Evil Geniuses outclass FaZe in New York

Evil Geniuses got their ESL One New York campaign off to a winning start as they took down FaZe in a two-map series.

In a match between a brand new team and one just making their debut under a different organisation, Evil Geniuses reminded everyone why they are an incredibly well-oiled machine. The ex-NRG squad got off to a slow start as they were put on the back foot during the early stages but then dominated proceedings during the remainder of the series against a FaZe team still trying to find their feet and lacking depth in their map pool.

One of the talking points heading into the match was how Helvijs "⁠broky⁠" Saukants would handle the pressure of playing his first big tournament, but the reality is that the Latvian was the only player who looked like making a difference for FaZe, who will fight for survival in the tournament against OpTic on Friday.

A flying start from FaZe on Nuke saw the newly-formed team reign from the outset as they strolled to a 9-2 lead on the offensive side of Nuke. Evil Geniuses were struggling to contain the pace set by the Europeans but tightened up their defense in the remainder of the half to bring the deficit to three rounds, with Tsvetelin "⁠CeRq⁠" Dimitrov leading the charge (15 frags and a 4-1 opening duel record).

The ex-NRG team carried that momentum into the second half and won five rounds straight to take the lead for the first time in the game. FaZe still sought a response but lacked solutions and were ultimately denied by the home side, who kept the pace extremely high to secure the map at 16-12.

Next up was Vertigo, a surprise pick on the part of Evil Geniuses, who had played it just twice before, losing both games. A 1v2 clutch from Ethan "⁠Ethan⁠" Arnold in the pistol round put Evil Geniuses on the board, eventually setting his team up for a 3-0 lead. FaZe - who had lost three of the four games they had played on Vertigo - looked uncomfortable on the map and almost let a 5v1 situation slip before Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač denied Vincent "⁠Brehze⁠" Cayonte the miraculous clutch.

FaZe started to get a foothold in the game after that and even took the lead, but EG ran rampant during the final stages of the half - powered by an in-form Brehze, who averaged 140 damage per round on the Terrorist side -, to secure a 9-6 advantage.

More misery was to come for FaZe. broky opened up B for his team with a trio of kills, but their failure to clear the site allowed Peter "⁠stanislaw⁠" Jarguz to single-handedly turn a 2v3 situation around. Evil Geniuses kept a water-tight defense after that, winning six rounds in a row en route to a convincing 16-6 success.