ORDER vs Evil Geniuses

What a fascinating match-up. On the one hand, we have the North American champions, eager as ever to leave a mark and upend the status quo. On the other, a flawed but feisty challenger from the OCE. The odds tell you all you need to know when it comes to the presumed disparity in talent and ability between these two teams. They're worlds apart, and it's easy to understand why.

That, however, wasn't quite as visible in their day one performances. Evil Geniuses were annihilated by the LEC champions, whereas ORDER actually put up one heck of a fight (in spite of the odds and the fact that no one gave them much of a chance). This one, therefore, is totally up in the air. Evil Geniuses are obviously the better team, but they've yet to fully acclimate to the MSI stage. And, well, they have a lot of pressure on their shoulders as well, which is the opposite of the situation in which ORDER find themselves in. No one expects them to win. No one thinks they have it in them, which means they can compete and trade blows without fear and hesitation. They're still not favored for a reason, but they're not to be trifled with nonetheless — they successfully traded blows with G2 and for that they've earned not only our benefit of the doubt but our respect as well.

Evil Geniuses have yet to get a win on the board. We wouldn't necessarily say that they're struggling, but they *have* met their match in G2 and are not equipped and capable enough to win. This means that, for them to advance further into the tournament, beating ORDER will be of the utmost importance. How will they handle this pressure? Will they perform now when things have gotten down to the wire or, conversely, implode and crumble underneath such a burden? Both scenarios are wholly plausible, but we're confident they'll be able to meet the challenge.

Betting on Evil Geniuses seems like quite a double-edged sword, what with them being winless and the meta pushing them off their most crucial comfort picks. Still, they're fairly seasoned and have more than enough experience under their belts to correct course and leave some kind of a mark.