Evil Geniuses finishes on a high in group A and also clinch a spot in the upper bracket of the playoffs with two victories at the end of the day
Game One
The first game of the series was an exhilarating one. Captain of Evil Geniuses ppd, opted to stay with a standard draft as they picked up strong cores which were Windranger for Sumail, Gyrocopter for Arteezy and a Slardar for Universe. To enhance the team fight potential ppd drafted a crystal maiden for himself and a Shadow Shaman for Fear. Fng of Virtus.Pro decided to go with offbeat cores like Dragon Knight for God, Vengeful Spirit for Illidan and a Dark Seer for DKphobos. Fng drafted an Ancient Apparation for himself and Winter Wyvern for Lil for global presence and a disable. Vengeful Spirit has not been the most successful core for Virtus.Pro in their prior attempts but still they decided to go on with it.
EG had a really great start to the game as they were able to get several early pick offs which helped them establish a strong lead with the gold and experience. Solid initiations from Saahil 'Universe'Arora's Slardar and Sumails Windranger helped them secure the mid game and seemed like Evil Geniuses were marching to victory. As the game progressed Virtus Pro were able to get a few good team fights where they were able to wipe out EG and slowly turn the game towards their favour. God on his Dragon Knight was farmed and was almost un-killable at a point of time. Lil on his Winter Wyvern provided the team with some amazing Winter’s curses which let the CIS giants take advantage. Virtus.Pro emerged successful at the end, taking game one and putting pressure on Evil Geniuses.
Game Two
Game two proceeded as both the teams opted to go for standard draft picks. Evil Geniuses picked up a Templar assassin for Sumail, Gyrocopter again for Arteezy and Universe played his signature Dark Seer. PPD also drafted the Winter Wyvern for himself and an Undying for Fear to create an AOE impact. Virtus.Pro went on to draft the deadly Huskar for Illidan, Ember Spirit for God and an Earthshaker for Dkphobos. To go in hand with the Huskar, Fng drafted a Dazzle for himself and a Tusk for Lil to enhance the team fight potential.
It was very vital for VP that Huskar has a good early game but on the contrary, Evil Geniuses were able to shutdown Illidan's Huskar leaving him with almost no farm in the early game while Sumail was able to stay on top of the networth posing to be a huge threat picking up items early. Although the Ember Spirit did get some space EG’s team fight potential, initiations and damage output was too much handle leading Virtus.Pro to calling out a GG and putting EG back into the race for upper bracket playoff spot
Game Three
Game three was decisive for both the teams and it meant a spot in the upper bracket of the playoffs. Virtus Pro this game during the drafts planned to go with a Lina for God while drafting a Weaver for Illidan to get a mix of both physical and magical damage output.Fng also drafted a Slardar for the offlane with Ancient Apparation and Earthshaker as supports. This game PPD Suprisingly opted for a mid Tiny for Arteezy while Sumail played the Timbersaw. Sumail played the timbersaw earlier against Fnatic where he had a dominating run. Universe played the offlane Tusk this game while Bane and Undying as the supports.
Just like the previous game, VP were able to find some early pick offs but they were unable to sustain the advantage. Universe on the Tusk had a great game as he was able to build an early mekansam for the team fights and kept getting pick offs. Sumail on the Timbersaw was literally on a roll and kept getting kills to add to his bloodstone charges which made him almost unkillable. Things looked really bleak for VP as they couldn’t get any kills after a point of time and were restricted to their base. VP succumbed to the pressure and called out the final GG.
With this Win EG will successfully end their group stage as the table toppers in Group A and clinch a spot in the upper bracket of the playoffs. This also goes to prove that they will be an extreme threat to the other teams in the tournament.
