Evil Geniuses Evil Geniuses North America Rank #21 Derrek Derrek Ha NaturE Nicholas Garrison supamen Phat Le have taken down EDward Gaming EDward Gaming China Rank #1 S1Mon Hsien Meng-Hsun (谢孟勋) ZmjjKK Zheng Yongkang (郑永康) nobody Wang Senxu (王森旭) CHICHOO Wan Shunzhi (万顺治) Smoggy Zhang Zhao (张钊) in three maps to advance in the playoffs stage of Champions 2023. EG will move on to face DRX DRX Korea Rank #4 Flashback Cho Min-hyuk (조민혁) MaKo Kim Myeong-gwan (김명관) Athan Na Ha-jun (나하준) freeing No Ha-jun (노하준) HYUNMIN Song Hyun-min (송현민) in the upper bracket semifinals, while EDG will play Bilibili Gaming Bilibili Gaming China Rank #4 B3ar Yang Zhanxiong (杨瞻雄) whzy Wang Haozhe (王昊哲) Levius Lu Yinzhong (卢胤中) rushia Wang Xiaojie (王晓杰) nephh Marcus Tan Knight Liu Yuxiang (刘宇翔) in the lower bracket.

The opening map was intense, as EG made a comeback from down 8-1 to force overtime before falling in the first two extra rounds. Evil Geniuses proved their prowess over the next two maps, allowing just 10 total rounds to the Chinese squad.

Both teams had put forth a bit of trash talk coming into the event, most notably Boostio announcing that “China will never be better than NA.”

EDG's Chinese counterpart Billibilli Gaming had already disputed the Evil Geniuses' IGL's statement, beating North American titan NRG in not just one, but two matches to qualify for playoffs.

Boostio celebrates on stage Boostio and EG backed up their talk on the stage. (Photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games)

“My opinions haven't changed,” Boostio said post-match. “They are the best Chinese team, but I was pretty disappointed with them and ZmjjKK .”

Demon1 's 67 kills plus 55 more kills from Ethan spearheaded the firepower from Evil Geniuses. Smoggy was the only player from EDG to not go negative across the series. ZmjjKK struggled on the entry, with a -11 differential in first duels.

The first map of Split saw a sharp turn for Evil Geniuses' agent composition, putting Boostio on Chamber and Demon1 on Astra, the latter's first time ever playing the controller for EG.

The map started off disastrously for EG, losing the first seven rounds in convincing fashion, and accumulating just nine total kills in the process. The North American squad would wake up off the back of a few impressive individual displays to salvage the half at 8-4.

The moment that woke EG up in the series.

Evil Geniuses looked much more comfortable on their attack, winning a bonus of their own and consistently finding holes in the EDG setups. EG converted clutch after clutch, including a remarkable 2v5 at the hands of Demon1 and Ethan. EDG eventually relinquished the lead, facing a 12-10 deficit.

After the Chinese side brought out the Judge to help collect the last two rounds of regulation, the thrilling first map would be decided in overtime. A nice post plant setup from EDG in the first overtime round set up Smoggy to clinch the first game of the series with a resounding 4K.

Smoggy flexed between Jett, KAY/O, and Killjoy, all while leading EDG in kills.

Split was defined by the failed retakes and clutches for both sides. Multiple 2vX and 1vX situations were converted for each team, but the statistic of zero defuses total in the game represents the difficulty in retaking for each teams' defensive sides.

Map two brought the teams to Ascent, where Demon1 and Ethan would not allow Evil Geniuses to be swept. Although EDG jumped out to a 4-1 lead on the disadvantageous attack side, EG would answer with seven straight rounds to rival the Chinese team's own streak in map one.

The dominance continued after a beautiful Demon1 ace gave Evil Geniuses the second half pistol. EDG would not put up a fight, as EG won 12 of the last 13 rounds on the map to take the series to game three.

This is the Demon1 we saw pre-Tokyo.

Demon1 went 5-0 in first duels, also topping the lobby with 22 kills and 232 ADR. Ethan contributed great utility on KAY/O and 18 kills of his own. Both players finished with a 1.60 rating, and combined had 12 of the 18 multikill rounds for the Evil Geniuses side.

The third and final map brought the best of China and the Americas to Pearl, where Ethan brought even more intrigue with a surprising Yoru pick. Evil Geniuses finally found their footing at the start of a map after multiple thrifty wins, establishing a 6-2 lead on defense.

“We've been prepping the Yoru for a long time,” Boostio said post-match. “We wanted to save it for a match like this in the playoffs and really surprise.”

There would not be much for EDG to work with, as the oppressive Operator from Demon1 came out and the suffocating Yoru plays from Ethan caused confusion on both sides for ZmjjKK and company. Ultimately, EDward Gaming wilted, falling down to the lower bracket by a 13-5 scoreline on the final map.

EDG's run is not over, as they drop down to play their Chinese compatriots to stay alive at Champions. In their four matchups this season, EDG has taken every series.

“We've handled them domestically, but because we're at Champions we're going to need to get very serious,” EDG coach AfteR said post-match about the matchup.

Evil Geniuses will face DRX in the upper bracket semifinals, a rematch from the group stage where EG took out the Korean team in 2-0 fashion.

“We are gonna destroy DRX, I'm almost positive,” Boostio said post-match. “FNATIC and LOUD are the only teams we're worried about.”