They will face Team Liquid in the battle for a Legends Spot at IEM Rio.
After the disaster that was Stewie2k's EG, the legendary organization has bounced back. Going 3-0 in the Americas RMR, Evil Geniuses have guaranteed a spot at IEM Rio. This will be the team's return to Majors after they failed to make it into PGL Antwerp.
And what better team to play against for that major spot than 9z? The South American squad had been the ones to eliminate EG from Major contention at Romania, albeit with a different roster. This time around however the two teams met in the 2-0 game rather than the 8th-place decider.
EG Start the Series with Dominance
The game kicked off on Overpass with Evil Geniuses winning the pistol round before 9z answered in the first gun round. But before 9z could gain a foothold, a triple kill from HexT swung the momentum back in the favor of EG. They raced ahead to a 10-1 lead eventually closing the half at 13-2 with Brehze and HexT dominating the 9z defence.
Autimatic was the hero of the pistol round, putting EG up to match point. Despite taking a couple of round losses to gain control of the economy, the North American side closed the map out 16-5.
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9z make it competitive with a Dust2 Win
Just one map away from IEM Rio, Dust2 began with another early start for Evil Geniuses. Again 9z had a strong reply, but this time, the South American team kept their balance and raced ahead to an 8-round win streak in their favour. Dominating the first half, 9z ended up in the lead 12-3. Evil Geniuses quickly found themselves 15-5 down. Despite the nearly insurmountable odds, they gave a good account of themselves. The map however went the way of 9z 16-11.
Evil Geniuses hold on to lock in a spot at IEM Rio
The Great Equalizer, Mirage was the decider. The boys in blue took an early lead building to a 5-3 start. 9z's individuals pulled together a few rounds, but EG's T side was nearly unstoppable. The NA side eventually closed the half 10-5. But 9z started their comeback attempts early, reaching almost neck and neck with EG at 12-11. This time it was HexT stepping up to put Evil Geniuses in the driver's seat. The team wasted no time and shut the game down 16-13, locking in a spot at IEM Rio.
Evil Geniuses will now be facing off against Team Liquid for a chance at a Legends Spot at the upcoming IEM Rio Major. For HexT this will be his first-ever major, while for neaLaN and Autimatic will be making the trek back for the first time since Starladder Berlin and IEM Katowice 2019, respectively. Stay tuned to esports.gg for the latest CS: GO news and updates.
