Evil Geniuses dominated objective control and saw great performances from their solo laners in today’s LCS match against Counter Logic Gaming, securing their first 2-0 week of the 2020 League of Legends Spring Split.
With their backs moving closer to the wall as the season winds down, the team faced a winnable, but crucial game against the last-place CLG. EG’s top laner Colin “Kumo” Zhao decided it was the perfect time to debut the first Jayce game of the Split.
“It’s a comfort pick of mine,” Kumo told Dot Esports. “I’m confident in playing the weak side on Jayce, too, and scaling for the teamfights early game.”
And scale he did. After the first major teamfight of the match, he quickly found himself with four kills. He bought Boots of Swiftness to help move around the map and secure all four Drakes for his team, and because he “just wanted to go fast.”
Evil Geniuses look a lot more coordinated in today’s match and are playing better around mid laner Daniele “Jiizuke” di Mauro, who was very effective on Ekko. He told Gabriella “LeTigress” Devia-Allen in the post-match interview that he’s learning to take more calculated, lower-risk chances as he adjusts his characteristically wild playstyle.
Kumo has also made adjustments around communication this split. He said he’s been working on being more vocal and also credited ADC Bae “Bang” Jun-sik for stepping up and communicating with the team more, saying it really has a positive impact on the team’s performance.
The talent on the roster of Evil Geniuses is undeniable. Consistency has been the issue, and a wide variance of playstyles is one of the reasons that it’s been hard to achieve. Despite a hot-and-cold season, confidence remains high for the future, especially considering the individual talent.
“I think we’re good enough to be a top team right now,” Kumo said. “Our players are super insane. Bang is super insane. All of our players are super mechanically gifted…I think it just came with time.”
Evil Geniuses have Liquid and Dignitas on the docket next week, while CLG look to keep their slim playoff hopes alive against Dignitas and first-place Cloud9.
