Evil Geniuses came out of the offseason with a divisive roster that had analysts divided. While their team are frontrunners to take the tournament alongside 100T and Team Liquid, the addition of mid laner Jojopyun and returning sophomore ADC Danny has left some questions unanswered. EG had the opportunity to pick up Jensen and Doublelift as starters alongside top laner Impact, jungler Inspired and Vulcan support. Peter Dun, head coach of EG, has made it clear on podcasts and social media that the org believes in promoting young talent and passed on picking up two superstars in favor of blooming talent. We’ll have to see how they look, but initial rumors circulating the team indicate that they’re in good shape for the tournament. More importantly, their entire roster has had a chance to scrim together, making them possibly one of the scariest opponents in the tournament.
The first real challenge for this Liquid squad comes in the form of Evil Geniuses; both rosters have world-class talent who look poised to dominate the LCS. Our analysts predict EG to edge out TL this time around, given the shape TL will be in during the first week of lock-in. We’ve heard reports that Team Liquid hasn’t had too much time to practice ahead of the tournament, which may lead to communication problems in-game. The matchups should also favor EG’s topside, with Impact and Inspired at the top of their game. Bwipo’s recent role swap back to top and Santorin’s subpar play due to health issues last year wouldn’t be a problem against the likes of DIG, but seem like clear weaknesses against a top team like EG.
One area we believe TL to have the upperhand is in bot lane, where the split duo of Hans and CoreJJ are aggressive laners who abuse every inch you give them. Danny had an impressive year as a rookie, but suffered laning issues throughout. In his last series against C9, Danny played well on Tristana, with an average of 70%KP, but struggled greatly on other picks such as Jhin and Aphelios. Without the Trsitana crutch, we’re curious to see how he looks.
Prediction: Overall, there are too many question marks on TL’s side for us to give them a win here. We expect this superstar team to get better as the tournament goes on, but we’ll have to wait and see what their base level looks like. I’m taking Evil Geniuses this game.