Team Dignitas vs Evil Geniuses

To start things off, we have a rather underwhelming clash between Evil Geniuses and Team Dignitas. On paper, there's really no good reason to tune in as we're bound to see a fairly one-sided shellacking. Well, if Evil Geniuses play as well as everyone expects them to, basically.

There's not a lot at stake here, at least not for Dignitas. They've had that one surprising surge which resulted in a couple of unexpected wins, but for some odd reason that still baffles the minds of many, Dignitas decided to sub Lourlo out in favor of V1per. Now, the former LCS Rookie of the Split has had an abysmal year in every sense of the word. That might sound like an overly harsh way to describe it, but it is by no means incorrect. V1per has been detrimental to both FlyQuest back in Spring and has looked equally bad (if not even worse) ever since he signed for Dignitas. Why, then, they decided to bring him back in is anyone's guess at this point. He obviously couldn't have improved in two weeks' time, and as expected, his level of play was -- at best -- staggeringly mediocre if not dreadful. Furthermore, Dignitas as a whole regressed beyond reason. Once their resurgence started, they were stringing wins through stellar macro and clean play across the board. They were aggressive, and had the mechanics to back any crazy play. Then it all disappeared seemingly overnight.

Their loss against Team SoloMid yesterday was painful to watch as they basically bled out for thirty minutes, made no proactive play whatsoever, and then stood by watching their Nexus explode. It was an embarrassing performance that made them look like a bunch of scrubs, rather than well-established and seasoned LCS veterans. Still, with Aphromoo and Johnsun playing out of their minds, Dignitas should not be underestimated. They are by no means favored to do much in the grand scheme of things, but at least they can play the role of a dangerous dark horse (at times) and take someone down with them.

Evil Geniuses, on the other hand, have decided to stick with Goldenglue and Huni. It's a surprising decision, that's for sure, but it is by no means an illogical one. They had a test run, they took down Cloud9 fair and square, and have earned their spot on the starting line-up. The team as a whole is reinvigorated and they're much more cohesive as a unit. Huni's shotcalling and Goldenglue's consistency have given this team a stable footing -- something that was severely lacking with Jiizuke on board. The "Italian stallion" obviously had higher highs, but his high variance style of play often left Evil Geniuses far too vulnerable. They need every win they can get, so expect EG to be on their best behavior. A win over Dignitas is not only expected, but also an absolute must if they want to lock down a spot in the playoffs and make their 2020 season count.

Fortunately, they're favored with good reason. They're better across the board and should have no problem in taking Dignitas down. They are by no means a consistent, competitive behemoth, but with such a stacked line-up and multiple in-game shotcallers, they *should* find a way to win regardless of how well Dignitas might start off.