight loss.

“G2 is better out of those two teams, so I guess Evil Geniuses is going to go down. We’re going to smack them.”