Evil Geniuses win SL9 America playoffs over Liquid April 2nd, 2014 00:19 GMT Text by TheEmulator Graphics by riptide Focus Mode

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StarLadder Season 9 EG vs Liquid



http://wiki.teamliquid.net/dota2/Star_Ladder_Star_Series/Season_9



EG takes out Liquid 2-1 in the SL9 America Playoffs, securing their spot to the LAN Finals in Kiev



After a long season of StarLadder America, Evil Geniuses has emerged victorious over Liquid in the finals. With a very new lineup picked up just recently, they have proved they are here to stay, and despite having a standin (Mason) they are the strongest team currently in the Americas.







They had an easy way through the league play, going 7-0 overall, but they had a hard time in the playoffs, going 2-1 in every series they played. But it doesn't matter as they are the champions moving on to the LAN Finals in Kiev joining the already qualified DK/iG from China, and MVP Phoenix from Korea. Congratulations EG!!!





Team Liquid vs Evil Geniuses



Game 1

Team Liquid (Radiant)





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Evil Geniuses (Dire)







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In game 1 Arteezy got his signature Ember Spirit, but due to some early ganks he was shut down mid really hard, giving TC free farm on Juggernaut. Qojqva was a part of these ganks and was able to get up a fast boots/Midas, and from there Liquid was winning the early game quite handily with a 6-1 score. But that all ended as they dived a T1 tower and lost 4 heroes for little gain of their own.



Liquid was running a very push oriented lineup so mistakes like this can be quite punishable by EG. And that it was, because Liquid had not yet taken any towers at this point, and EG took Liquid's early game advantage and threw it in their face by getting pick-off after pick-off. But Liquid wasn't out of it yet. At 28 minutes Qojqva had 17K net worth, almost doubling anyone on EG. With all the tier one towers down it was their chance to make things happen, but at 30 minutes they got caught in EG's jungle after failing to secure a kill on treant and got 4 man combo'd by Timber/Ember, resulting in a 5 for 1 trade in favour of EG.



The score was 19-12 for EG, and things were starting to look real bad for Liquid. EG did waste their Aegis in a top Tier 2 push, but they were able to salvage the rest of the team and retreat. And while Qojqva was still way ahead in farm, the Timber was slowly catching up, and Liquid seemed unsure of what to do at this point other than try to farm more. Liquid managed to take a big fight at 44 minutes, killing both the Timber and Ember, but EG managed to take Roshan with buybacks and even pick off the prophet. With this Aegis on Arteezy they took a fight at Liquid's mid tier 2, and while it started off terribly with a massive omni from TC, there were some clutch disruptions from Shadow Demon and a hex on Prophet, allowing EG to turn the fight once again. Qojqva bought back but fell quickly, and from there it was GG.



Game 2

Team Liquid (Dire)





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Evil Geniuses (Radiant)







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With game 2 everything is on the line for Liquid as they can't lose or they are done. So they pick none other than Lycanthrope who is very strong these days. They also got a hold of Dragon Knight for the super push lineup. EG managed to secure their Ember/Treant first picks again though, which has proved itself as being trouble for Liquid.



The game started off with a quick first blood with EG killing the offlane Batrider at 1 minute. The good news is that Liquid's supports were stacking the jungle so Bat was able to rotate out of the offlane and take those camps. Mason opted for a blink first on the safelane Puck. Definitely an odd choice considering it was only 4 minutes in and he wasn't even level 6 yet, although it was clear he wanted to rotate for some early ganks once Nyx hit 6. After the first blood both teams went into farm mode. EG realized that giving them farm was too scary so they went with 3 heroes to Liquid's jungle in search of a kill. They found Demon on the SK, but he was able to stun dodge Mason's blink silence and get away. EG then quickly rotated bottom and took out Batrider and Bane, further delaying Bulba's Blink dagger. They also got a kill on DK mid shortly after.



