NA is back? Evil Geniuses through to IEM Rio Major over 9z

Evil Geniuses overcame the South American underdogs of 9z 2-1 today in the IEM Rio Major Americas Regional Major Ranking (RMR) 2-0 pool of the Swiss system to secure a spot in the Brazilian CS:GO Major.

This is a great result not only for EG, who missed out on qualifying for the PGL Antwerp Major when Jake “Stewie2K” Yip was still leading the lineup, but also for the North American region as a whole because EG and Liquid will face each other to decide who grabs the only American Legends spot in IEM Rio Major. EG had shown some signs of life in ESL Pro League season 16 last month when they beat Eternal Fire and Movistar Riders and truly flourished in the Americas RMR.

The squad now led by Kazakh player Sanjar “neaLaN” İshakov took down Nouns in the opening round and upset FURIA in the second to reach the 2-0 pool and face 9z. The North Americans breezed past 9z on Overpass (16-5), the South American mix tied the series on Dust II (16-9), and EG kept their composure in check to deny 9z the comeback on Mirage and run away with a 16-13 victory.

Jadan “HexT” Postma, a rifler who was promoted from the former Carpe Diem roster after EG made the Blueprint project, is the most inexperienced player in the EG lineup but he was the one who shined the most against 9z. The 20-year-old averaged a 1.30 rating and finished with a 67-42 K/D.

Moving forward, all that EG have left in the Americas RMR is to play a best-of-three series against Liquid on Oct. 9 for the only Legends spot available. 9z will return to the server tomorrow in the 2-1 pool to try to qualify for the IEM Rio Major on their second try.