Evil Geniuses achieve highest ranking in over a year
Group D of ESL Pro League was a mixed bag for Evil Geniuses; the squad missed out on playoffs, but showed more promise here than the past three seasons of EPL combined, with the North American side accruing an 0-15 win/loss record across those events. After securing two victories in their group, Evil Geniuses' efforts have been rewarded with a spike in the squad's ranking, seeing them return to the top 30 and reach their highest placing in over a year.
Evil Geniuses were by no means a favorite in their group, as FURIA, Cloud9, and Liquid were universally considered to be the three squads most likely to reach playoffs from the batch. Not only were Evil Geniuses not discussed to be in the running for playoffs, but there were also murmurs that the squad could potentially extend their winless EPL streak, as Movistar Riders and Eternal Fire would not exactly be pushovers despite also not being favored to reach playoffs.
In spite of the lingering doubts, Evil Geniuses put up a solid fight in their group, besting both Movistar Riders and Eternal Fire with ease. The latter result was made even more impressive considering the Turkish side's other results in the group, which included a tight series against FURIA and a victory over Liquid. These two wins kept Evil Geniuses in the running for playoffs on the final day, and while the squad ultimately missed out, they can certainly be pleased with the progress they have made.
For their troubles, Evil Geniuses have risen by ten positions in the world rankings, seeing the team climb from #35 to #25, the first time the squad has breached the top 30 since the organization opted to rebuild the lineup at the beginning of the year. The last time Evil Geniuses were this high in the rankings was just over a year ago, placing #26 on August 30th, 2021. EG's lineup has seen numerous changes since then; that roster from over a year ago featured Damian "daps" Steele, Michał "MICHU" Müller, and Owen "oBo" Schlatter, with Tsvetelin "CeRq" Dimitrov and Vincent "Brehze" Cayonte being the only holdovers from that iteration of the team.
While Evil Geniuses may be disappointed that the squad was unable to claim a spot in the EPL playoffs, the organization and players can certainly take solace in the fact that progress is being made. The team's next outing will be the all-important IEM Road to Rio Americas RMR, where Evil Geniuses will need to take the lessons they learned from ESL Pro League if they want to not only continue to climb the rankings but also make their way to the IEM Rio Major. Evil Geniuses' run in the RMR begins in just over a week, with their opening match against Nouns set to start on October 5th.
