Team Liquid vs Evil Geniuses

Next up, we gave yet another spectacular clash between two exceptional North American teams: Team Liquid and Evil Geniuses! They are, without a shadow of a doubt, some of the best and most capable challengers currently competing in the LCS. Heck, if their play from the first-ever Lock-In tournament was any indication, Team Liquid can rightfully be considered as the frontrunners to win the whole split — they're *that* good. But their immense talent and long-term potential weren't all that visible over the last two weeks, and it's hard to understand why.

Something changed over in the TL camp, and it's pretty much imperceptible at this point in time. The meta hasn't shifted all that much, and even though other teams improved leaps and bounds, they're still nowhere near as good or capable as this five-man Team Liquid line-up — neither individually nor as a five-man unit. Some, like Cloud9 and 100 Thieves might be slightly better right this moment, but they don't have nearly as high a skill ceiling as the four-time LCS champions. Of that we're all aware. Still, none of that matters if TL can't put their best foot forward and deliver on a consistent basis against the best teams in the LCS. They're 1W-2L in their last three games, with their losses coming by way of 100 Thieves and Team SoloMid. Now, losing to two such competitors is by no means the be-all and end-all, but it is a sign of the current status quo: Team Liquid is arguably outside of the Top 3, despite having the most potential out of all competing teams. And sure, they're bound to bounce back and once again reach the very top (i.e. first place) but *when* that'll happen still remains to be seen. They have all the right tools and weapons to win no matter whom they're up against, but for one reason or another, they've been fumbling a bit more than anyone expected.

By the same token, Evil Geniuses have looked about as inconsistent as the former LCS champions — but they were always a volatile bunch, so their coin-flip nature isn't nearly as surprising. Simply put, their level of play fluctuates on a weekly basis. One day they spawn on the Rift and outclass their opponents with staggering ease. Another they'll make egregious mistake after egregious mistake and eventually just get rolled over. There's very little rhyme or reason behind what's going on, but it's fair to say that certain members — Jiizuke and Svenskeren, in particular — haven't been nearly as dominant as they were back in January. The same can be said for Impact who, after blowing everyone's minds a couple of weeks ago, has slowed down considerably. He's not bad by any stretch of the imagination, but he's not dominant either. And, you can never be too sure when it's Evil Geniuses we're talking about. Most of us expected them to enter 2021 on a much more volatile note which didn't happen — until now. With EG, you're always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Whenever they're great, it's almost guaranteed that they'll implode at some seemingly random moment. And no one likes to see it, but that's what happens when you have players like Sven and Jiizuke. They're amazing up until they're not — and there's no telling when this duality will kick in. Right now, they're somewhere in between, although one could argue that they're gravitating towards the negative end of the spectrum.

In the end, we simply have to side with Team Liquid on this one. They know very well whom they're up against and what they need to do to get the win. That doesn't mean they'll succeed or that they'll have an easy time, but if they play to their strengths, give Alphari a bit of agency in the draft, and get Santorin on a pick with which he can influence the map early on, they shouldn't have too much trouble in taking Evil Geniuses down. Either way, we should be in for an absolute barnburner!