EG's close loss to NIP, what went wrong?
Evil Geniuses didn't flatter in their opening showing against Major champions Vitality, but they came back and showed some teeth against the Swedish NIP side. Although the NA squad couldn't quite get it over the line, for a team with a core that has extremely limited experience at the tier-one level EG showed some great fight in the series.
headtr1ck clutches keep NIP alive
Daniil "headtr1ck" Valitov posted a 1.46 rating in the series, but it was his clutches in key moments that kept the Swedish team alive. First was a 1v3 clutch on Inferno in the 29th round to tie up the scores and keep his team in the game, this coming a round after the Ukrainian sniper almost won another 1v3 only to be denied by Paytyn "junior" Johnson. The youngster's pivotal role in the match didn't end on map one though, as he would go one better and win a 1v4 in round eight on Vertigo to help his team start a fightback to take the map.
EG left to rue missed chances
It wasn't just that EG played NIP close, they had a genuine chance to win the series and especially on Inferno, they will be regretting their missed opportunities as they dropped three map points. Alongside that, they dropped the aforementioned 1v3 and a 5v2 round which would have both sealed the deal for the side. In overtime, EG had the chance to close out the map but once again would fail to do so leading to the second overtime where they would eventually lose 22-20.
Failure to close out games is not a new problem for inexperienced sides and it's almost cliché to even mention it at this point, but it is important to keep in mind. Especially with a team led by such a young and inexperienced IGL in Colby "Walco" Walsh who has never been in the position of taking a map off of a top team like NIP before. With the team still growing into their new level of competition it's no doubt this match will be a massive learning curve for the young team and surely EG will be taking the positives from the game rather than focusing on the negatives.
Glimpses of potential but still a long way to go
Over the course of the match each player on the EG team had their moments, junior and Jeorge "Jeorge" Endicott showed impressive impact on the T side of Inferno. Timothy "autimatic" Ta did his job as the reliable veteran, topping the board for the NA team in the series with a 1.14 rating and Jadan "HexT" Postma is showing glimpses of the form that earned him a call-up to EG's main team previously.
The biggest question surrounding the team will be if they can consistently get their firepower working and, if so, can Walco marshall his troops in the right direction. So far the early signs are positive with the main issues seemingly coming from a lack of experience, something that the team will have to overcome quickly if they are to start delivering and shake off the reputation of the previous EG iterations.
What next for EG?
EG will now be biding their time in the Knockout Stage, slated to play their next game on Saturday at 09:00AM against the third-place opponent from Group C, which could include OG, Liquid, FaZe, or G2. This spacing between matches should give the squad ample time to prepare for their all-important elimination matchup.
Whilst the team's next scheduled event on HLTV isn't until the end of August with the beginning of ESL Pro League Season 18, EG look to be making the most of their time in Europe to gain some valuable experience as they have been invited to the EU qualifier for the Thunderpick World Championship: European Series #1.
