In League of Legends, a changing of the guard is happening in the USA in 2022. Historically dominant teams like TSM and Cloud9 are struggling – at the helm is now the team “Evil Geniuses”. They are making a clear statement of intent against the competition. The exciting part: Evil Geniuses is leveraging trash talk and young talent from North America.
This is the situation for LoL in the USA:
- For years, “Team SoloMid” was dominant in the USA, winning 7 championships. Other strong teams were Cloud9 (4 championships) and Team Liquid (4 championships). Other teams besides these 3 played hardly any role in the race for the LCS championship.
- However, since 2021, there has been a changing of the guard: Suddenly, the 100 Thieves team, which relies heavily on merchandise, and Evil Geniuses are on top, each winning a championship title. Even now, in summer 2022, both teams have fought their way back to the top of the league.
- The “Evil Geniuses” are bringing spice and innovation to the game: they are focusing on US talent and love trash talk.
Also a fan of trash talk, Tyler1:
LCS has long been considered a league for mercenaries and retired pros
This was long the problem of the LCS: The leading US teams were for many years heavily influenced by European mercenaries who played a dominant role in the North American LCS league:
- Especially Scandinavian players like the Danes Bjergsen, Jensen, or Zven seemed to decide who would become the champion.
- Retired veterans from Korea, who had once had a strong season there years ago, like Huni or Impact, continued to play in the USA for top teams for years.
- From China, the world champion criticized: In the USA, the competitive pressure from young talents on the complacent pros is lacking – they let old players play too long because they sell merchandise.
The LCS has long been viewed as a league of mercenaries and “old players” that offered too little space for North American talent. This led to US teams getting eliminated in international tournaments year after year, and fans lamenting and complaining extensively: this can’t go on, something has to change.
This is the special path of Evil Geniuses: Yet Evil Geniuses has gained success with these talents from North America. Key players include:
- 17-year-old Canadian jojoyun in the midlane
- 18-year-old American Danny in the botlane
Both players are young and can still improve:
- In spring 2022, Evil Geniuses had a record of 9-9 in the league, but still became champions thanks to outstanding playoffs.
- In summer 2022, the team appears much more dominant: With a record of 8-1, they stand at the top of the LCS.
This is unusual, as “young teams” are generally considered unstable. However, Evil Geniuses have, alongside the two young talents, some experience in the team, with 23-year-old support player Vulcan and 27-year-old veteran Impact.
“The old ways are dead”
This is how Evil Geniuses presents themselves: As interesting as their roster is, their presence on social media is compelling.
In a video from February 5th, “The Old Ways are dead,” the CEO of Evil Geniuses, Nicole L. Jameson, is seen making a statement of intent with two content creators:
The video begins with a jab at Jack Etienne, the head of Cloud9: She doesn’t even take his call.
Then, they take down their big rivals: FlyQuests are described as hippies, 100 Thieves are said to only focus on “hoodies,” meaning merchandise, and regarding TSM, they say: “They just don’t exist” and gleefully tear apart their plans.
In the video, the team highlights that they are going their own way with 4 players from North America and are not relying on mercenaries. While they technically have two people on the roster from outside North America, Impact (South Korea) and Inspired (Poland), top laner Impact has been in the USA for so long that he is no longer considered a mercenary.
The other team on the list with 4 North Americans is simply removed from the list with a snap of the fingers.
As a sign of the “new ways,” it can also be noted that 3 women make this statement of intent for Evil Geniuses.
With the trash talk and bold proclamations, Evil Geniuses is bringing much-needed fire back to the LCS. Although EG has already taken a few slaps internationally. After winning the championship title in spring 2022, the young North Americans stated: they would take on Europe with ease.
At MSI, they played against the European representatives G2 4 times and lost every single game:
