Evil Geniuses defeat FunPlus Phoenix in DreamHack Open January

The North American squad will now play BIG in the Group A winners’ match for a spot in the playoffs.

Evil Geniuses spoiled the former GODSENT team's premiere under the FunPlus Phoenix banner in their DreamHack Open January Group A opening match, taking the series 2-0. The European squad, who are now playing with Chris "⁠chrisJ⁠" de Jong on loan from MOUZ, fought hard on Inferno, bringing a map that looked like it was lost to overtime, although they were ultimately unable to make their mark in the extra rounds, falling 15-19.

FunPlus Phoenix were up against the ropes on Nuke, their pick, but they weren’t able to have enough impact to stop Peter "⁠stanislaw⁠" Jarguz and company, who put enough of a cushion on the scoreboard on the attack to stop a late comeback attempt and secured the map 16-13.

The North Americans, who come off of a 5-6th place finish at their first event of the year, the BLAST Premier Global Final, are now one match away from securing a spot in the playoffs if they can win the Group A winners’ match, in which they will face BIG. FunPlus Phoenix, on the other hand, will play HellRaisers for survival in the elimination match.

FunPlus Phoenix got off to a flying start on Inferno, securing the first three rounds on the CT side, but Evil Geniuses were quick to regain their footing in the gun rounds, immediately bringing it to a tie early on. The North American squad didn’t let up there and continued to infiltrate the defenses round after round, giving up just three on the way to a 9-6 half.

Asger "⁠Farlig⁠" Jensen and Jesse "⁠zehN⁠" Linjala secured the second pistol round for their team, as they went on to tie the map up 9-9, but once again Evil Geniuses started to run away with rifles in play going on to hit match point, 15-11. The North Americans weren’t able to close out the map, however, and were taken to overtime, although they were quick to bring things to a wrap in extra rounds winning three straight on the defense before sealing it on the attack, 19-15.

Evil Geniuses won their first pistol round of the series on the CT side of Nuke and took a 5-1 lead to set the initial pace, but FunPlus Phoenix were quick to catch up and tied it up by the tenth round. The Europeans weren’t able to keep up, however, and fell behind 6-9 at the half.

The North Americans came out on top in the second pistol round and continued to put more ground between themselves and their rivals, hitting match point before FunPlus Phoenix got to double digits, 15-9, and although the Europeans attempted a late comeback, it proved to be too much as Evil Geniuses closed the map out 16-13 to secure the series and move on to the Group A winners' match.