Evil Geniuses Academy vs Evil Geniuses Prodigies
2 - 0
Team Composition Game 1
Blue Side
EGA Tony Top Gnar
EGA Contractz Gragas
EGA Jojopyun Sylas
EGA Shoryu Xayah
EGA Mystiques Rakan
Red Side
EGP Srtty Jayce
EGP Tomio Graves
EGP Aspect Orianna
EGP Shiro Seraphine
EGP Mist Alistar
Team Composition Game 2
Blue Side
EGP Srtty Gragas
EGP Tomio Olaf
EGP Aspect Viktor
EGP Shiro Kai’sa
EGP Mist Rell
Red Side
EGA Tony Top Renekton
EGA Contractz Hecarim
EGA Jojopyun Ryze
EGA Shoryu Jhin
EGA Mystiques Alistar
--
Evil Geniuses Civil War has arrived and game one revealed exactly why Academy is treated as the “older sibling” among these two teams. EGA swiftly cleaned up and swept out their little brother Evil Geniuses Prodigies in an aggression-filled extravaganza. It felt like there was a massive draft gap in the first game in the favor of EGA, who never lost control of this game at any moment.
Evil Geniuses Academy was definitely focused early on feeding mid laner Jojopyun on Sylas. EGA’s jungler Contractz on a beefy Gragas set up a tent in mid and simply made EGP Aspect’s (Orianna) life a living hell for the remainder of the game.
EGA’s Jojopyun wasn’t the only one bullying lane and winning trades -- EGA’s top laner Tony Top on Gnar absolutely demolished EGP’s Srtty on Jayce in the top lane. At the same time, EGA Shoryu on Xayah and EGA Mystiques on Rakan showed EGP Shiro on Seraphine and EGP Mist on Alistar how Academy teams bully and control a bottom lane.
This was a devastating loss for Evil Geniuses Prodigies and a glorious victory for Evil Geniuses Academy. EGA ended this game at 27 minutes and 24 kills versus EGP’s 5 -- EGA’s Tony Top (Gnar) and Shoryu (Xayah) also had a perfect, deathless game.
Game two started with caster Dgon asking his fellow casters and analysts what Evil Geniuses Prodigies could do to recover in game two. Joushi mentioned that EGP’s ADC Shiro is generally a monster carry if given the chance, and it simply wasn’t possible with the Seraphine he picked up in game one with the early damage and aggression he faced versus EGA’s Soryu and Mystiques on Xayah and Rakan.
It seems Evil Geniuses Prodigies took that to heart and put their ADC Shiro on powerhouse pick Kai’sa, while putting EGP Mist on Rell for strong engage, CC, and peel to give Shiro a fighting chance. It wasn’t meant to be, however, as things went downhill for EGP within the first few minutes of the game. An ill-fated invade ended with EGP’s support Mist and EGP’s jungler Tomio on Olaf down 1 kill and behind EGA’s Contractz on Hecarim -- 0 - 2. To add insult to injury, EGP’s Tomio was unable to get a single crab at 4 minutes, putting him extremely far behind. By 4:30, Evil Geniuses Academy already had 5 kills and a 2k gold lead.
At this point, it began to feel a little bit like Evil Geniuses Academy was bullying their younger Prodigies siblings into submission. Where were their parents? Was anyone going to intervene? The game ended at 26 minutes with EGA’s kills at 27 to EGP’s 5, a monstrous 16k gold lead, and EGA’s Tony Top and Shoryu ending this game with yet another perfect, deathless game. Tough break for EGP, but they have one more chance for redemption at the bottom bracket.
