Evil Geniuses Sweep 100 Thieves in Most One-Sided LCS Final Of All Time

The NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas erupted in celebration as Evil Geniuses (EG) claimed its first League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) trophy by winning the 2022 Spring Split in a quick 3-0 sweep over 100 Thieves. This is the fastest final in the history of the LCS and following this, Evil Geniuses has cemented its spot at the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI). After a very hype opening ceremony anchored by Tyler “tyler1” Steinkamp, the Best-of-Five (BO5) series lived up to the expectations of the fans. The audience witnessed fancy tower dives, sizzling multi-kills and immaculate team-fighting in this series between Evil Geniuses and the defending champions 100 Thieves.

Notably, this is the first LCS title for Evil Geniuses, a team that has been lauded this split for its roster filled with North American talent.

EG funnels gold into Jinx to claim Game 1

Game 1 of the Best-Of-Five (BO5) was action-packed and bloody. Just within minutes of the game start, the bot-lanes of both the teams were trading punches back and forth, but a clean setup by Choi "huhi" Jae-hyun Renata on 100 Thieves’ side helped secure a kill on EG Kyle "Danny" Sakamaki at 2.30 minutes in the game.

The Renata proved very effective as she set up a good gank on mid and helped the team get another early kill on the mid-lane. 100T gave away its early game lead with poor timing on the first dragon as Danny’s Jinx picked up two quick kills. Kim "Ssumday" Chan-ho on the Aatrox got two valuable kills at the first Herald fight and helped close out the gold gap that EG was steadily growing.

With the second Herald pickup, EG funneled solo tower gold and kills into the Jinx, helping her scale well into the scary late-game monster that she is. At 25 minutes again, EG gained a gold advantage of 1.6K, thanks to the immaculate positioning of the Jinx and Philippe "Vulcan" Laflamme on the Tahm Kench. After a well-coordinated team fight at 28 minutes, EG secured the Baron Nashor, and to make matters worse for 100T, Kacper "Inspired" Słoma also stole away the Mountain Dragon. Following this, EG marched down the mid-lane and broke down the nexus at 30 minutes.

23-minute win for EG in Game 2

The second game of the series was a lot slower than the first one but the bottom lanes of both EG and 100T continued to keep it spicy with their constant trades. The Mordekaiser pick on the top lane for Jeong "Impact" Eon-young against the Ornn tank also proved to be very effective for EG. 100T picked up two kills on the top lane and got an early gold advantage, thanks to a timely roam by the Nautilus support. After a team fight victory at 15 minutes in-game, EG came up on top with a gold lead of 1.8K, which it translated into the first dragon of the game.

100T just could not find a response to the pace of EG as the top side of the map fell very quickly. At 20 minutes, the EG squad had a gold lead of 7K gold with the Mordekaiser playing a vital role in team fights and shredding down the tanks. The power farming by Can "Closer" Çelik did not bear fruit in this game as the Jarvan IV came out on top in the match-up with his team fighting power and ganking ability.

Following this, EG extended its gold lead by securing Baron Nashor and taking down towers. 100T’s nexus fell down at 23 minutes and EG moved one step closer to claiming the LCS title.

Quadra kill for Danny in Game 3

100T chose to play the Blue side in Game 3 of the 2022 LCS Spring Finals. Once again, the bottom lane continued to be the center of attention as both the duos traded aggressively, but it was 100T that secured the first blood on the Nautilus support. Vulcun picked up a double kill on the enemy bot lane after Ian Victor "FBI" Huang on Zeri dove Danny under the tower at 8 minutes in the game.

Following this, 100T managed to pick up with the first dragon of the match. Felix "Abbedagge" Braun picked up a crucial kill on Gnar with a well-timed roam up to the top lane, but it was offset by a misplay by FBI, who overstayed his welcome after a good team fight.

EG continued to play around Danny as Inspired summoned the Herald in the bot-lane, helping the duo secure some turret platings. Joseph "jojopyun" Joon Pyun on the Viktor also kept pressuring mid by crashing waves into the tower and farming up well.

EG’s prowess in team fighting helped the team secure the second Rift Herald and a 4.8K gold advantage. At 18 minutes, 100T lost its mid-lane inhibitor tower and its tier 2 bot tower. Danny picked up a quadra kill and EG closed out the game at 24 minutes, to claim its first ever LCS title.

EG decimated 100 Thieves 3-0 in the series which lasted just 1 hour, 18 minutes and 27 seconds in total. This made it the quickest LCS final in history.

Now, EG will be going up against G2 Esports and ORDER in Group C in the 2022 MSI which is scheduled to begin on 10th May.