Evil Geniuses
2020-04-04 20:10:00
FlyQuest

Evil Geniuses vs FlyQuest

2020-04-04 19:49:25Posted by Petar

FlyQuest vs. Evil Geniuses

The North American LCS playoffs are about to begin! We've already seen two spectacular Best of 5s over in Europe, and if the LCS ones end up being even remotely as entertaining, we should be in for one heck of a ride.

To open things up, we have a fairly fascinating clash between Evil Geniuses and FlyQuest. Coming into 2020, no one was quite sure whether or not we'd see these two challengers in the playoffs. The potential was certainly there, but seeing how the region upgraded as a whole, there were no guarantees, especially not for Evil Geniuses who had to build synergy from the ground-up.

Once the season began, these two teams found themselves on opposite ends of the spectrum. FlyQuest, for one, dominated beyond measure. The inclusion of PowerOfEvil and IgNar (two players who made their names in the LEC) completely elevated this team to new-found heights. With a brand-new mid laner and support (who already had pre-built synergy), FlyQuest started taking teams down left and right. And it's not just the fact that they won more often than not but rather that they looked downright spectacular in the process.

They were far more aggressive and dominant than anyone could've anticipated. Such a resurgence was only possible because they all gelled as a five-man unit -- PoE and IgNar were the missing piece of the puzzle and they carried a good chunk of that patented FlyQuest DNA: constant aggression and a love for chaotic skirmishing regardless of the state of the game.

Watching them play was an absolute pleasure and for a good chunk of the regular season, they stood shoulder to shoulder with Cloud9. As time went on, however, other teams started to adapt. They grew, they evolved, and they started developing a better understanding of both the meta and everyone else who was competing in the region. FlyQuest -- much like in their inaugural 2018 run -- didn't have a backup plan. They're not exactly one-dimensional, but they're not the most flexible team around either. When they win, that's always through one or two similar strategies and avenues. When it works they look great, but against the very best (and most capable) teams in the region, that simply isn't enough.

As a result, their regular season run worsened as time went on. Over the last couple of weeks, they've lost to Evil Geniuses, Team SoloMid, 100 Thieves (twice), and Golden Guardians. They've only managed to pick up wins against Immortals and Team Liquid which doesn't sound that bad until you remember that we're talking about the eighth and ninth teams in the region.

So if you're FlyQuest, you're pretty much entering the playoffs without any semblance of hype or momentum. Perhaps that's even an understatement. They've already lost to each and every team they could potentially face in the playoffs, and they didn't look even remotely good over the last couple of weeks.

They're not bad per se, but there are many severe issues and holes in their style of play, and frankly, they haven't improved one bit because we're talking about their inherent identity -- that's not something you can change on a whim, regardless if you want to or not. They even tried to switch things up a bit by replacing V1per with Solo (known for his Echo Fox stint), hoping it would change things to a noticeable degree. In actuality, however, it changed very, very little. FlyQuest are still the exact same team as before, although it's important to note that Solo is known for being able to play the weak side of the map to great success without getting any resources or jungle attention, especially if you give him at least some priority in the draft.

All of this paints a very obvious picture: they're good, they're dangerous, but nowhere near as capable to actually fight (let alone earn) a spot higher up the standings.

Evil Geniuses, on the other hand, had a completely different trajectory from start to finish. Even though they had multiple spectacular players within their roster, they just didn't look good. It seemed as though each player had an entirely different idea on how the game should be played. They all engaged on their own terms, their target selection was horrendous, and their teamfighting was as abysmal as possible. You could still notice glimpses of their potential but these short instances, these flashes of brilliance were too few and far between.

For a brief moment in time, they were ranked near the very bottom of the standings. Evil Geniuses had a gargantuan challenge in front of them: syncing up and getting on the same page. It might sound simple, but when you have five players with five distinct playstyles, then things become a lot more complicated. Even players like Svenskeren and Jiizuke, two inherently dominant and aggressive playmakers couldn't synergize and actually play in sync.

But something changed, however, and fortunately it was a change for the better. Once the halfway point of the split came around, Evil Geniuses started stringing win after win, they began playing as a unit, rather than like a bunch of solo queue randoms. They've won seven out of their last eight games and their only loss came at the hands of Cloud9 -- a loss that is, all things considered, fairly justified given Cloud9's current strength and potential.

Some are even arguing that EG are the second best team in the region right now, and while that does seem like a stretch, it's far from being unrealistic. In fact, they're in sole possession of second place in the standings and they've already beaten everyone below them. But it *feels* strange because it wasn't that long ago that they were struggling to make even the most basic plays and in-game calls without error.

Everyone on the team, however, stepped up big time. This is especially true for the "Italian Stallion" Jiizuke who's been dominating beyond measure over the last couple of weeks. The Team Vitality alumni has been getting away with murder whenever he got his hands on a comfort pick like LeBlanc or Ryze and the sheer amount of pressure he's been outputting in the mid lane is downright astounding. He's also not the kind of player who'll keep that lead for himself, but will instead snowball his side lanes whenever possible. Everyone has been carrying their fair share of the weight and they also have a fantastic read on the meta. They know what they're good at and they're drafting to their strengths, much like a top-tier team should be doing.

In the end, we simply have to side with Evil Geniuses on this one. They're far from perfect and they have huge holes in their game, but they're also more consistent, mechanically sound, and aggressive than FlyQuest. They're the favorites tonight and with good reason. Expect a chaotic, skirmish-heavy Best of 5 that could, potentially, go the distance. EG, however, should have the edge from start to finish.

GamePickBookmakerOddsStakeResult
Evil Geniuses Betway 1.45 9 Win

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