EG BcJ: “We’ve worked so hard to be here. Today you’ve seen a little bit of that spark. But you will see more of it in this tournament”

Coming into VCT LOCK//IN 2023, most fans did not have Evil Geniuses at the top of their rankings. But a dominant 2-0 against Team Heretics has upset quite a few PIck ‘Ems while also putting EG on the teams’ radar.

A very visible force behind the players is Potter. She’s been a player herself, she’s worked as a talent and now she’s a coach helping EG. 

"I think last year after our amazing run, a lot of people had questions. For me, it was very clear. Our team made a lot of really good strides and good progress. So coming into this year, we needed confidence, we needed experience, and we needed a little bit of an ego. And that's exactly what Brendan and Ethan bring to the table."

The roster changes and the hard work have enabled the team to make small but consistent strides, building toward victory.

"[Brendan and Ethan] absolutely elevated us to whole new levels. And each day, we've been gaining confidence and really just believing in each other and the squad so it's been great. Each day has been a progress, a lot of progress. So it's been exciting for the team."

The players were brimming with confidence after their 2-0 showing versus Team Heretics. During the press conference, Brendan "BcJ" Jensen touched upon how each EG player’s journey and passion for the game help elevate them to new heights.

There are ten Americas Partner teams at VCT LOCK//IN Sao Paolo. Evil Geniuses has a ten-man roster and it was only recently revealed what their starting roster will be. While Evil Geniuses did not make any substitutions in this series, and they most likely will not make any in this tournament, they have options.

The VCT LOCK//IN lineup has all the makings of a super team with young talent and experienced players (and the coach). EG BcJ spoke about the team’s passion and enthusiasm for the game.

"If I could drop this mic, I would. Okay, first of all, they [critics] hate us because they ain't us. Okay. Secondly, this team has so much drive and passion for this game. All they do outside of practice is play this game. I watched Josh stay up till 2 am. When he's home after practice streaming at ridiculous hours and then comes to the practice room the next morning at 10 am. To get back on that grind set. All of us have so many unique stories of how we got to this point. And I don't care about any media. You can't take that away from these guys. We've worked so hard to be here. And obviously today you've seen a little bit of that spark. But you will see more of it in this tournament."

The Heretics - Evil Geniuses series started off as a very competitive one. The first half of Map 1 saw both teams go toe to toe with a 6-6 score at the end. Heretics Keloqz, in particular, was very impressive with 20 kills in the first half itself. But as the teams switched sides, Keloqz and Heretics in general did not have the same level of performance. Keloqz, in contrast to this first-half performance, only managed two more kills. 

“Nothing changed from when we first went into the match,” the team’s IGL, Kelden "Boostio" Pupello said confidently. “We have a set game plan that we're always going to stick to. And as long as we do that, I think we can be any team in the world and we can be the best team in the world. So even if he was dropping 20 In the first half, we went into that second half, extremely confident. We knew we were going to own them in the second half. But the other half, we knew we were going out and it didn't matter. It did not faze us.”

Evil Geniuses will now face the winner of TALON esports vs MIBR. With the event taking place in Sao Paolo MIBR has the home crowd advantage, one that will undoubtedly be behind Bzka and co. When asked who they wish to face next in the tournament, the reply was quick.

“You know what, we want to face off MIBR to get the best crowd we can get. And the very next match, we want to face an NA team because we want to face them on LAN on the big stage. And you know, everyone is ranking us number five. So let's just see.”

When asked which NA team they would like to go up against, Alexander "jawgemo" Mor picked Cloud9.

“I have been watching all these people play. I've been waiting for a long time for this one. But I want to rematch Cloud 9 on stage. Simple as that,” jawgemo chimed in.

Evil Geniuses will face the winner of MIBR and Talon in their next match. You can stay updated with the event on our VCT LOCK//IN results page.

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