EG are continuing their Cinderella tale even against the best of the best in the world
Evil Geniuses have defeated the best of the Americas, LOUD, in a dominant fashion during their Masters Tokyo Playoffs series. With this victory, EG are undefeated at this event, and they have continued their Cinderella story that started in VCT Americas.
The Brazilian Titans and the Champions of VCT American almost never looked this weak against a team in a series. EG completely overpowered them in both Fracture and Ascent, not only winning most of the pistol rounds but also getting the bonus rounds in their favor. Although Kelden “Boostio” Pupello didn’t have the same insane look in this series, his teammates were on point, especially Ethan “Ethan” Arnold, who supported his teammates through great Initiator utilities throughout both maps.
Ethan secured the highest ACS (315) on Ascent against LOUD, with a 19-14 K-D. In a post-match interview with Goldenboy, the Initiator for the North Americans explained how the familiarity with LOUD helped them finally win in their third encounter, with their first two being in the Americas League.
What a round from @ethanarnold! #VALORANTMasters pic.twitter.com/HhRYWjsi4b
— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) June 16, 2023
“Yeah, feels good, especially that being the third time, you know, those guys are insane. Us doing it that cleanly, especially, it feels even better.”
EG’s Preparation Going Against LOUD
When asked about what the team’s preparation was going against the best of the Americas region, Ethan talked about having a “light prep,” saying, “I mean, teams like that, they’re not new, right? They know what we do; we know what they do. It’s our third time playing them. It’s little different than a team that we haven’t played before or haven’t even seen before, but honestly, prep was light, you know, like I said, we know what they do.”
“For Sure We Got Out by Luck”
Before this win, the VALORANT crowd was still unsure about EG’s performance against LOUD, especially since the Brazilians are on top of the chart at every event in recent history, including Champions 2022, LOCK//IN and VCT Americas. On the other hand, the North Americans were considered to be the weakest in their region based on their performance of VCT Americas’ starting weeks.
Credit: Riot Games
“Not gonna lie, we are lucky to be here, for sure we got out by luck, I’d say, but, you know, we are showing what we can hang with the big dogs, and you know we’re undefeated right now, so hopefully we can keep that up.” – Ethan answered about the doubts faced by the masses in this game.
By “lucky to be here,” the 23-year-old referred to the MIBR vs 100 Thieves encounter back in the Regular Season of VCT Americas, where the Brazilians got their first and only win of the tournament through a massive upset, denying 100T their Playoffs spot which got handed down to EG.
The team also proved they could go against the best of the best by defeating DRX in the Group Stage and also through this great series facing LOUD.
EG Ethan Not Ready to Claim the “Best Team” Title Yet
Lastly, Ethan got inquired about the team’s plan going forward in the Playoffs, as they will have to face the winner of EDG vs. Liquid in the upper semifinal. “Prep really heavier for the EMEA teams, especially the APAC teams too.” Ethan also added, “I said before I think LOUD was the best team here. I think they were better than all the regions here.”
To that statement, Goldenboy posed the question we all had in our minds, “You just 2-0’ed them, so you’re the best team here now?”
“Wouldn’t go that far, but I think we’re doing good right now.” – The response was humble from the EG player.
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