Beginning at the bottom of the bracket and charging through two back-to-back wins, Evil Geniuses looked set to secure an unlikely tournament victory after nearly 9 hours of competition - only for Team Empire to mount a comeback and secure the grand prize.
Beginning the day in the opening match of MLG Pro League's bubble race, Evil Geniuses knew they had a monster task on their hands. Losses to MVP Phoenix and Ninjas in Pyjamas in the group stage meant they had to defeat all three remaining opponents to claim victory. Both teams that had managed to defeat the Americans in the group stage stood in their way of reaching the grand final match against Team Empire.
Evil Geniuses were able to secure victories over both MVP Phoenix and Ninjas in Pyjamas to move into the grand final. Their opponents Team Empire had only lost once through the entire group stage and that was at the hands of Evil Geniuses and despite dropping the opening game - Team Empire managed to mount a comeback to deny a fairytale home victory for Evil Geniuses. Nearing 9 hours after Evil Geniuses first match against MVP Phoenix, Team Empire proved to be too much for their American challengers in the latter two games. Team Empire travel home with the $34,758 grand prize, while Evil Geniuses will have to settle for their second place prize of $21,724.
First on Evil Geniuses' hit list was MVP Phoenix who had a tough opening game against their American opponents. Despite claiming first blood the Koreans lost all three lanes before a bad fight on top lane enforced their disadvantage. They struggled to turn the game around were forced to call 'GG' before the 30 minute mark. They fought hard in their second game but Evil Geniuses were almost always ahead throughout the game. After 40 minutes MVP were able to break into their base and take down both Tier 4 towers, but a pair of Boots of Travel on Clinton 'Fear' Loomis' Lycan meant he could secure Mega Creeps for his team to effectively bring a slow end to the game. By the 52nd minute MVP Phoenix's ancient collapsed and Evil Geniuses moved into their second match of the day.
The constantly improving Swedish roster Ninjas in Pyjamas were Evil Geniuses' second opponent. A deathless game from Sumail 'Suma1L' Syed Hassan's Magnus meant Evil Geniuses were able to claim the opening game after 45 minutes of back and forth action. But Ninjas in Pyjamas fought back with some mid-game dominance from Linus 'Limmp' Blomdin's Puck meant the Swedes were almost able to force mega creeps on the Americans, but a 35 minute 'GG' ended the brutality to set up a deciding third game. Evil Geniuses came out fighting and drafted Suma1L's trademark Storm Spirit. A demolishing Queen of Pain performance in the safe lane against Jonas 'jonassomfan' Lindholm's Axe meant he crumbled in the offlane, and with little else going in NiP's favour Evil Geniuses claimed their second victim to reach the MLG Pro League grand final.
A fresh Team Empire were the next challenge for Evil Geniuses with a $13,034 difference between glory or second place. Any potential fatigue had to be ignored and it was Evil Geniuses that secured the opening game. Already being touted as the MVP of the tournament, Fear enforced another impressive performance - this time on Juggernaut. With 14 kills and 748 experience per minute and 764 gold per minute, Fear dominated the Russian team in their first game of the day. Team Empire were forced to 'GG' after 42 minutes of failing to turn the game in their favour. But they fought back to begin their comeback in an hour long siege on the American's base in the second game. The Juggernaut now in Ayrat 'Silent' Gaziev's hands and both him and Roman 'Resolut1on' Fominok's Sniper were able to claim 17 kills and only 3 deaths each before Evil Geniuses were forced to admit defeat and set up for the deciding game of the series.
During the break the Americans were starting to look like their eight hours of competing on the main stage was starting to take its toll and they were quick to draft Suma1L on his iconic Storm Spirit again, but this time came up against Team Empire's aggressive draft of Sniper, Razor and Queen of Pain. Both teams went blow for blow through the early game, but it was Team Empire that landed a great team fight to take a first set of barracks after only 26 minutes. With the advantage beginning to shift dramatically in Team Empire's favour, another lost team fight and second set of barracks meant Evil Geniuses were forced to 'GG' after only 33 minutes.
More content on GosuGamers
