NRG Esports vs Evil Geniuses Preview and Predictions – VCT 2023 Americas Playoffs

The NRG Esports vs Evil Geniuses matchup will be the second Upper Round 1 game of the Playoffs

We are going into the Playoffs matches, and these two North American rosters have found themselves facing each other again in a single week. NRG and EG had their Regular Season game last Thursday, where crashies led his teammates to a dominating 2-0 victory against fellow North Americans. However, expecting the same outcome in this Bo3 may not be the best idea, considering how many upsets we have seen in all three VCT Leagues. Here are our predictions on which team will move forward to face Cloud9 in the Upper Semifinal.

NRG Esports

After a weak run in the first few games, NRG had a 180 in their last four weeks of the Regular Season, even defeating LOUD with a 2-0 score in the process. During these victories, crashies and Victor have been the guiding lights for the team, and we expect them to continue doing great in their Playoffs run. However, they must account for Demon1’s aggression as well as Boostio’s IGLing skill that can counter FiNESSE’s strategy in this matchup.

Players

Austin “crashies” Roberts

• Role: Sentinel/Initiator
• VLR Rating: 1.06
• Average Combat Score: 202.0
• Kill/Death Ratio: 1.07
• Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 74%
• Average Damage per Round: 133.2

Ardis “ardiis” Svarenieks

• Role: Flex
• VLR Rating: 1.07
• Average Combat Score: 230.8
• Kill/Death Ratio: 1.13
• Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 72%
• Average Damage per Round: 147.5

Victor “Victor” Wong

• Role: Controller/Sentinel
• VLR Rating: 1.03
• Average Combat Score: 221.8
• Kill/Death Ratio: 1.05
• Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 72%
• Average Damage per Round: 141.1

Pujan “FiNESSE” Mehta

• Role: Initiator
• VLR Rating: 0.88
• Average Combat Score: 173.7
• Kill/Death Ratio: 0.85
• Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 69%
• Average Damage per Round: 114.5

Sam “s0m” Oh

• Role: Controller
• VLR Rating: 1.05
• Average Combat Score: 219.1
• Kill/Death Ratio: 1.10
• Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 72%
• Average Damage per Round: 138.6

Player to Watch

Victor

Evil Geniuses

EG looked like one of the weakest teams in the Americas League during the first five weeks, even getting served a 0-13 loss by LOUD. However, the North Americans were able to turn it around in their last few matches, and the 100 Thieves' loss against MIBR allowed them to proceed to the Playoffs. While we don’t see them winning this Bo3, Demon1 and Ethan will likely be the squad's strongest members and bring us and close game.

Players

Kelden “Boostio” Pupello

• Role: Sentinel/Controller
• VLR Rating: 0.99
• Average Combat Score: 224.2
• Kill/Death Ratio: 1.07
• Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 69%
• Average Damage per Round: 144.2

Corbin “C0M” Lee

• Role: Initiator/Controller
• VLR Rating: 1.03
• Average Combat Score: 197.9
• Kill/Death Ratio: 1.02
• Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 72%
• Average Damage per Round: 131.2

Max “Demon1” Mazanov

• Role: Flex
• VLR Rating: 1.11
• Average Combat Score: 242.5
• Kill/Death Ratio: 1.26
• Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 72%
• Average Damage per Round: 158.9

Alexander “jawgemo” Mor

• Role: Flex
• VLR Rating: 1.01
• Average Combat Score: 222.2
• Kill/Death Ratio: 0.99
• Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 69%
• Average Damage per Round: 142.9

Ethan “Ethan” Arnold

• Role: Initiator
• VLR Rating: 1.04
• Average Combat Score: 207.0
• Kill/Death Ratio: 1.04
• Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 73%
• Average Damage per Round: 133.2

Player to Watch

Demon1

VCT 2023 Americas Playoffs – NRG Esports vs Evil Geniuses Predictions

NRG will break down the defenses of Evil Geniuses with a 2-1 victory in this series. 

NRG Esports vs Evil Geniuses – Head to Head

NRG Esports 4 – 0 Evil Geniuses

NRG Esports vs Evil Geniuses – Maps

• Map 1: Lotus
• Map 2: Split
• Map 3: Ascent

NRG Esports vs Evil Geniuses – Score

• Map 1: NRG Esports to win with Evil Geniuses>8
• Map 2: Evil Geniuses to win with NRG Esports<9
• Map 3: NRG Esports to win with Evil Geniuses<11

NRG Esports vs Evil Geniuses – Top Fragger

Victor

VCT 2023 Americas Playoffs – Evil Geniuses vs NRG Esports Match Links

• Twitch 
• YouTube

NRG Esports vs Evil Geniuses – Match Time

May 23, 2023 – 15:00 PT // 18:00 ET // 00:00 CEST