ESL Pro League NA: Are Evil Geniuses Invincible?

Who can possibly hold a candle to EG at this point? In the last week, they have completed their first two matches in ESL Pro League and immediately secured two straightforward victories. Vincent “Brehze” Cayonte and Tsvetelin “CeRq” Dimitrov are plowing through the North American competition with ease.

EG 2-0 100 THIEVES

You could count the Thieves’ round score on one hand as they decisively lost Mirage to a much better prepared Evil Geniuses. At halftime, 100T had gotten 4 rounds and won the second pistol round as well. Following a successful force-buy, EG just ran away with the map and secured a 16-5 victory.

The Thieves’ performance on Nuke was better by quite a stretch. With a solid start into the second half, they managed to tie scores at 9-9. Unfortunately, EG got a hold of the first full buy round. Afterwards, they played their CT advantage out to perfection. Not losing a single round, they stormed towards a 16-9 win. This match gave them their first 3 points in the EPL standings, tying them with FURIA, EG, and Liquid overall.

EG 2-0 CLOUD9

Facing C9, it looked as though Evil Geniuses could swiftly secure another match victory. After the first half on Vertigo, they had already amassed 12 points. Following the second pistol round, they sat on top of a 14-3 scoreline and were close to ending the map. Cloud9, however, mounted an incredible comeback and secured 10 rounds via elimination. Unfortunately for them, this wasn’t enough and they failed just shy of the finishing line. EG brought home a 16-13 victory, which was by no means decisive or impressive. Peter “stanislaw” Jarguz certainly has a lot of work to do with regards to their Vertigo approach.

With Nuke, however, Evil Geniuses had landed a perfect map, one that they know all too well. Fueled by their decisive victory over 100T just a day before, they got onto an 11-4 lead at halftime. As CTs, they had an easy time scraping the remaining rounds together. Cloud9 fell on a 4-16 scoreline, giving EG yet another 3 points in the EPL standings. They’re now on top of the pack.

WHO CAN STOP EG?

In short: Nobody. The long answer would be: Liquid, maybe, sometime in the future. At the moment, Evil Geniuses hold a firm grip on the North American scene and no other team can get even remotely close to them – with the notable exception of Team Liquid. In the Grand Finals of ESL One Cologne, we saw Liquid and Jake “Stewie2k” Yip lacking the tactical tools to bring EG down.

That should probably change soon. In Michael “Grim” Wince, they have found a star-player for their roster. So when can we see the two sides clash next? Unfortunately, their match-up in EPL is due for the last play-day. This means that we will have to wait until September 22. Obviously, this gives Stewie2k even more time to lay solid groundwork for his team. Tonight, we can see them lock horns with 100 Thieves first.