Golden Guardians Academy vs CLG Academy
2-0
Team Composition Game 1
Blue Side
GGA Tally Gnar
GGA RoseThorn Lillia
GGA Yunbee Azir
GGA Prismal Kai’sa
GGA Chime Rell
Red Side
CLGA Thien Jayce
CLGA Griffin Udyr
CLGA rjs Ryze
CLGA Katsurii Xayah
CLGA Hooks Rakan
Team Composition Game 2
Blue Side
CLGA Thien Aatrox
CLGA Griffin Lillia
CLGA rjs Zoe
CLGA Katsurii Kai’sa
CLGA Hooks Nautilus
Red Side
GGA Tally Ornn
GGA RoseThorn Kindred
GGA Yunbee Ryze
GGA Prismal Tristana
GGA Chime Alistar
Team Composition Game 3
Blue Side
GGA Tally Gangplank
GGA RoseThorn Olaf
GGA Yunbee Syndra
GGA Prismal Kai’sa
GGA Chime Alistar
Red Side
CLGA Thien Gnar
CLGA Griffin Lillia
CLGA rjs Viktor
CLGA Katsurii Tristana
CLGA Hooks Nautilus
--
CLG’s first blood curse continued into game one of CLG Academy versus Golden Guardians Academy. First blood went to CLGA’s top laner Thien on Jayce. As usual, CLG getting first blood usually forecasts that they will ultimately lose the game, and this was no exception. Despite the curse, CLGA Hooks gave the performance of his life on Rakan in an attempt to protect, roam, and do everything to carry this game for his team. CLGA’s Hooks target prioritization was nearly flawless, and it’s a shame his play couldn’t net them the W.
CLGA did show up and put forth a gargantuan effort in this game. At 18 minutes, both teams were nearly evenly matched. Golden Guardians Academy pulled ahead with a Pentakill for GG ADC Prismal and a Baron in rapid succession. At this point, GGA Prismal had tasted too much blood and simply couldn’t stop one-shotting CLGA’s ADC Katsurii on Xayah. GGA Prismal’s performance felt especially impressive because of his ability to dodge a whole slew of feathers, knock-ups, and stuns to zero in on vulnerable targets like CLGA Katsurii. A well deserved second pentakill in all of Giant Slayer Spring Gauntlet history by GGA Prismal allowed them to end this game 17/0/2. Perfection.
For game two, the draft differences really helped CLGA pull ahead early, crippling GGA’s Prismal on Tristana to ensure that the stomp that happened in game one wouldn’t be possible again. A Tristana without a substantial amount of kills and items into a Kai’sa isn’t an enviable position. While GGA was able to show off some finely tuned kiting skills, CLGA was simply too chonky to take down. No matter how much kiting GGA was able to do, CLGA was always able to out-last and out-run. It helped that CLGA didn’t pop off with first blood, dodging the curse and netting them the W.
CLGA’s Thien on Aatrox and CLGA’s Hooks on Nautilus created conditions in which CLGA could not simply win, but THRIVE. A quickly snowballing CLGA Katsurii on Kai’sa became the star player upon which all members of CLGA would peel and protect. CLGA’s rjs on Zoe helped significantly with threats before they could even get close, allowing CLGA Katsurii on Kai'sa to melt targets where they stood. CLGA Griffin on Lillia also focused on giving CLGA Thein a lead top, letting CLGA crack through their first and second turret, releasing a vicious, roaming Aatrox and Zoe combination the likes of which we’ve never seen before. CLGA’s Thien ended up with a perfect KDA here, ending the game with 6/0/8 and a 700 gold bounty on his head.
Pick after pick occurred after these two CLGA menaces were released from the laning phase. Even though GGA had two dragons at this point in the game -- 16 minutes -- these were the last drakes GGA would see for the rest of the game. One key part of every team fight was CLGA Hooks’ seemingly 100% accuracy rate with Dredge Line, landing every single hook-and-drag on the most vulnerable target possible.
One of the most entertaining plays was when GGA attempted a sneaky Baron at 20 minutes. By the time CLGA realized what was happening and began closing in to wipe the vulnerable team, GGA’s mid laner Yunbee used Realm Warp to get them out of the Baron pit after the objective was secure. It wouldn’t be enough to win the game, but you have to commend GGA for such a creative, confident play nearly 9k gold down.
