Evil Geniuses come into the Shanghai Major as the reigning TI champions. More than that, they come in as the victors of what could be called the first major in all but name, and clearly the predecessor to this Shanghai Major: the Dota Asia Championships 2015. Even though EG are on a distinct cold streak, having won only one LAN tournament since TI5, they have a lot going for them at the Shanghai Major.

One of the perks of winning an International is the ability to decline tournaments without starving. EG has long been a team that is selective about its appearances; since TI5 they’ve participated in just 7 tournaments. While that’s not an irrelevant amount, it’s a far cry from what some less successful teams have to subject themselves to in order to make ends meet. Although 3rd place at the Frankfurt Major was a disappointment, since then, EG have managed to win The Summit 4 and have come in second place at two significant international LANs. A string of performances like that leaves little question about their form leading into this Major.

Gameplay

EG is a team loaded with brilliant talents. While players like Universe and Fear are among the most experienced and reliable around, they pale beside the raw talent and potential of Sumail and Arteezy. Capable of matching any Dota team ever assembled on the grounds of raw skill, what makes EG truly great is their ability to play under the brilliant captaincy of ppd. EG find the most success when they can dictate the pace of the game, taking objectives and proactively choosing their fights. Even in games where they are disadvantaged, EG often manage to stay in control through nuanced map movements and careful coordination.

With this emphasis on control, EG rely on their offlaner Universe to keep their tempo up. On a wide variety of heroes, from Faceless Void to Tidehunter to Nature’s Prophet, he is the active force on the map that opens up space for his other cores. Backing him up is Sumail, whose stable of heroes has recently expanded to yet more aggressive options such as Batrider and Zeus. EG abuse Sumail’s explosive playmaking potential on these heroes to dominate the game and keep their enemies off balance. While Arteezy is rarely too far from the action, it remains his role to secure the late game. EG have come a long way from the days when “whendidegthrowlast.com” required constant updating, and they end games in a very deliberate manner. For a team that attempts to seize control so aggressively, they show remarkable restraint going high-ground.

EG are also known as slow starters in tournaments. ppd’s unerring ability to adapt to the meta of a tournament usually requires a few games to get going. EG also have historically had difficulty taking non-elimination games seriously, regardless of the stage. Once their back is to the wall, however, all bets are off.

Players

How to beat - eg

EG make a strong case for being the best team on earth, but every team is beatable. One of EG’s greatest strengths- ppd’s ability to read deeper into a tournament’s meta than any other captain- can be turned against them in the right situations. And while attempting to defeat EG in a pure contest of skill is generally futile, their up-tempo style can be exploited. Mostly, one must rely upon EG to make mistakes. This is always a risky strategy, but it can certainly pay off.

ppd’s ability to read each tournament’s unique meta as it develops is astounding. His understanding leads to many drafting choices that look strange to the casual observer, but almost always turn out brilliantly. However, sometimes he goes too deep and loses sight of some basic tenets. The clearest example of this is the Upper Bracket Finals of TI5 against CDEC where apparent frustration at losing game 1 brought about potentially the biggest outdraft of the tournament. Giving CDEC their favoured Bounty Hunter support with the intention of warping his draft entirely to counter it backfired spectacularly when CDEC opted for the more old-school offlane BH and EG lost in barely 20 minutes. While ppd is a savvy captain and tough to outfox, things like this as well as a few surprise tools like Huskar and Broodmother have the potential to steal games.

Stylistically, EG is best countered with a specific gameplan. First, one cannot afford to lose the laning stage against EG. A draw, or even a careful trade can work, but allowing EG to run away with the lanes is a recipe for disaster. If the midgame arrives safely, the next goal must be to take control away from EG. The easiest way to do this is to spread the map and deny EG the ability to choose their fights. This does not guarantee victory, but it opens up an avenue to a successful lategame if inevitability is not on EG’s side. If this sounds difficult, it’s because it is, and very few teams succeed at vanquishing EG without some luck on their side. EG especially seem to be vulnerable to Lone Druid, with a depressing record against the hero in their recent finals losses to both Alliance and EHOME. This makes sense, of course, as Lone Druid is a very strong split pusher and laner. That said, it would be strange to see ppd come into a tournament as large as the Shanghai Major with neither a strategy to defeat the hero nor a willingness to ban it.

Lastly, EG have been known to cave to extreme early aggression in the past. While that kind of play is always risky and can backfire (as was the case with Sumail’s legendary Storm Spirit performance at DAC), EG don’t always respond that well. Even though nobody likes to take such a risk in an important tournament like the Shanghai Major, a small chance is better than none at all.