Everything started going Liquid's way at 13-14 minutes as they were able to take rosh and a fight afterwards with a 3 for 1 trade with the help of a massive Epicenter from Demon. 15 mintues in and Lycan is massively ahead in CS and also finished his Necro 3. This is where things started to get rough for EG. The next big fight was around 18 minutes at the mid tier 1. Liquid was able to quickly take out Arteezy, but with a buyback EG almost turned the fight around. It was a 5 for 4 in favour of Liquid, plus the buyback from Arteezy.



The only problem for Liquid was the mobility of EG's mid-game lineup. With Blink Nyx/Puck and the ult on Ember, they were a deadly ganking squad. They managed to catch out the Lycan a few times, but it wasn't enough to slow him down.



At 23 minutes Liquid took another Roshan uncontested, and rotated top for a kill on Nyx. Shortly after Mason/Zai got caught out mid by Liquid and also fell. At this point Liquid was gaining their lead, and pushing towers fast with Lycan. For the next few minutes Liquid just kept picking people off, and taking free towers. It really looked like there was nothing EG can do except hope they survive until the ultra late-game. EG tried a last ditch effort to pick off DK at the Dire ancients 34 minutes in, but it backfired and Liquid got off a big stun from Demon and took out 3 heroes and then got another free Roshan. Liquid went bottom and destroyed EG with a fight at their tier 3, and then took the rax. EG bought back on almost everyone and were able to pick off a few and force them back. Arteezy went for a desperation move and got Rapier, but Liquid rolled down mid with ease and finished the game. DK had way too much armour and the rapier did almost no damage. It was GG!



Game 3

Evil Geniuses (Dire)





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Team Liquid (Radiant)





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The final game of this great Bo3 is the decider of who goes to the LAN Finals in Kiev. EG stuck to their guns with more Timber/Treant, but with the Ember ban they got Naga instead for Arteezy's mid. On the other hand Liquid went another path with Tinker/Doom, but kept Demon on SK since he's been wrecking with him so far.



The lanes went well for both teams. Mid was fairly even if you don't count the mass ancient stacks for Tinker. Liquid's supports were getting more levels due to dual lanes, but Doom wasn't getting much farm. Liquid managed to get first blood on Timber at 5 minutes, but after his respawn he was able to get a return kill. For the next few minutes there were a couple small skirmishes, with each team getting minor pick-offs. Tinker was farming extremely hard and got his Travels/Bottle/Soul Ring at 8 minutes. At 10 minutes he rotated bottom and helped Bulba/Wayto secure a kill on both Mirana/Treant. This was Mirana's second death, so Doom was now pulling ahead in net worth. The score is 5-2 and Liquid has secured the early game with a decent lead.



The only problem is Arteezy getting free farm and a fast radiance. At 25 minutes the score is 9-5 and both Tinker/Naga are competing in a farm war that Tinker is slightly winning. Overall Liquid is stronger, but Naga is starting look really scary. Another thing to note is the massive lack of farm on Mirana for EG and Doom for Liquid. Tinker will have a hard time handling the Naga alone unless Doom gets some items. Things went stale for 10+ minutes with both teams just farming and doing nothing to each other. At 38 minutes they caught out the Tinker/Disruptor which were massive kills for EG. Arteezy finally started overtaking Tinker on the net worth chart as well, making himself almost indestructible.



Things start getting crazy at 48 minutes with Liquid catching out the Naga Siren, and taking the Aegis from Universe. Mason managed to take the mid tier 3 with the help of a buyback from Naga, but the rax remained. Now that Arteezy was so vulnerable Liquid went for the GG death push down mid, and they were able to pick him off and take the mid rax and bottom tier 3 tower. Liquid got a little greedy and lost a few so EG made the decision to counter push down mid with Arteezy up, and with a clutch arrow on Tinker from Mason it all worked out. Liquid lost almost all their rax, and Tinker was forced to BB to protect the remaining rax. At this point Liquid had to do one more death push for the victory, and luckily they caught out Arteezy top before the push, and had a lot of time to finish the game. The push was going well, but Mirana hit another amazing arrow on Tinker and they were able to kill him. If it wasn't for that arrow there is a good chance Liquid could have ended the game before Arteezy was up, or at least kill off EG so he would be alone when respawning. The tier 4's were down, but Arteezy was up again and mega creeps had also taken Liquid's tier 4's. Arteezy decided to TP to Liquid's base and race them to the finish. EG's ancient was only half health by the time he finished Liquid off, it was GG.