CLGA ended this game at 27 minutes 19 kills up to GGA’s 5, 11k gold ahead, taking us to a game three.
Pick Kai’sa and win -- a new credo for the Giant Slayer Spring Gauntlet. Golden Guardians Academy won this one with a relative amount of ease, seemingly breaking the CLGA curse by grabbing first blood for themselves. First blood or not, CLGA did not manage to secure this game to move forward in the upper bracket.
CLGA’s Griffin on Lillia put in so much work here to try and get his lanes in a good place, but unfortunately they was not able to pull ahead in the early, mid, or late games. GGA’s RoseThorn on Olaf kept up with CLGA’s Griffin in a big way and brought the hammer (axe?) down in every phase of the game. GGA Yunbee felt especially on-point on Syndra, landing several 4-5 man stuns throughout critical teamfights with GGA’s Prismal cleaning up in Yunbee’s wake.
Gold Guardians Academy secured their spot in Proving Grounds with this game, ending at 30 minutes with 25 kills to CLGA’s 5 and an incomprehensible 17k gold lead.
Wilcard Gaming vs Winthrop University
2-0
Team Composition Game 1
Blue Side
WC Qwacker Renekton
WC Panda Hecarim
WC Xeno Syndra
WC Teamlukee Xayah
WC Daption Galio
Red Side
WU HyBriDzz Shen
WU FrostForest Skarner
WU Doxa Orianna
WU Saskio Kai’sa
WU SrKenji Rakan
Team Composition Game 2
Blue Side
WU HyBriDzz Gnar
WU FrostForest Hecarim
WU Doxa Syndra
WU Saskio Varus
WU SrKenji Alistar
Red Side
WC Qwacker Renekton
WC Panda Karthus
WC Xeno Nocturne
WC Teamlukee Kai’sa
WC Daption Rell
--
Despite latency issues, Wildcard’s top laner Qwacker dominated versus Winthrop University’s HyBriDzz on Shen in their first game of the day. We’ve seen Qwacker’s monster Renekton in games past, and he was an absolute terror to behold for the rest of this game. Speaking of terror, WC Panda on Hecarim was a Benny Hill - Yakety Sax, in-one-door-out-the-other Scooby Doo pain train for the entire game, netting leads for Wildcard’s bot lane as well. The strong map control and presence from both WC’s jungle and bot lane forced Winthrop U to cede the first three drakes.
Pick Kai’sa and win didn’t apply here with Winthrop University’s ADC Saskio struggling to pull ahead during the lane phase. Wildcard’s ADC Teamlukee on Xayah and Srkenji on Galio ran a punishing bot lane, refusing to give WU's bot lane a single break.
Winthrop got three choice picks around 22 minutes and finally nabbed the fourth drake, Infernal, denying Wildcard the soul and creating a small spark of hope. WU’s jungler FrostForest on Skarner put such a commendable performance on in this game, especially with this drake steal.
Much like in games past, WC Xeno exercised incredible team fight mechanics, landing a 4 person Syndra ult that really put the nail in Winthrop’s coffin at 25 minutes. The game ended shortly after at 30 minutes, Wildcard Gaming sporting a Hand of Baron buff and sieging Winthrop’s base, and ending the game with 23 kills to Winthrop’s 15, with a 10k gold lead. Not a bad showing from Withrop, all things considered -- a really respectful effort.
Winthrop showed some good aggression early on in game two, especially in bot with Saskio on Varus and Srkenji on Alistar. The early aggression and lane priority in bot earned them the first Cloud Drake and Wildcard wouldn’t get a single drake until an Infernal at 25 minutes.
The real threat in game two was gestating in top lane in the form of of Qwacker, who kept gathering picks and quietly nabbing kills until he had scaled out of control at 15/1/4. Wildcard simply used this lead as a battering ram to bully Winthrop University out of every single engagement, objective, and eventually their own Nexus.
