Evil Geniuses, fresh off their incredible playoff run in the VCT Americas 2023 split, will be at full strength at the Masters Tokyo event beginning next week after all indications were that they would be without their young, rising VALORANT star.
The team and its members confirmed today via Twitter that the young Jett sensation Max “Demon1” Mazanov, whose midseason move to the starting roster helped elevate the EG team to contender status, is on his way to Tokyo for the tournament.
The development comes as a surprise to VALORANT fans who have been waiting for the tournament to start since Demon1 had previously been very open about his inability to attend Masters Tokyo with his team. Just a couple of weeks ago, after EG qualified via a top-three finish in VCT Americas, Demon1 confirmed he wasn’t going to be able to attend. On stage, the young player couldn’t help but look disappointed even as his team punched their ticket to Tokyo.
The news is welcome to both EG and North American fans, though. Demon1 has been a vital part of the team’s stark improvement since the beginning of the season. After a 0-2 start, coach potter and EG subbed in Demon1 for BcJ and they went 4-3 the rest of the season, with Demon1 putting on some excellent performances.
Related: ‘We needed a bit of a change’: How EG turned around its 2023 VCT season
An MIBR upset win over 100T at the end of the season gave EG a lifeline and a spot in the Americas playoffs, and Demon1 capitalized on that opportunity with the match of his life, dropping 73 kills across three maps in a first-round win versus NRG that occurred less than a week after NRG confidently beat EG to close out the regular season. EG followed that win with a stunning rout against the breakout team of the year in Cloud9, fittingly defeating the team that beat them in the opening weekend.
VCT Masters Tokyo 2023 is set to kick off on June 10.
