Evil Geniuses Gold claim their first ESL Impact Cash Cup win
Evil Geniuses Gold are the latest team to win their first-ever ESL Impact Cash Cup after defeating Shimmer in the grand final yesterday. EG Gold are the fifth team to win an Impact Cash Cup this year, seeing the wealth spread out via the eight events run this year. This competitiveness is a step in the right direction for the NA scene after being previously dominated by one or two teams.
In the seven-team bracket, Shimmer was the only team to get a bye into the semifinals, as EG Gold had to face Diamond Dogs to start the tournament. They did so with ease, winning the Bo1 match 16-0. In the semifinals, they were matched with Tsunami Sirens who had beat Category 5 previously. This was one of the rare instances where a Bo3 in the ESL Impact scene went the full length and was a tight match. EG Gold won the series 2-1 after winning Inferno 16-11, losing Mirage 19-15, and then winning Overpass 16-11.
Shimmer had an easier path being the highest-seeded team in the tournament. Shimmer had to face Totsugeki, who had beat WG Bandits before. Although the series ended with a 2-0 in favor of Shimmer, Totsugeki were competitive, seeing Mirage fall 16-12 while Nuke was a 16-9 defeat.
The grand finals also needed a third map to decide the winner. Both teams won their pick, Shimmer's Ancient ended 16-6 and EG Gold's Overpass ended 16-7, while Inferno was a closer game, with EG Gold taking the win 16-11. This win might feel extra special for Vanessa "vanessa" Gideon, as the former Shimmer player managed to win against her old team.
ShimmerEG Gold| Shimmer |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Abigail 'abby' Deters |
50 - 47 | +3 | 75.5 | 75.0% | 1.12 |
| Lucy 'empathy' Verkaik |
54 - 52 | +2 | 82.6 | 68.1% | 1.11 |
| Lynn 'Lx' Clarke |
46 - 49 | -3 | 66.6 | 76.4% | 1.04 |
| Lisa 'lisa' Nguyen |
32 - 45 | -13 | 54.2 | 61.1% | 0.78 |
 Julie 'Bouchard' Bouchard |
35 - 48 | -13 | 56.8 | 56.9% | 0.77 |
| EG Gold |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Juliana 'Juli' Tosic |
59 - 48 | +11 | 82.8 | 73.6% | 1.22 |
| Vanessa 'vanessa' Gideon |
51 - 44 | +7 | 84.1 | 73.6% | 1.18 |
 Tilde '7licious' Byström |
46 - 42 | +4 | 72.0 | 76.4% | 1.14 |
| Kiara 'm1lky' Makua |
41 - 42 | -1 | 66.0 | 75.0% | 1.01 |
 Kiki 'PiggyKiki' Long |
42 - 41 | +1 | 57.1 | 73.6% | 0.99 |
