The Cinderella run isn’t over: EG prove they can go head-to-head with one of the world’s top teams at VCT Masters Tokyo

Evil Geniuses have had a tumultuous year, to say the least. From being one of the most inconsistent VALORANT teams in the Americas League to just scraping by to VCT Masters Tokyo, the team are now proving they can stand up to some of the best rosters in the world.

In what many are considering a massive upset, VCT America’s third-place squad unseated Korea’s DRX from their group-stage throne on June 12. EG not only slayed the group stage demons, but they did it in 2-0 fashion as well.

After their victory over DRX, EG are now the first team at VCT Masters Tokyo to advance out of the group stage and secure a top-eight spot.

EG faced heavy criticism throughout the VCT Americas season due to controversial roster changes and strategies. In contrast, DRX were one of the most consistent teams in the entire world throughout the first part of the year.

But as we know, VALORANT is a momentum-based game at all levels, and after these two teams had opposite experiences in their regular season leagues, their trajectory is continuing to go in very different directions.

While EG have only gotten better over the last month, with them finally starting to gel together and the roster looking like a well-rounded unit, DRX have had noticeable issues that may have cost them the VCT Pacific title.

Yet the clash of these two teams seemed to still favor the Korean squad, who have had numerous international appearances and finished as high as third place overall at an international VCT event.

DRX have opted to go for the newer version of their roster so far in the tournament, which includes young duelist player Foxy9 instead of veteran Zest. On the side of EG, Demon1 has been helping them to their victories after fears he may not make the tournament at all.

The two teams began their battle on Fracture, a good map for both squads.

While EG ran a standard composition, DRX switched things up and opted for a variation of their Fracture composition that shifts Foxy9 onto Raze and Rb onto Fade. Longtime DRX fans will have noticed a complete shift in strategy on Fracture based on this composition alone.

DRX have been winning Pacific League matches by using a Neon-focused composition that absolutely demolishes the defense on this map. Instead of that strategy, the team decided to instead focus much more heavily on utility than speed and force. There were lineups galore, but they didn’t look entirely coordinated with this strategy.

EG, on the other hand, looked dialed in.

Foxy9 wasn’t making an impact on Raze, while on the other side, jawgemo finished the map with a KDA of 22/11. EG won Fracture after DRX were only able to win five rounds.

On Ascent, things just got better for EG, and the team put up an incredible map.

Demon1 seemed activated and ready to go, getting frags left and right with everything from knives to an Operator. The team moved as a unit and worked together seamlessly, adapting to everything DRX threw at them.

EG truly showcased their depth, not only in their roster but also in their pool of strategies. The players are clearly learning and adapting, a key feature of any team slated to make a deep run at an international tournament.

EG took Ascent 13-10 with a picture-perfect finish from Demon1, and beat DRX 2-0.

EG will now get a few days of rest before the playoffs stage of the tournament, which begins on June 16. The team will have to wait to see who their first opponent will be in the playoffs.