Evil Geniuses certainly played some League of Legends this weekend. Was it good League of Legends? Somewhat? It’s time to talk about some takeaways from this weekend.
Mundo:
Fans shouldn’t hate the Dr. Mundo pick, but what they can hate is the way it was done. Mundo has been picked a fair amount in other leagues, most specifically by Hong “Pyosik” Chang-hyeon from the LCK. Also, it is worth noting that Mundo is a Turbo Chemtank abuser making him really solid in the meta right now. He has also been steadily rising in Solo Queue playrate and win rates at all elos. The issue is with Mundo, is that if he does not get his items, he is frankly worthless. There is another issue and that is Vayne. Vayne is the bane of any Mundo player turning what is an unkillable healing tank into a flimsy piece of paper.
Fans were able to see both of these being tested in the two games this weekend. In the 100T game, despite a sloppy early game, Dennis “Svenskeren” Johnsen was able to get a couple of kills and assist and become the Mundo Machine running down enemies, throwing cleavers, and just being annoying. The polar opposite of this happened vs Immortals who had a frankly amazing counterpick and answer for Mundo. Vayne invalidated Svenskeren and made him barely a champion.
The point of this is that Mundo is a fine pick. Mundo is frankly a really strong meta-champion and almost made it on this list. But if EG are going to pick him, they need to wait to see what ADC is chosen. Immortals exposed EG in the draft and made that game nearly unplayable for Brother Sven. If EG are going to use this going forward, pick him in the second half the draft. Mundo is not a contested pick and not blindable unless they waste a ban on Vayne.
Another Rough Week for Jiizuke:
Daniele “Jiizuke” di Mauro in Week 4 didn’t play great. While he didn’t straight up int, he was constantly caught out and was in bad spots. This week he improved slightly, but still didn’t perform to his normal level. Even in their win vs 100T on Ekko, one of his signature picks, he went 3/2/2 with only a 20% Damage Share. Versus IMT, he went 1/2/5 with 21% Damage Share. Finally, he has his best game versus Dignitas going 5/5/13 with a 32% Damage Share and a 86% KP. He actually played pretty great in this one. Just looking at the matchups though, these seem like lanes Jiizuke should be winning harder. If Jiizuke can’t beat Insanity or Ryoma, how can he beat POE, Jensen or even Pobelter next week?
Jiizuke can clearly win lanes. Viewers have seen this in prior LCS games. He can clearly carry the damage charts. The issue is that he hasn’t played consistently the last few weeks and as a result it has been killing EG. To be fair, Svenskeren has had his iffy share of games too so this isn’t to imply he is the only one with issues. The lack of Jiizuke’s presence though feels way more noticeable. Jiizuke is still the leader in the LCS for DPM. He is second in kills. Jiizuke can do better and everyone knows it and the stats show it. That is why it seems so harsh. It’s tough love.
They Picked Jinx:
An article was published with picks that EG should try. One of these was Jinx. Even though they loss, EG played Jinx incredibly well versus Dignitas and fans should hope this isn’t the last they see of it. Matthew “Deftly” Chen went 3/5/13 while Neo went 17/2/4. Despite being down 5.8K gold at the end of the game, Deftly did only 4k less damage and had a higher Damage Share for the team. Sure, Jinx has AOE damage while Kalista doesn’t without Hurricane. But when Neo is 17/2/4 he should be expected to slaughter Deftly in the charts. This game didn’t go EGs way, but this pick clearly has potential and has Deftly energy written all over it.
Bonus: EG Could Miss LCS Playoffs (Mid-Season Showdown)
Evil Geniuses are currently sixth place in the LCS with a record of 8-7. Trailing behind them at seventh are Immortals at 7-8. So EG have the lead, they are good, right? The issue is that EG have lost to Immortals twice. This means if a tied record was to happen, EG would lose. But, before that even happens, the upcoming schedule is important. For EG they play TSM on Friday, Team Liquid on Saturday and CLG on Sunday. EG has beaten CLG and TL once, but have not beat TSM. It is also possible EG goes 0-3. It’s at the very least worth thinking about.
Immortals also don’t have an easy final week playing 100 Thieves on Friday, TSM on Saturday and Cloud9 on Sunday. The fact is though that if they get an upset and EG chokes, they advance. This is do or die time. EG have had every opportunity to control their own destiny, even beating a bunch of teams ranked higher than them. They are losing the easy games though and it has cost them. Now they are on the bubble and the pressure is on. EG can beat C9 and TL but then lose to Immortals or Flyquest. The ultimate wildcard, fitting for NA.
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