Evil Geniuses are looking to bounce back after a misfortunate Summer Playoffs and Worlds.
Spring and Summer of 2022 were two very different stories for Evil Geniuses. They came into the year with a roster of star players mixed with young native talent. After a very middling regular season, they powered through the Spring Playoffs to win the first LCS Championship in the organization’s history. Summer, on the other hand, was the opposite. The trophy meant they were favorites in the Summer, and they played like it. But after some unfortunate circumstances with their young bot laner Kyle “Danny” Sakamaki, they fell off in the playoffs and only managed to secure a third-place finish.
Worlds didn’t go that well either. Even though they eliminated MAD Lions and got out of the Play-In stage, they only won one game in groups and exited with a 1-5 score. Worst of all, their CEO Nicole LaPointe Jameson announced Danny wouldn’t be returning in 2023, or in the foreseeable future, which meant they needed some changes. They also lost their Head of Coaching Staff Peter Dun, the architect behind their winning project. To replace him they signed Kelsey Moser who previously worked with 100 Thieves and helped them build their Academy teams. EG’s new head coach, Aleš “Freeze” Kněžínek, is also a former 100T member.
Clearing space for all the #LCS POTW awards we’re about to get.@Ssumday@Inspiredlol@jojopyunlol@VictorHuang@VulcanLoL@HPE | #EGWIN pic.twitter.com/k1jVxIrm8e
— Evil Geniuses (@EvilGeniuses) December 5, 2022
- Top laner: Kim “Ssumday” Chan-ho
- Jungler: Kacper “Inspired” Słoma
- Mid laner: Joseph Joon “jojopyun” Pyun
- Bot laner: Victor “FBI” Huang
- Support: Philippe “Vulcan” Laflamme
Trying to build upon a strong core
Losing Danny for the year is one thing, but also departing with Impact on top of that was a big hit for EG in this off-season. Thankfully, they have one of the strongest mid/jungle/support trios in the league, and they can build on that. Everyone already knows how good Inspired is. He is the leader of this team, even at times he isn’t the carry. From 1v3ing people on Vi to solo killing carries on Sejuani, the reigning MVP does everything on the map. If someone on the Evil Geniuses is fed in any game, it’s probably thanks to him. So keeping Inspired, despite some rumors indicating otherwise, was probably the biggest win of the season. Not to mention his synergy with Jojo.
Talking about the young prodigy of the Geniuses, many are expecting a big step up from Jojopyun in 2023. He had an amazing rookie year in which he won the LCS and got a lot of experience against international mids. We even saw him change his playstyle after the MSI, and adapt to a more roaming style. In 2023, he will have to keep up his map movements while also playing more carry champions, seeing Danny won’t be there for late-game fights.
But even without their Prince of Darkness, EG still got one of the best bot laners in the league. FBI didn’t have his best year in 2022, but I think that was due to huhi’s struggles in the enchanter meta. With a more in-form support in Vulcan, FBI will be back to his peak, which EG will definitely need seeing the bot lane competition in LCS. In any case, where Vulcan and FBI struggle to carry, they can always turn to their top laner. Another 100T acquisition, Ssumday started to play more and more carry champions in the last two years. From his amazing Aatrox games to multiple Tryndamere picks, the Korean top laner has been the best-performing player in his position. If this roster doesn’t experience any synergy problems, which they shouldn’t see they have the same core three players, they are one of the frontrunners for the LCS 2023 Spring trophy.
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