Stand-in forsyy shines for Evil Geniuses despite elimination from CCT

The Czech AWPer impressed during the two maps he played for the North American organization.

Evil Geniuses were invited to participate in CCT Central Europe Series 6, but their journey was cut short early as they were immediately eliminated in the first playoff round by Jesper "⁠JW⁠" Wecksell and Robin "⁠flusha⁠" Rönnquist's EYEBALLERS.

The North American squad played the first two maps without their starting AWPer, Jerric "⁠wiz⁠" Jiang, who was on a delayed flight, and were instead forced to use David "⁠forsyy⁠" Bílý as a stand-in. The 22-year-old American returned to the lineup for the decider on Inferno, which Evil Geniuses lost 10-16.

EYEBALLERS qualified for the playoffs with a 3-0 record in the Swiss stage and came into the second stage of the competition with momentum on their side. flusha had been the team's highest-rated player at the event, but it was fellow veteran JW who shined today, outperforming both of Evil Geniuses' young snipers on Mirage and Inferno.

forsyy, who is currently on SINNERS' bench, averaged a 1.26 rating across the two maps and stood strong at the top of the scoreboard for the North American organization on Overpass, propelling his team to victory and equalizing the series 1-1. The Czech marksman was substituted ahead of the decider on Inferno, when wiz was once again available to compete.

wiz's return did not help Evil Geniuses as he struggled to find impact on Inferno, recording a 0.58 rating alongside a 33.5 ADR and a 7-18 K-D. EYEBALLERS claimed the decider 16-10 and advanced to the next playoff round, where they will face the winner of 500 vs. HEET.

The CCT defeat is just the latest in a disappointing series of events for Evil Geniuses in 2023. Sanzhar "⁠neaLaN⁠" Iskhakov's men have failed to reach the playoffs of any offline tournament they have attended this year and only count one best-of-three victory on LAN from January.

Evil Geniuses also failed to qualify for the Paris Major RMR, and even when invited after DETONATE were forced to forfeit their spot, they were eliminated with a 1-2 record. Most recently, they failed to qualify for ESL Challenger Katowice 2023 following an 8-16 loss to WITHOUT WARNING in the open qualifier.