Eternal Fire send Evil Geniuses to last chance bracket

Eternal Fire denied Evil Geniuses a comeback attempt on Overpass to close the series out 2-0.

Eternal Fire will continue through the lower bracket at ESL Pro League Season 17 after defeating Evil Geniuses in a two-map series on Anubis (16-6) and Overpass (16-14). The North American squad are now 0-2 but survive in the group stage thanks to a triple-elimination last chance bracket. They started their run in the tournament tallying a total of 10 rounds against Cloud9 before today's loss at a delicate time for the organization’s management, who have widely been criticized for the team's chronic underperformance.

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The two teams had last met at ESL Pro League Season 16 in a series that went the way of EG that time, but since then much has changed for both sides in terms of roster movements. Engin "⁠MAJ3R⁠" Küpeli and company have found their footing, as seen by a competitive match against G2 in their opener, while the North Americans are flailing and one loss away from a last place finish in Malta.

Eternal Fire struggled to close Overpass on the attack, but did it in the end

The series kicked off on Eternal Fire’s pick of Anubis and three of its heavy hitters, Ismailcan "⁠XANTARES⁠" Dörtkardeş, Buğra "⁠Calyx⁠" Arkın and Ömer "⁠imoRR⁠" Karataş — who ended up being the top three players in the series with similar ratings — did the heavy lifting in a one-sided 11-4 half.

Sanzhar "⁠neaLaN⁠" Iskhakov downed three and Jerric "⁠wiz⁠" Jiang got two frags of his own in the second pistol round to try and put up a fight, which they followed up in the second round, but with guns in play there was not a chance for Evil Geniuses as the Turks closed their map out 16-6.

Things went from bad to worse for Evil Geniuses on their map pick, Overpass, as Eternal Fire won the pistol round and then displayed dominance with a nine round streak before Daniel "⁠Vorborg⁠" Vorborg's men could even get on the board. The map looked lost after a 13-2 half, but once again the American squad won the second pistol round.

Timothy "⁠autimatic⁠" Ta then won a crucial 1vs1 on the comeback trail to make it 8-13 and wiz followed it up with a 1vs2 of his own the following round, but after those heroics EG lost against pistols and a lone AK wielded by imoRR, going down 14-11. The Americans continued their comeback attempt and brought it to a 14-14, but it was all for naught in the end as they fumbled the final two rounds.

"On T side Overpass we're not adapting as fast as we need," MAJ3R said after the match, "at least we won this match and didn't choke in the end." The Turkish squad will now face the loser of Outsiders vs. fnatic in the lower bracket, while Evil Geniuses are a loss away from going home and will play IHC in the do-or-die last chance bracket.

ESL Pro League Season 17Best of 3

Evil Geniuses

Matchpage

0

2

23rd February 2023

Eternal Fire

6

Anubis

16

14

Overpass

16

Evil Geniuses	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating2.0
Timothy 'autimatic' Taautimatic	40 - 38	+2	84.1	65.4%	1.10
Jerric 'wiz' Jiangwiz	31 - 33	-2	68.6	69.2%	1.00
Sanzhar 'neaLaN' IskhakovneaLaN	32 - 39	-7	68.9	73.1%	0.91
Vincent 'Brehze' CayonteBrehze	33 - 43	-10	74.3	63.5%	0.80
Jadan 'HexT' PostmaHexT	22 - 35	-13	50.8	69.2%	0.76

Eternal Fire	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating2.0
Ismailcan 'XANTARES' DörtkardeşXANTARES	46 - 30	+16	89.6	82.7%	1.40
Ömer 'imoRR' KarataşimoRR	44 - 31	+13	87.2	75.0%	1.38
Buğra 'Calyx' ArkınCalyx	48 - 35	+13	93.6	75.0%	1.37
Yasin 'xfl0ud' Koçxfl0ud	31 - 28	+3	69.4	82.7%	1.18
Engin 'MAJ3R' KüpeliMAJ3R	18 - 34	-16	41.4	69.2%	0.74