What to expect from EG versus NIP

Many potential roster opportunities were connected to the Evil Geniuses organization during the player break, but the North American-based brand opted to stick with their familiar EG Black bunch, promoting the bulk of them to join Timothy “autimatic” Ta on the main roster.

After a disappointing but expected debut loss to the Major-winning Vitality, EG will look to bounce back in a big way against NIP, a debuting lineup also looking for their first win together. Although they enter as underdogs, there is a path carved out for EG to get it done.

Also read: What to expect from Liquid versus G2

junior wins the duels

Even with the team taking a beating, AWPer Paytyn “junior” Johnson showed familiar flashes of brilliance while facing off against Vitality. Notably, in their 6-16 loss on Overpass, junior led the server in AWP frags. The talent has received fair criticism for his boom or bust level of impact, but there is no doubting the ceiling for him when he is turned on. If he booms against NIP, EG have a major ingredient for the winning recipe.

junior was first with 14 AWP frags on Overpass, closing with a 1.26 rating.
Despite EG only winning nine rounds vs Vitality, junior ended positive in K/D and rating.

autimatic turns it all the way around

A lot of weight for the EG project’s success throughout this entire venture has been on the shoulders of Timothy “autimatic” Ta, a player that has shown legitimate impact as a star player on multiple teams throughout his career. Since his arrival on EG, that star impact has been lacking, but the organization has not given up on their hopes for that return of form. With autimatic being absent in the debut series, there is no doubt that he is a major contingency for the success of this lineup in this match and beyond.

autimatic has closed four of five LANs this year with a negative K/D difference.
He is at a .96 rating at LAN so far in 2023 but has never ended a year below 1.0.

Also read: What to expect from Complexity versus Vitality

Previous matchups

This will be the first matchup between the two teams.

Likely vetoes

EG's core has familiarity dating back to EG Black, and with a series under their belt at BLAST, we can look to this data alongside the NIP core to gague a potential map veto:

EG ban Anubis
NIP ban Nuke
EG pick Overpass
NIP pick Mirage
EG ban Vertigo
NIP ban Inferno
Decider is Ancient

The series is set to start following the conclusion of Complexity vs Vitality at approximately 12:30PM.

Also read: First Thunderpick Series reaches quarterfinals