Evil Geniuses, one of the CS:GO teams hailing from North America who secured a spot in IEM Rio Major, are struggling to prepare for the tournament because the other teams in the region have been constantly canceling practice with less than 24 hours notice, according to head coach Daniel Vorborg.
The quality of practice in North America has been a problem for years and it only got worse after the COVID-19 pandemic, which made many local organizations shy away from CS:GO esports because tournament organizers transferred all relevant events to Europe.
“Getting the practice we want in NA is definitely harder,” Vorborg said on Twitter yesterday. “One thing is there are fewer good teams, but that is what it is. But in such a short time, the amount of issues we’ve had with teams canceling practices, etc. is mindblowing to me. It’s not about not finding teams, it’s about them canceling the practice with less than 24 hours notice (sometimes even shorter), leaving it difficult to get the correct maps, or even practices at all.”
Vorborg later acknowledged that five of the eight practices EG had scheduled for yesterday and today were suddenly canceled.
Evil Geniuses attended a boot camp in Europe during the Americas Regional Major Ranking (RMR) period earlier this month and traveled back to North America to rest and prepare for IEM Rio Major, which will kick off on Oct. 31.
Evil Geniuses are placed in the Challengers Stage of IEM Rio Major and will face IHC in the opening round on Oct. 31 at 11:30am CT.
Published: Oct 20, 2022 08:17 am