Congratulations to EG with their impressive 2-1 victory over Liquid. GL in Kiev!!!



After a long season of StarLadder America, Evil Geniuses has emerged victorious over Liquid in the finals. With a very new lineup picked up just recently, they have proved they are here to stay, and despite having a standin (Mason) they are the strongest team currently in the Americas.They had an easy way through the league play, going 7-0 overall, but they had a hard time in the playoffs, going 2-1 in every series they played. But it doesn't matter as they are the champions moving on to the LAN Finals in Kiev joining the already qualified DK/iG from China, and MVP Phoenix from Korea. Congratulations EG!!!In game 1 Arteezy got his signature Ember Spirit, but due to some early ganks he was shut down mid really hard, giving TC free farm on Juggernaut. Qojqva was a part of these ganks and was able to get up a fast boots/Midas, and from there Liquid was winning the early game quite handily with a 6-1 score. But that all ended as they dived a T1 tower and lost 4 heroes for little gain of their own.Liquid was running a very push oriented lineup so mistakes like this can be quite punishable by EG. And that it was, because Liquid had not yet taken any towers at this point, and EG took Liquid's early game advantage and threw it in their face by getting pick-off after pick-off. But Liquid wasn't out of it yet. At 28 minutes Qojqva had 17K net worth, almost doubling anyone on EG. With all the tier one towers down it was their chance to make things happen, but at 30 minutes they got caught in EG's jungle after failing to secure a kill on treant and got 4 man combo'd by Timber/Ember, resulting in a 5 for 1 trade in favour of EG.The score was 19-12 for EG, and things were starting to look real bad for Liquid. EG did waste their Aegis in a top Tier 2 push, but they were able to salvage the rest of the team and retreat. And while Qojqva was still way ahead in farm, the Timber was slowly catching up, and Liquid seemed unsure of what to do at this point other than try to farm more. Liquid managed to take a big fight at 44 minutes, killing both the Timber and Ember, but EG managed to take Roshan with buybacks and even pick off the prophet. With this Aegis on Arteezy they took a fight at Liquid's mid tier 2, and while it started off terribly with a massive omni from TC, there were some clutch disruptions from Shadow Demon and a hex on Prophet, allowing EG to turn the fight once again. Qojqva bought back but fell quickly, and from there it was GG.With game 2 everything is on the line for Liquid as they can't lose or they are done. So they pick none other than Lycanthrope who is very strong these days. They also got a hold of Dragon Knight for the super push lineup. EG managed to secure their Ember/Treant first picks again though, which has proved itself as being trouble for Liquid.The game started off with a quick first blood with EG killing the offlane Batrider at 1 minute. The good news is that Liquid's supports were stacking the jungle so Bat was able to rotate out of the offlane and take those camps. Mason opted for a blink first on the safelane Puck. Definitely an odd choice considering it was only 4 minutes in and he wasn't even level 6 yet, although it was clear he wanted to rotate for some early ganks once Nyx hit 6. After the first blood both teams went into farm mode. EG realized that giving them farm was too scary so they went with 3 heroes to Liquid's jungle in search of a kill. They found Demon on the SK, but he was able to stun dodge Mason's blink silence and get away. EG then quickly rotated bottom and took out Batrider and Bane, further delaying Bulba's Blink dagger. They also got a kill on DK mid shortly after.Everything started going Liquid's way at 13-14 minutes as they were able to take rosh and a fight afterwards with a 3 for 1 trade with the help of a massive Epicenter from Demon. 