MSI 2022 Group Stage: G2 Esports Prevail Evil Geniuses In a Close Match On Day 2

Day 2 of Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) 2022 kicked off with a classic rematch of North America (NA) vs Europe (EU). After already going head-to-head on Day 1 of MSI 2022 Group Stage, G2 Esports (G2) and Evil Geniuses (EG) walked into this match-up hoping to win it and cement their stand in Group C. The match was very back and forth with both the teams having highlight plays, but G2 Esports continued its win streak and dominated Evil Geniuses once again, by picking up a 38 minute victory.

After the sweet victory against EG on Day 1, Rasmus "caPs" Borregaard Winther said he respected the trash talk but stated that Joseph Joon "jojopyun" Pyun has to match his big words. However, jojopyun and his team failed to live up to the big expectations once again.

In the post-game interview, Raphaël "Targamas" Crabbé said it wouldn’t be fit if G2 forgets to throw one game. Talking about the Baron Nashor fight, which swung in favor of Evil Geniuses, Targamas said G2 “inted a bit” because they were not really sure what to do. “We didn’t play this comp that much. It was kind of an adaptation on the fly during the draft that caPs is supposed to play Galio-Camille.” He also stated that Pyke was a champion that really does not have a counter pick in lane and that is why G2 Esports prioritized it early in the draft phase.

G2 picks Camille-Galio in draft

G2 dominates the early game

The early game was very action-packed with players fighting all over the map. Both the junglers – Marcin "Jankos" Jankowski and Kacper "Inspired" Słoma – started on their side of their map and avoided crazy invades at level 1. However, G2 bot lane was aggressive and popped off on the Kai’Sa and Pyke duo as Victor "Flakked" Lirola Tortosa picked up first blood, thanks to Targamas’ engage.

G2’s Pyke continued to roam around the map and in the meantime, Jankos helped Flakked pick up another kill on Kyle "Danny" Sakamaki on the Ezreal. The Pyke and Galio picks found value in the champions’ global mobility, aiding their allies. G2 picked up Rift Herald and slowly extended its gold lead on EG. After picking up a kill on Jeong "Impact" Eon-young on the top lane, G2 summoned the Herald but lost two members in the fight that ensued after that.

Even though EG found a couple of kills in return, it was still pushed under its towers, without any access to neutrals and objectives. At 14 minutes, G2 Esports had a gold lead of 4K with two towers already taken down.

Flakked snowballs his early kills

At 18 minutes, Flakked had already collected six kills, finished two-and-a-half items, and helped his team snowball the lead.

At 20 minutes, Sergen "Broken Blade" Çelik was caught in EG’s jungle and was punished for it, helping Evil Geniuses use that sliver of a window to gain some vision. A coin flip play at the Baron Pit at 27 minutes took place. Evil Geniuses killed G2 members as they were killing Baron Nashor and turned the game around by picking up the buff for itself and closing down the gold gap from 9K to 1.5K.

Evil Geniuses break open G2’s base but G2 reverses it

At 29 minutes, Evil Geniuses used the Baron buff to take down two inhibitors of G2 Esports. Ezreal’s damage was too much for G2 Esports to handle as Danny and his teammates took down the third inhibitor. However, G2 Esports baited EG in and out and held on to its base tightly. While chasing down the Ezreal, G2 Esports traded the Galio again and gave EG the opportunity to escort its minions into its opponent’s base.

Evil Geniuses pressed its advantage and claimed the second Baron Buff. However, after a bloody team fight on G2’s base, EG got aced and G2 Esports picked up the Infernal Soul. G2 Esports picked up a sweet team fight victory on the bottom side of the map and aced Evil Geniuses again and extended the gold lead by 6K. G2 Esports turned the tables and ended the game after the fight very quickly as the death-timers were very long.