OG Move Past Evil Geniuses In BLAST Premier Fall Series

OG are through to Tuesday’s upper bracket final against Natus Vincere in the BLAST Premier Fall Series’ Group A after picking up a close victory against Evil Geniuses. Playing their first match since arriving in Europe, the North Americans looked distinctly off the pace in this keenly-contested affair between two top-10 sides.

EG showed character to rally and take the series to a third map after collapsing on Mirage and slipping to an 8-2 deficit on Inferno, but they lacked a killer touch to complete the reserve sweep. They will need a vastly improved performance to avoid an early exit in this tournament against a NiP side who finished in fourth place in DreamHack Open Fall prior to today’s 2-0 loss to NAVI.

EG will face NAVI for a spot in the Fall Finals

Evil Geniuses came out the better of the two teams as they raced to a 5-1 lead on the offensive side of Mirage, OG‘s map pick. The European squad tightened up and gradually took the upper hand to end the half with a narrow 8-7 lead, with Valdemar “⁠valde⁠” Bjørn Vangså, Issa “⁠ISSAA⁠” Murad and Aleksi “⁠Aleksib⁠” Virolainen all sitting at the top of the scoreboard with 13 kills apiece. After switching to the CT side, EG restored parity with a clean pistol round, but their respite was short-lived. OG regained control once they had money in the bank and won eight rounds without response to lock up the map.

OG picked up where they left off as they jumped out to an 8-2 lead on the CT side of Inferno. Things were starting to look desperate for Evil Geniuses as the first half approached its finale, but the North Americans were able to keep the scoreline respectable with a streak of five rounds before they switched to the CT side.

A 1v3 clutch in the pistol round from Vincent “⁠Brehze⁠” Cayonte set EG up for a dream start to the half as the North Americans kept a water-tight defence to hold back their opponents. valde still gave OG‘s fans some hope with a clutch of his own to break his team’s losing streak, but Evil Geniuses responded in the following round to reach map point before putting the game to bed.

OG picked themselves up and cruised to a 10-5 lead thanks to a resolute defensive performance that saw EG struggle to break them down. The tables turned after the side switch as the North Americans took the lead after going on a 9-2 run, but they were unable to deliver the finishing blow. Up 14-12, EG lost control of proceedings as they let their opponents put some rounds together in a chaotic ending to the series.