EG CeRq hits back at CS:GO fans suggesting Evil Geniuses had ‘easy run’ to IEM Rio Major

Evil Geniuses have been on the road to recovery as the Counter-Strike roster makes it to the IEM Rio Major 2022 after clocking up a 3–0 record in the qualifying stage.

The squad has been in turmoil for years, with early exits and unsatisfying results galore since their last noteworthy win in ESL One Cologne 2020 where the squad placed first among a collection of the region’s best teams.

Evil Geniuses has taken down the likes of FURIA (16–14), Nouns (16–7), and 9z (2–1) to book their tickets to the main event.

There’s still one more challenge to overcome: NA rivals Liquid.

Both teams have made it through the qualifying stage unscathed and whoever wins the upcoming best of three will make it to the major, with the other going to the Challengers stage.

Tsvetelin “CeRq” Dimitrov spoke with Dust2, about their recent surprising success, saying “Pretty much nobody expected we would go through 3–0.” 

The Hungarian AWPer argued the opponents in his region were more difficult than Counter-Strike audiences thought after seeing suggestions his roster had been handed an easy road to Rio. “Some people might say it was an easy run because we had to play 9z, but honestly, I don’t think those people really know the game.”

CeRq later explained the reason for their form; new additions to the roster have revamped their play style. “We’re behind the meta because of everything that happened in the past year, so he [neaLaN] has been helping each of us, especially HexT.”

All of the North American CS:GO scene has struggled to make a dent against their opposition across the globe, with Liquid being the exception in a few circumstances.