EG Armao: “I don’t think we are a top-three team yet.”
Almost nobody expected Evil Geniuses to be at the top of the LCS after they dropped the majority of their roster during the offseason. But this new squad of underdogs turned a lot of heads once they came into the 2023 LCS Summer winning five out of their first six games and snatching up a playoff spot with two weeks still left to play.
But the EG train started to slow down in the last week or so. They are currently on a three-game losing streak, and a lot of voices in the community started to raise, calling Evil Geniuses “frauds” and claiming they aren’t actually a top team.
Armao on Evil Geniuses playstyle while losing
You had a tough game, it didn’t start the best and got snowballed pretty quickly. Can you tell me what happened?
“We messed up the communication between jungle and bot lane so we lost AD summs. We also lost the bot lane push early game so I couldn’t walk into the enemy jungle. Then I missed a recalled timing and we lost the river control and dragon. We also played the fight poorly around bot, we should’ve just hooked and bait, but our AD walked up and ended up dying. So basically I messed up twice and in general, we in jungle and bot lane messed up our coordination.”
Looking at your losses this split, EG tends to lose faster than other teams. Is this about your playstyle or about the players on the team?
“I think our way of playing to comeback is we always look to fight so we end up losing quickly. I think it’s kind of whatever. We sometimes make some game-losing mistakes, like today giving Kai’Sa a double kill. Our earlier mistakes lost us a dragon and some pressure, but then we messed up and took a fight we weren’t supposed to and got double killed. So, yeah, we just make some big mistakes I guess. And then when we are behind we always fight to come back. And if you keep doing that sometimes you’re going to lose real fast.”
Another playstyle question, at the start of the split you played more carry champions like Viego or even Nocturne, but recently you’ve been more on facilitators. Are these patch-related changes or is the team trying different styles?
“It’s just related to how the drafts go, not anything specific. Rell jungle, for example, is really strong and Maokai is always a strong pick as well. Viego can also fit into drafts too. It just depends on how the draft goes.”
EG as a top LCS team and Worlds 2023
I don’t know if you’ve been watching some of the recent interviews from other LCS players, like Spica on the Dive, but there has been a lot of talk about “EG frauds.” I’m assuming you don’t care too much about trash talk but what’s your perception of your own team right now?
“Yeah, I don’t really care. I would agree, don’t think we are a top-three team yet. We are middle to upper pack, I think that’s fair. We are a new team so we have so many coordination issues that other teams have probably already gone through we have to also do this in a short time, so we are in a down period right now. Then we just have to go through and become stronger. Most teams go through that, like GG last split. So I don’t really mind, I don’t think it’s unfair but I don’t think we are absolutely terrible or anything even though our losses are bad.”
You said coordination issues, is this something present from the start of the split? Because during your first couple of weeks, the team looked a lot more cohesive and played arguably better.
“I think we’re just inconsistent. Some games we play well, we generally play well from ahead which is something other [LCS] teams struggle with. Actual coordination in an even game and getting leads with different drafts, with some drafts we aren’t as confident on, we are working on these obviously. It’s just there is a lot to work on.”
You have some tough games remaining, but at least you guaranteed yourselves a playoff spot. So when looking toward postseason, what is the goal for EG right now? Is it a title run or maybe Worlds qualification?
“Definitely Worlds. Obviously, if you can win the split that’s great. But Worlds is the initial goal for any team that wants to set a placement goal. Going to Worlds is the basic goal unless you are a roster built to win LCS. For us, making Worlds is the initial goal.”
With the new qualification format this year 4th LCS seed will play the EU 4th seed, do you keep up with LEC that much?
“Not as much as LPL or LCK. I feel like teams’ standings change so much over [LEC], so don’t really remember who’s fourth there right now. Still, I watch a bit of EU, I think they are good. Nothing like LPL or LCK, obviously, they are more similar to NA—I think they are better than NA but we saw last year EG 3-0 MAD. So, matches between EU and NA can go either way at Worlds.”
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