EG end first round robin of 2022 LCS Summer Split at the top after shutting down Liquid

For the first time in the 2022 LCS Summer Split, Evil Geniuses and Team Liquid stood on opposite sides of the Rift, each entering from the top of the standings—just one victory separating them. The two previously faced off in the 2022 LCS Spring Split playoff semifinals, where EG shocked fans by sweeping Liquid and moving on to lift the LCS trophy.

And EG decided to play the script back today, once more defeating their rivals that did all they could to stop the reigning LCS champions and earning themselves an uncontested hold on first place with an 8-1 record. While the early game opened doors for both teams, once EG found their footing, they brought out the synergy that has allowed this team to make 2022 their most successful year in the LCS.

Inspired and Santorin turned the beginning of the game into a battle of finding out which jungler could get more control of the map, and just how quickly they could do so. Just as Inspired sought to gank his bot lane, Santorin was responding with a kill for his mid laner, evening out the gold in what was a scrappy early game.

Two objectives under the control of Liquid gave them access to diving EG’s bot lane, forcing the reigning LCS champions to expend two Teleports and giving Liquid some turret plates and a gold lead. Yet EG found room to retaliate in a top lane fight that occurred shortly thereafter, where Liquid thought they had caught Jojopyun off guard.

The early-game deficit that plagued EG seemed to dissipate as soon as they won this teamfight. The synergy that afforded the team a dominant run through the Spring Split playoffs became readily apparent as every member of Liquid struggled to take down even a single member of EG.

With Vulcan’s Yuumi on his back, Danny’s Ezreal was able to effectively position himself in fights to not just avoid damage, but deal massive damage in return—while never worrying about his health. Ignoring Danny, who then had eight kills and three completed items, proved to be detrimental to what was almost a winning Baron fight for Liquid, setting them back even further.

Catching various members of a disheveled Liquid out-of-position in their own base was the last step EG needed to secure their victory. Danny and Vulcan emerged from this game with 100-percent kill participation, acting as the most influential factors in multiple winning fights for EG and completely derailing the powerful bot lane pair of Hans sama and CoreJJ.

EG head into the second round robin of the 2022 LCS Summer Split with a hold on an uncontested first place. Following 100 Thieves’ victory earlier today, Liquid are now tied with them in second place. These teams now have four weeks to accrue more wins in an effort to qualify for the LCS Championship in September.