Evil Geniuses - Overlooked But Here To Stay
Evil Geniuses took the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) by surprise after stomping on one of the (if not the) top team in many people’s preseason power rankings, Cloud9 to start the LCS Lock In tournament. This Evil Geniuses team was overlooked during the offseason even with what would’ve been headline power moves in previous years and although it got its run in the Lock In playoffs ended just before the finals right before the finals, it’s a team that’s here to stay and compete.
During the LCS Lock In they went on to have the only undefeated record in the tournament after the first week of round-robin play, finally getting their only loss of the round-robin in their final game against a surging FlyQuest. Evil Geniuses went on to decimate the Golden Guardians who were in their way in the quarterfinals. But unfortunately for them, their run ended just short of the finals after getting swept by the eventual tournament winners, Team Liquid.
Nine games, nine games is what people got to witness Evil Geniuses play, a good amount of games that they wouldn’t have had in previous formats. But these nine games that the geniuses displayed were promising, they were exciting, and they were head-turning. In an offseason that was filled with multimillion-dollar deals with different teams across the league — mainly the top end and the old guards — this was a team that still made the moves that they needed to make to hold their own and compete with the best the LCS has to offer.
Last season during the Spring Split, Evil Geniuses finished second in the standings during the regular season and finished third in playoffs — not bad for having just returned to the LCS and having started from zero. Come the Summer Split, they worsened, finishing at sixth place during the regular season later mirroring that in the playoffs. A strong start in the LCS Lock In and effectively the 2020 season in what was in all intents and purposes a “warm-up” tournament is a great sign for the organisation moving forward.
Click to enlargeThis roster has the potential to be electric. It has former world champion and multiple time LCS champion top laner, Keong “Impact” Eon-young. Former MVP of the LCS back in 2019, Dennis “Svenskeren” Johnsen in the jungle. One of the most aggressive supports in the league and a crucial part to FlyQuest’s back-to-back LCS finals visits last year in Lee “IgNar” Dong-geun. Who is coupled with a stable AD Carry who was stuck in LCS hell with the old poor Golden Guardian rosters, Matthew “Deftly” Chen. And it’s rounded out by the wildcard that is Daniele “Jiizuke” di Mauro in the mid-lane — someone who’s proven he can carry games and perform well.
All of the players showed promise one way or another in the Lock In tournament. Impact’s impact was absolutely heard, he crushed his opponents on the Renekton during the first week of play getting himself a player of the week. Later in the first playoff series Evil Geniuses played, he dispelled the criticism he received of being “a Renekton only player” with the Gragas barrels he landed versus Golden Guardians — getting player of the series. Moving on to Svenskeren, he seems like a player who elevates his play once the players around him are above a certain level. Last year he wasn’t the same former MVP Svenskeren but this year he’s certainly on his way back it.
Then there’s Jiizuke, Jiizuke was brought over from Europe going into 2020 later to be benched in the middle of it. Many thought that would be the end of him, at least on this organisation, but Evil Geniuses stayed true and kept him during the off-season. It’s safe to say, Jiizuke is a good player to keep. Although he had a rough going at it in their series versus Team Liquid — to be honest, all of the geniuses did — he portrayed his old high level of play. At one point in the tournament, he was most likely the best mid laner in the league. Both him and Impact were crucial in many of their team fights with coordinated two-pronged attacks and flanks.
Finally, the bottom lane. IgNar continued his aggressive playstyle that gave FlyQuest so much domestic success last year to start this LCS season. His constant searching for plays and in your face playstyle is perfect to go alongside Svenskeren — as having coordinated attacks with Jiizuke. To accompany in the bot lane, IgNar got Deftly. Deftly has previously been in the LCS but due to the nature of his team(s) he didn’t look the most solid. Looking at this roster from top to bottom, many had their eyes on Deftly as the “weak link” or as someone that needed to elevate his own play alongside his comrades. Boy did he do just that. He was excellent in team fights, making sure he stayed safe but most of all was great on cleaning up.
Although their run ended abruptly getting dominated by Team Liquid in the semifinals, their strong start should get their fans, the league and themselves excited. This is certainly an upgrade compared to last year’s roster, these players are no joke and can perform at any given day if given the ability to do so. There is so much confidence in their staff as well, not only because of their job during the off-season but because what they’re seeing now — Evil Geniuses are here to stay.
Images via Riot Games