Showdown shock: A look at EG Black v. FURIA
Heading into this affair, FURIA vs Evil Geniuses looked to be a straightforward and comfortable victory for the Brazilians, regardless of what roster EG decided to field. When FURIA took Vertigo, it looked like a certainty that they would close the series rapidly. Over the next two maps, EG and specifically their AWPer, Paytyn "junior" Johnson, showed stints of utter dominance over the #12 ranked team in the world.
junior's revenge tour
junior has had a troublesome time when it comes to facing tier one competition. His ill-fated stint with Complexity during the first half of the year had seemingly killed any hope that the 22-year-old AWPer could find sustainable success at the top level. Despite all that, his performance against his former employers has renewed the hope that junior can once again climb back into relevance.
Posting a 1.50 rating across the three maps, junior's expert AWPing display on both Mirage and Inferno reminded me of his breakout performance at IEM Beijing-Haiden 2020 North America against Liquid, a performance which seemingly alerted FURIA to his talent as he signed with the Brazilians shortly after. The similarity between these two colossal performances also rings alarm bells for people who want to jump the gun with junior. They were both online. The talent that junior possesses is unquestionable, however, we need to see him perform like this on LAN if he is ever going to be considered for the top tier again.
Is it time for FURIA to bite the bullet?
Regardless of what tournament it is or whether it's LAN or online, it is unacceptable for FURIA to lose against either of EG's teams given the Americans performances as of late. FURIA has been a top team for years with two of the best riflers in the world and ambitions of winning international LANs. Losing to a team that finished third in ESL Challenger League and losing to the AWPer you got parted ways with is not a good look.
Both Yuri "yuurih" Boian and Kaike "KSCERATO" Cerato were their usual selves this series, with yuurih posting 28 kills on Inferno despite the loss. The question that keeps being raised when FURIA lose is if there is a need to change the direction of the team at this moment. The squad have been struggling since their IEM Rio semifinal appearance back in November. The team struggled on Inferno T-side where they had a clear advantage to close out the series in comfortable fashion. Up 13-6, FURIA ineffective on the T-side as they were shut out by EG's defense and lost 10 rounds straight. With the RMR and Major coming up as the next big events, if FURIA continues to flounder, when does management start to look at shaking things up?
What's next?
For EG Black, another Brazilian opponent awaits as they take on Imperial today for a shot at the Showdown final. With yesterday's bombshell regarding Detonate's inability to attend the RMR and the possibility of EG taking their spot, Colby "Walco" Walsh's squad will be hoping to give EG management a reason to believe that maybe they don't need to import more European talent when they have the talent right here at home.
As for FURIA, the next stop is the Americas RMR for the BLAST.tv Paris Major. Opening up their campaign against LOS+oNe, arT and co. will have to go back to the drawing board over the next week to refine their game plan and ensure there are no more slip-ups..