15 mintues in and Lycan is massively ahead in CS and also finished his Necro 3. This is where things started to get rough for EG. The next big fight was around 18 minutes at the mid tier 1. Liquid was able to quickly take out Arteezy, but with a buyback EG almost turned the fight around. It was a 5 for 4 in favour of Liquid, plus the buyback from Arteezy.The only problem for Liquid was the mobility of EG's mid-game lineup. With Blink Nyx/Puck and the ult on Ember, they were a deadly ganking squad. They managed to catch out the Lycan a few times, but it wasn't enough to slow him down.At 23 minutes Liquid took another Roshan uncontested, and rotated top for a kill on Nyx. Shortly after Mason/Zai got caught out mid by Liquid and also fell. At this point Liquid was gaining their lead, and pushing towers fast with Lycan. For the next few minutes Liquid just kept picking people off, and taking free towers. It really looked like there was nothing EG can do except hope they survive until the ultra late-game. EG tried a last ditch effort to pick off DK at the Dire ancients 34 minutes in, but it backfired and Liquid got off a big stun from Demon and took out 3 heroes and then got another free Roshan. Liquid went bottom and destroyed EG with a fight at their tier 3, and then took the rax. EG bought back on almost everyone and were able to pick off a few and force them back. Arteezy went for a desperation move and got Rapier, but Liquid rolled down mid with ease and finished the game. DK had way too much armour and the rapier did almost no damage. It was GG!The final game of this great Bo3 is the decider of who goes to the LAN Finals in Kiev. EG stuck to their guns with more Timber/Treant, but with the Ember ban they got Naga instead for Arteezy's mid. On the other hand Liquid went another path with Tinker/Doom, but kept Demon on SK since he's been wrecking with him so far.The lanes went well for both teams. Mid was fairly even if you don't count the mass ancient stacks for Tinker. Liquid's supports were getting more levels due to dual lanes, but Doom wasn't getting much farm. Liquid managed to get first blood on Timber at 5 minutes, but after his respawn he was able to get a return kill. For the next few minutes there were a couple small skirmishes, with each team getting minor pick-offs. Tinker was farming extremely hard and got his Travels/Bottle/Soul Ring at 8 minutes. At 10 minutes he rotated bottom and helped Bulba/Wayto secure a kill on both Mirana/Treant. This was Mirana's second death, so Doom was now pulling ahead in net worth. The score is 5-2 and Liquid has secured the early game with a decent lead.The only problem is Arteezy getting free farm and a fast radiance. At 25 minutes the score is 9-5 and both Tinker/Naga are competing in a farm war that Tinker is slightly winning. Overall Liquid is stronger, but Naga is starting look really scary. Another thing to note is the massive lack of farm on Mirana for EG and Doom for Liquid. Tinker will have a hard time handling the Naga alone unless Doom gets some items. Things went stale for 10+ minutes with both teams just farming and doing nothing to each other. At 38 minutes they caught out the Tinker/Disruptor which were massive kills for EG. Arteezy finally started overtaking Tinker on the net worth chart as well, making himself almost indestructible.Things start getting crazy at 48 minutes with Liquid catching out the Naga Siren, and taking the Aegis from Universe. Mason managed to take the mid tier 3 with the help of a buyback from Naga, but the rax remained. Now that Arteezy was so vulnerable Liquid went for the GG death push down mid, and they were able to pick him off and take the mid rax and bottom tier 3 tower. Liquid got a little greedy and lost a few so EG made the decision to counter push down mid with Arteezy up, and with a clutch arrow on Tinker from Mason it all worked out. Liquid lost almost all their rax, and Tinker was forced to BB to protect the remaining rax. At this point Liquid had to do one more death push for the victory, and luckily they caught out Arteezy top before the push, and had a lot of time to finish the game. The push was going well, but Mirana hit another amazing arrow on Tinker and they were able to kill him. If it wasn't for that arrow there is a good chance Liquid could have ended the game before Arteezy was up, or at least kill off EG so he would be alone when respawning. The tier 4's were down, but Arteezy was up again and mega creeps had also taken Liquid's tier 4's. Arteezy decided to TP to Liquid's base and race them to the finish. EG's ancient was only half health by the time he finished Liquid off, it was GG.Congratulations to EG with their impressive 2-1 victory over Liquid. GL in Kiev!!!





CREDITS

Writers: TheEmulator

Gfx: riptide

Editors: TheEmulator

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