EG show strength, fail to secure incredible upset
The start of Evil Geniuses' season was awkward, with the organization fumbling through their transfer opportunities seemingly resorting to the EG Black roster as a last-second decision. However, the promotion of the youngsters has been met with celebration and support from the North American community, seeing an organization backing the next stars of the region. While in an elimination matchup against G2, Evil Geniuses are looking to avoid finishing in last and continuing to make improvements in their first tier-one event as a squad.
Evil Geniuses were able to get the game started off on their own pick of Inferno, but they were playing against who else but Nikola "NiKo" Kovač. Despite it being their own pick, EG crumbled in their offense and would start out on an 1-11 deficit. In total, EG would get four rounds on their T-side, but it would not be enough for the. On their own pick, EG would lose the second pistol and be sent into a 14-4 hole before losing out 16-7.
With little hope of revenge, EG went to Nuke in hopes of keeping their dreams of not finishing in last alive. NiKo, once again, was an absolute monster for G2, but this time he was all alone on his team dragging them to keep it close. EG started off the half losing their third pistol of the match, but they would end it with a 10-5 CT-side, that would end up pushing them to victory. The second half got a little scarier as EG was within touching distance the whole time, and barely scraped over the finishing line to win G2's Nuke pick 16-13.
Evil Geniuses stealing away a map is a surprise, but to steal away their opponent's pick is magnificent. With the momentum firmly behind the Americans, they came into Mirage with precision and motivation to capture a massive upset. The first half went almost exactly according to plan. They would win the pistol, but lose the second round. Despite a little back and forth, Evil Geniuses would start to peel away as they raced to a 7-3 lead. G2 would bring it back a bit, but EG won their CT side 8-7.
The second half was a little tougher, despite it looking like EG would be closing out the map with ease. A solid beginning was interrupted by a full-eco loss, but the Americans would recover and start to put some distance between themselves and the Europeans. The T-side would remain a strong point for the squad as they were first to 15, but started to let the nerves show and G2 would drive through to Overtime.
By the time EG reached the extra rounds, they had already emptied the gas tank. G2 would dominate in OT, winning all three rounds on their CT side before claiming the map and the series with a 19-15 win on Mirage.
Evil GeniusesG2| Evil Geniuses |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Paytyn 'junior' Johnson |
56 - 49 | +7 | 68.1 | 72.1% | 1.10 |
| Timothy 'autimatic' Ta |
57 - 59 | -2 | 76.9 | 72.1% | 1.06 |
 Jadan 'HexT' Postma |
52 - 64 | -12 | 67.5 | 65.1% | 0.92 |
| Colby 'Walco' Walsh |
50 - 60 | -10 | 64.9 | 62.8% | 0.86 |
| Jeorge 'Jeorge' Endicott |
44 - 57 | -13 | 58.1 | 60.5% | 0.82 |
| G2 |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač |
89 - 44 | +45 | 112.5 | 77.9% | 1.67 |
 Justin 'jks' Savage |
50 - 50 | +0 | 68.3 | 76.7% | 1.03 |
 Ilya 'm0NESY' Osipov |
57 - 56 | +1 | 63.7 | 64.0% | 0.98 |
| Nemanja 'huNter-' Kovač |
48 - 53 | -5 | 57.5 | 72.1% | 0.94 |
 Rasmus 'HooXi' Nielsen |
44 - 58 | -14 | 60.3 | 66.3% | 0.82 |
