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EPL NA: Evil Geniuses Claim 1st Place Following Chaos Upset

The stars aligned for Evil Geniuses, as they were able to set themselves on top of Team Liquid, while... Fabio | 23. September 2020

The stars aligned for Evil Geniuses, as they were able to set themselves on top of Team Liquid, while Chaos also won over FURIA. This means that EG have secured first place after the last play-day of ESL Pro League NA.

For 100 Thieves, it was absolutely critical to win against Triumph. In theory, Chaos and Gen.G could still throw them off of their fourth place and thus out of the playoffs. On the first map, they struggled to get into their game. After a string of successful rounds, however, they got the 8-7 at halftime. With their Inferno T side, they finally got into the groove and quickly secured their 16-8 map win. With a 9-6 lead on Dust2, it looked as though they would close this match out fairly soon. But as Triumph mounted a comeback, the underdogs came incredibly close to victory themselves. 100 Thieves eventually got the map on a 16-14 scoreline, securing their fourth place in the regular EPL season.

With 16-9 and 16-12, Eveil Geniuses quickly overtook Team Liquid. Their hopes for a first place finish rested entirely on FURIA screwing up against Chaos. Looking at the Brazilians’ performance throughout the season, this seemed to be highly unlikely.

But it wouldn’t have been the first time that Chaos claimed a surprise victory over a Brazilian team. Just think back to their match against MIBR, where Chaos pulled through with the upset and leaf played so ridiculously good that even Gabriel “Fallen” Toledo and Tarik “tarik” Celik came out with the cheating accusations.

THE GREATEST UPSET OF THE LEAGUE

After the 100 Thieves victory, it was plainly impossible for Chaos to still make playoffs in this season. Nonetheless they wanted to end their run on a high note. On Nuke, however, they didn’t stand a chance. The FURIA players were too well-tuned and easily secured a 16-8 victory. For the Brazilians, it seemed as though they would get another quick victory and the first place of EPL NA Season 12.

But on their Inferno T side, Chaos got a surprise 8-2 lead. FURIA took over afterwards, won the remaining rounds for a 9-6 half, and also carried their momentum over to the second pistol round. But that was all they could muster. The CT side of Chaos held strong as leaf secured 25 kills and a 1.70 rating. The map went in favor of Chaos on a 16-10 scoreline and suddenly, FURIA didn’t seem all that dominant anymore.

There are simply no words to describe what happened next on Overpass. Surely, the Brazilians must have tilted at some points – we can’t make sense of this map any other way. Chaos got up to a 12-3 lead and secred the last remaining rounds for a 16-3 victory. Jonathan “Jonji” Carey and leaf each got over 20 kills, while Yuri “yuurih” Santos exited the match with just 8 kills to his name.

Unfortunately, this hasn’t helped Chaos in the slighest. They’re tied for points with 100 Thieves, but have previously lost their match against them. As ties are broken by a head-to-head comparison, 100T unfortunately pull through in this instance. Evil Geniuses are actually the ones who profit most. With this upset, they secure first place and have to go up against an angry and tilted FURIA in the playoffs.

The playoffs actually commence tomorrow already. FURIA and EG play for a direct ticket to the Grand Finals (with a map advantage). The loser of this duel has to go up against either 100 Thieves or Team Liquid. This match decides the second participant in the Grand Finals, which are scheduled to play out on Sunday.