BUSAN, SOUTH KOREA – MAY 11: Kyle “Danny” Sakamaki of Evil Geniuses reacts at the League of Legends – Mid-Season Invitational Groups Stage on May 11, 2022 in Busan, South Korea. (Photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games)
2022 MSI Day 2: Evil Geniuses vs Order
Well, that was a game of League of Legends… Throws and counter-throws galore as both EU and NA struggled to close out a game from an advantageous position as the Korean crowd looked on in amusement – like watching two monkeys fight each other at the zoo.
G2’s early to mid game was exquisite to watch, with Targamas finding First Blood onto Danny and then roaming around the map with Jankos to secure map wide picks. Similar to their Ornn priority in the lower bracket run, G2 seem to have figured something out with the double Umbral Glaive strat, prioritizing Graves early and then pairing it up with a Pyke to blackout enemy vision in the mid game. You would think this would help them accelerate the early game into securing Baron vision for mid game transitions, and while it did, G2 threw massively by not fully committing on the purple worm, allowing EG back into the game.
However, EG was not decisive enough, with both Jojopyun and Danny missing crucial skillshots during the siege that could have chunked G2 out much more. I was quite disappointed with both of the NA rookies; they seemed very pressured and could not execute their champions to their usual standard in order to capitalize off the bone that G2 threw at them. G2’s hard engage Camille/Galio comp eventually found its footing against all the poke and they fought their way out of a sticky situation.
BUSAN, SOUTH KOREA – MAY 11: Teams Evil Geniuses and G2 Esports greet onstage after their match at the League of Legends – Mid-Season Invitational Groups Stage on May 11, 2022 in Busan, South Korea. (Photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games)
2022 MSI Day 2: Evil Geniuses vs Order
Evil Geniuses finally found their first win at MSI with a slow and deliberate win over Oceania’s Order. The triple ban against Kevy relegated him to the Graves, while Jojo was able to carry alongside Vulcan’s Leona with the Ahri that was left up for him. It seems that Order disrespected the EG mid laner’s champion pool, leaving open a champion that has been banned out in pretty much every single game otherwise. However, Danny continues to struggle on the international stage, not quite having the same impact that he had back home. The rest of the team looks to be solid and is spinning on all cylinders against the OCE champions. If they can keep up this level of play versus Order throughout the group stage, they can definitely make it to the Rumble Stage. Now all they have to do is figure out how not to int early kills bot whilst also being able to keep up with G2’s map movements…
