The whole 2023 VCT season presented EG with challenges at every turn, with a lineup that was constantly changing and stories of disgruntled players circulating in the early going. The squad is one of the only franchised teams with a sizable bench, so much so that they have a full five-man reserve roster.
Follow Us
Today marked the end of the inaugural Riot Games-sponsored season of the VALORANT Champions Tour, with hometown favorites Evil Geniuses defeating a team of stubborn Paper Rex players to claim victory. A momentous triumph for North American esports as a whole was achieved by EG, who astounded everyone by rocketing through the VCT Americas standings and altering their team’s own course one game at a time.
In a fiercely contested rematch marked by chaos, extraordinary mechanical skill, and decisive teamwork, EG emerged victorious, taking home the $1,000,000 USD prize in the 2023 VCT Champions title by winning the match 3-1. If you need more information about how Evil Geniuses’ victory over the VCT Champions brings an end to their improbable rise from villains to champions, then read carefully, and don’t forget to share it with your friends.
In the post-game press conference, EG coach Christine “Potter” Chi said, “We’ve had a lot of fun this year, poking the fire and being villains,” emphasizing that if anyone remembers anything about this run, it will be the hard work and dedication she and the team have put in.
Read More Elon Musk unexpectedly joins the VALORANT Champions, but the crowd wasn’t happy about it
The whole 2023 VCT season presented EG with challenges at every turn, with a lineup that was constantly changing and stories of disgruntled players circulating in the early going. The squad is one of the only franchised teams with a sizable bench, so much so that they have a full five-man reserve roster.
In addition to receiving a poor public response, EG’s unconventional approach to the squad forced them to go on a significant losing streak while they continued to make adjustments to their lineup and playing style during the main VCT season. Max “Demon1” Mazanov, a prominent Jett player, was added, and everything looked to fall into place at the perfect time to save EG’s season.
EG entered Champions with fresh zest after their Cinderella run at Masters Tokyo. They were the clear-cut top seed in the Americas. The moniker of this year’s villain was promptly bestowed on EG, who embraced it with brash interviews and enthusiastic shouts on stage. However, EG had a disadvantage coming into the championship game. The squad was the lower seed, had just finished a best-of-five match against Brazil’s LOUD, and was also dependent on Paper Rex’s map selections. But Kelden “Boostio” Pupello didn’t seem to mind.
“I would rather play that best-of-five yesterday,” Boostio said when asked about coming off of the five-map series.”More impressions, more followers on Twitter, more playing the game in front of fans. It was really sick playing the game yesterday and it’s just been really fun.”
The last VCT series of 2023 kicked off on Split, a map that Paper Rex obviously picked to position them early for a series advantage. This tactic, however, failed. The star duelists Ilya “Something” Petrov and Wang “Jinggg” Jing Jie are placed onto Jett and Raze, respectively, by PRX’s distinctive aggressive tactic, which typically succeeds. However, EG had two powerful allies of their own on the other side.
Max “Demon1” Mazanov and Alexander “Jawgemo” Mor consistently destroyed their opponents throughout Split. Jawgemo even outperformed Jinggg, who is regarded as the finest Raze player in the world, as Demon1 ended the map with an astounding 41 percent headshot hit rate.
More unexpected than these individual performances was the teamwork that ultimately led to a reversal of the traditional storyline of Split, a map long regarded as the most challenging to attack in the game. However, with these two teams, their defensive sides were the real issue, and EG won 13-10 on offense.
The PRX team has a reputation for sluggish starts to games, but they frequently come back to reverse sweep their opponents, as they did in the VCT Pacific League championship game. The match was far from done, and EG maintained his attention. Corbin “C0M” Lee, one of the players that EG has relied on throughout the entire tournament, was the target of PRX’s attack on Ascent. In all of EG’s games over the past two weeks, C0M’s Sova performances have been a major factor, and some teams have even rearranged their strategies to focus on using the Russian initiator.
Get the latest from Sportslumo.com by following us on Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube
