EVIL GENIUSES DO IT!
A matchup that saw the first two maps dominated by overwhelming T-sides comes to a thrilling end after Evil Geniuses and 9z faced a tough qualification matchup to decide who would be the first team from the Americas to head down to Rio. EG came into the match on their greatest run of form that the organization has seen since the IEM New York 2019 days, while 9z were a heavily underrated squad punching above their weight. With the bans set, EG chose to start on Overpass while 9z declared Dust2 to be their choice with Mirage as the third map decider.
Starting on Overpass, there isn't much to say other than that this was all EG all the time. It was a win on the pistol round and from there, EG just could not be stopped. The dynamic duo of Jaden "HexT" Postma and Vincent "Brehze" Cayonte were proving to be an unstoppable force as they powered the Americans to a 13-2 T-side Overpass half. With the sides switched, the second half pistol and subsequent conversion round would put EG right on the brink. However, 9z would do their best to delay the eventual conclusion but ultimately fall 16-5.
With EG having all the momentum in the world, it seemed as if Dust2 would be the map that they could just continue their form, but 9z had other plans. Despite starting out on the more favored CT-side, EG simply could not get things going, despite winning their third pistol of the match. While EG would go up 2-0, that would be nearly all they could get as the 13-2 t-side half from EG on Overpass was almost exactly copied by 9z as they ran riot in the first half. Now, the second started to get more competitive as EG would win their fourth pistol of the game and when pushed to map point, would win six rounds in a row, but ultimately fail in their pursuit as 9z claim map 2, 16-11.
Forcing the match to its third and final map, it was concerning that EG would be mentally defeated. There were concerns that 9z would continue their dominance, but EG would prove otherwise. Starting on their T-side, EG found a slow start as they lost their only pistol round of the match, but would quickly recover to take a 5-2 lead. After trading blows, EG would continue to turn up the heat as they finish the half 10-5 with some spectacular performances. EG would win their fifth pistol of the game as they started their CT side and would bring the lead to 12-5 before 9z crawled back to make it 12-9. It would get scarily close at 12-11 before the Americans would begin go to pull away and make it match point at 15-11. Despite some late heroics from David "dav1d" Tapia Maldonado to try and bring it back, 9z would ultimately fall 16-13 and let EG be the first team to qualify for IEM Rio.
Evil Geniuses9z| Evil Geniuses |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Jadan 'HexT' Postma |
67 - 42 | +25 | 85.4 | 74.0% | 1.30 |
 Vincent 'Brehze' Cayonte |
52 - 52 | +0 | 76.7 | 63.6% | 1.09 |
 Tsvetelin 'CeRq' Dimitrov |
46 - 41 | +5 | 49.4 | 74.0% | 1.02 |
| Timothy 'autimatic' Ta |
47 - 54 | -7 | 76.1 | 71.4% | 1.01 |
 Sanzhar 'neaLaN' Iskhakov |
41 - 51 | -10 | 67.8 | 67.5% | 0.98 |
| 9z |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 David 'dav1deuS' Tapia Maldonado |
63 - 55 | +8 | 87.4 | 66.2% | 1.17 |
 Lucas 'nqz' Soares |
48 - 48 | +0 | 71.4 | 61.0% | 1.01 |
 Maximiliano 'max' Gonzalez |
49 - 51 | -2 | 70.7 | 63.6% | 1.00 |
| Franco 'dgt' Garcia |
49 - 47 | +2 | 69.5 | 68.8% | 0.98 |
 Nicolás 'buda' Kramer |
30 - 54 | -24 | 48.4 | 59.7% | 0.65 |
Evil Geniuses now awaits the winner of Liquid v. Complexity to see who they will play for first place and the coveted Legends spot for IEM Rio.
