Evil Geniuses vs Team SoloMid

For our second match of the day we have a rather fascinating match-up between the perennial North American giants Team SoloMid, and a team that's insanely hard to read at the moment Evil Geniuses. Coming into the split, you could argue that this was supposed to be a premier match-up, a clash of two seemingly equal, mechanically gifted titans.

Right now, however, there's not much hype behind either challenger. Team SoloMid are entering the second week of play with a 0W-2L record after losing to both Immortals and Team Liquid. The second loss was forgivable, perhaps even expected, but the first one, the sixty minute slugfest which was devoid of any top-tier play and intelligent macro, isn't nearly as easy to write off. Their first two outings were confusing and also abysmal. Their team cohesion and decision making was all over the place, and they lacked impetus and momentum whenever they went for a play. It was the Team SoloMid of old, really. They're strong, there's no doubt about it, but they're still bafflingly out of sync and are still rough around the edges. The fact that they had the biggest gold lead at the ten minute mark (~1.5k) only further proves the fact. They start off strong and attain a lead on an individual level, after which they simply fall apart as a five-man unit.

They struggle to transition from one part of the game to another, and there's not much cohesion to talk about either. But individually? They're about as strong as expected. Five insanely talented individuals, all behemoths and experienced veterans of the game. They're going to start dominating, there's no doubt about it, it's just impossible to know whether that'll happen now, or in a couple of weeks' time.

Opposite them, we have Evil Geniuses. They share a good chunk of Team SoloMid's narrative, frankly, and there's no evident reason as to why that's the case. They're all so insanely talented on an individual level, but they just haven't been able to "click" in the right way and play their own game. There's also a very concrete identity -- an aggressive, bravado-fuelled style of play -- that's being formed at the moment, but they're struggling far more than they should, given the amount of talent they have within their ranks.

There's really no huge weakness or kink in their armor, no obvious weak link, and yet from the moment they spawn on the Rift they're scattered across the board. Their latest loss comes against the Golden Guardians. No, that wasn't a typo -- they really did lose to a team many deemed as the absolute worst in the region. And it wasn't a good showing either. It could have gone either way in the end, but the fact that they struggled so much to mount an offensive is baffling. Their draft was also perplexing, to say the least. To go for a Sona and Tahm Kench bottom lane duo in a meta dominated by Senna and Aphelios is beyond all good logic and reason. To put Bang, the former two-time World Champion on Sona duty -- in a meta that doesn't favor Sona -- is even more reason to get worried.

In the end, bad judgement, bad play, and inexistent team cohesion cost them the game. As a result, after a couple of stellar high-profile signings during the off-season, they've had as underwhelming of a start as they could. Not all is grim, though, as they certainly have all the right tools to get back on track and string a couple of wins.

This means we have two underperforming, out of sync teams. Predicting the outcome, therefore, is next to impossible. Anything can happen, and the game can truly go either way. We'll have to side with Team SoloMid on this one, however, as they possess much more experience and have already been through thick and thin over the years. Bjergsen was supposedly ill last week which affected his play, and the rest of the squad also displayed quite a fair bit of potential even in their defeat to Team Liquid.

They're also known for rebounding in quick fashion after starting off slow, so we can expect to see a much more aggressive, proactive, and in sync Team SoloMid this time around.