In an epic battle with long time rivals Evil Geniuses, Alex Ich and his team will go alongside Lemondogs and Fnatic to Los Angeles to represent Europe this coming September.
It has been a while since we have seen Gambit Gaming and Evil Geniuses beyond a best-of-1 series, and as always, these two veteran teams gave the fight of their lives over the course of three games. Unfortunately for Evil Geniuses, it seemed that they got a little cursed from their win over Gambit during the superweek tie-breaker, and would have to stay at the sidelines this coming World Championships.
(click here for drafts of all three games)
GAME 1
Having known and fought each other for years, both teams are aware of how much of a threat their midlaners are. As such, five of the six bans in the first game were targeted to them. The only one aimed at a different person was Evelynn for Diamond, though we have seen Alex Ich play her before. As for team comps, EG went for a strong AoE teamfight comp with a lot of lockdown for Caitlyn and Orianna to fire away, whereas GMB went for picks via Lee Sin and Thresh, followed by AoE damage once it gets a numbers advantage.
The game was nothing short of a slaughter by EG. A snowballed Zac leads to terrible things, and that is what Snoopeh managed to do in the jungle. He made sure that every lane was winning, giving no opportunities for GMB to come back into the game. While Alex Ich and Genja managed to farm heavily, the kills and objective EG took was way too much, and it decimated them via the Ball Delivery System, or just simply smashing them.
GAME 2
There was absolutely no change in bans, and this shows how impactful these removed champions could be. As for the team comps, it seems that Gambit has shifted its focus toward strong teamfighting with decent pick potential, with Alex Ich staying on Karthus for that AoE and late game potential. Evil Geniuses made a comp similar to their previous game, with a pocket Zyra for Froggen being the only thing strange about it.
If you were not convinced about Zac strength in this new patch, then maybe this game will convince you. Though not impressive when you look at his kills, Darien was able to start fights out of nowhere, catching EG again and again, even between two turrets. The Zyra pick proved to be ineffective, as Alex Ich dominated the lane, and with Diamond having a good Jarvan IV run, Genja was also snowballing hard. By mid game, the late game champs on GMB are already a core item or so ahead of their counterparts, and gave them a taste of their own medicine.
GAME 3
With a slot for the World Championship on the line, it was do or die for these two pillars of the EU scene. Both of them experiencing the power of The Secret Weapon, Gambit has decided to take a chance and leave Twisted Fate open to ban Zac, which Froggen happily first picks. Because of the TF pick, Evil Geniuses opted for a splitpush/pick comp, whereas GMB remained focused on solid teamfighting with Alex Ich again on Karthus, and Genja with his patented Miss Fortune.
Unlike the last two stomps, this last match was as close as it could have gotten. While it started poorly for EG, failing a 3v1 dive a Darien, they soon were able to even up the score with surprise attacks from multiple angles, due to their champions' mobility. However, a team fight at Dragon gave GMB a huge advantage, with Alex Ich flashing over the pit while under Stand United, and getting a triple kill. This made him a true wall of pain, and with Darien shutting down any splitpush attempts from Froggen, the Spring Runners-up get another chance of being the World Champions after a hard-fought and well-deserved victory.
