In Year 3, Kanto dominated the world. Giving us perhaps the best year we'd ever seen from a player, Kanto was instrumental in G2's second year of dominance with three MVP awards (including both Majors) and four international titles. Year 4 represents a step back for the carry rocket, but Kantoraketti still had a tremendous year worthy of a top-five position in the world.
As a team, G2's best achievement throughout the year was reaching the final of the Raleigh Major where Kanto earned EVP honors for himself. Kanto was integral (alongside Pengu) in G2's run through the major, and although they fell short of another title, for any other team of players it would have been a tremendous achievement.
Kanto (far right) with G2 Esports before the Raleigh grand final
Throughout the remainder of the year, Kanto continued to show up at LAN, but often with a rotating supporting cast around him, both in terms of who would deliver as well as the roster itself. At DreamHack Montreal he and UUNO were the two best players, then Pengu and Kanto at OGA PIT. At the Invitational, it was UUNO and Kanto again leading the way in G2's surprise run to the playoffs.
Here are each of Kanto's performances this year:
Tournament | Rating | K-D (+/-) | Misc. |
|---|---|---|---|
PL S9 EU | 1.25 | 147-99 (+48) | 36-16 OK-OD |
Raleigh Major | 1.18 | 105-70 (+35) | 44% Survival |
DH Montreal | 1.19 | 69-54 (+15) | 76% KOST |
PL S10 EU | 1.09 | 121-104 (+17) | 0.81 KPR |
OGA PIT | 1.13 | 23-20 (+3) | 71% KOST |
PL S11a EU | 0.98 | 60-61 (-1) | 64% KOST |
SI 2020 | 1.11 | 100-84 (+16) | 18-11 OK-OD |
Kanto at the Six Invitational 2020
We also had a chance to speak with Kantoraketti about his performance this year:
After having a standout performance in Year 3, this year you seemed to struggle a little more with consistently delivering. What factors do you think led to this change, be it personal or team-based?
It was both team-based and personal based, obviously, our teamplay and team performance have been very off for a long time now so that definitely affects it. Also, I started having some confidence issues which affected me personally which I’ve gotten rid of now.
Do you feel the additional pressure of expectations when you play because your team was so successful for so long? If so, how do you deal with it?
There definitely is some of the pressure through that it's just how it is but it does not affect me personally at least, you just have to deal with it and let it not affect you ingame.
G2 Esports has now undergone a sea of changes, where do you see this team going in the future?
Yes, we had a massive roster change in the offseason and we're starting from square one pretty much since it is 2 players. I have massive confidence that with this roster we're gonna get back to where we were before. It just might take some time.
How are you feeling about the future of Siege as an esport?
Siege is growing insanely especially in the last months so I see it even getting bigger although there is still stuff that needs to be improved so it can get even bigger.
What are you going to work on to improve your success next year?
How we work as a team and play as a team.
Is there anything you would like to say to your fans and the wider Siege community?
I want to thank everyone who has stuck with us with our massive slump of last year, it means a lot and I hope you continue to support us!
You can also watch Kanto's best plays of the year in the fragmovie below:
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Stay tuned for more of the top ten players, you can check out the full list in the awards hub and make sure to let us know what you think about each one on social media!