Evil Geniuses botlaner FBI provides context behind team's 0-2 week
For the first four weeks of the LCS 2023 Spring Split, Evil Geniuses looked like the primary contender battling with FlyQuest for the top spot in the LCS regular season standings. Prior to week five, Evil Geniuses stood at a 7-2 record after the first half of the regular season round-robin. Going into this week against Golden Guardians and Dignitas, many were expecting the team to at least go 1-1, if not 2-0. Instead, they found themselves handing Dignitas their first win of the split and boosting Golden Guardians' win streak to seven in a row.
We had the chance to speak to Evil Geniuses botlaner Ian Victor "FBI" Huang about the team's 0-2 week and how a lack of "discipline" resulted in a tough showing on stage.
For the first four weeks, it felt like EG had established itself as a mainstay at the top. This week, it felt different. Do you feel there was a lapse in concentration this week? What do you feel was different?
Well, the game is still pretty fresh in my mind, but I think I'll have to go back and review the game today. I felt that this weeks practice and games were not very challenging. Then, I feel like on-stage games are pretty different and the mistakes made in scrims are things that we can kind of just gloss over, and I feel that actually had a big impact in the games this week on stage. So I think that is kind of a big issue for us and something that we will probably need to work on this week.
Would you say that since you were winning scrims a lot, the team wasn't able to notice as many of the misplays or mistakes made in practice?
Yeah, I think so. I think also, those mistakes, like for example, scrim games maybe don't matter as much, because we might just be snowballing the game too hard. At least for this week, scrim and stage play was very different this week and we will probably have to take a look at the way we practice for this weekend. We just really need to clean it up.
Dignitas won their first game of the LCS 2023 Spring Split against Evil Geniuses.
This most recent game might be tough since it just finished, but against Dignitas, was the team able to figure out what spiraled out of control there?
I feel like yesterday's game came down to just a lot of individual mistakes and not playing around vision, especially myself. I feel like in the later game, I made a crucial mistake in the last game fight when we were coming back. In the early game, I think there was just a lapse of concentration, and the little mistakes made the game very unfavorable for us. I would definitely need to clean it up for next week.
You were part of a group of players that were together since 2020, but this year it’s different. What are some of the biggest changes playing in this team? Is your role easier to play because of how the team can play around you more?
I think the team was really talented and they're very good at knowing win conditions in the game. They are also pretty good about playing around botlane so it's been pretty easy to fit into the team. Obviously, this week was a bit of a shocker for us in terms of our stage games. At least in terms of practice, it's been going very well. Maybe even a bit too well, because I think there are definitely times when we lack discipline, even on stage. We need to clean some things up. But I'm still extremely confident in the team.
Would you say there was a warped perception going into this week because of how scrims were going?
I wouldn’t say it’s about warping perceptions. I just feel that when you win an overwhelming amount of scrims, the mistakes you make don’t carry a big weight, whereas, on stage, it matters a lot.
I wanted to ask you about this season because it is very different for you yourself. After spending three years with that Golden Guardians/100 Thieves core, you are on a different team. After Worlds 2022, what was going through your mind?
I can’t really remember my thoughts going into 2023. At this point, time flies by fast to remember, but at least for the offseason, I knew I did not perform well in 2022. At least, compared to the standards I set for myself. I was pretty disappointed by that so I just went to Korea and grinded super hard. Now, I am back and feel really confident in my own play.
I would say that my recent stage performances could have been better, though. So I'm gonna work hard for this weekend and hopefully show better form in the coming weeks.
You at least have Freeze and Ssumday from 100 Thieves, does that familiarity help as well going into 2023?
Oh, yeah, definitely, it made the transition process to EG a lot easier and it's good because they're my good friends. So it's always fun to hang around with them.
FlyQuest's Prince is the frontrunner for LCS 2023 Spring Split MVP.
Your opponents next week will be TSM and FlyQuest. Just what are your thoughts on going up against those two opponents?
I think TSM is a decent team because they have a good team identity. I think they know the way that they want to play the game and the way that they want to team fight but in terms of FlyQuest I'll say they're a very good team at the moment. They are a very good team on stage, though, they’re not as good in scrims. Still, at the end of the day, scrims don’t matter at all, at least from our performances this week on stage. I think FlyQuest is very strong and I’m excited to play this game.
Do you have any closing statements you want to say to Evil Geniuses fans?
Yeah, sure. I just wanted to say sorry for today’s games. In both games, my individual performance was really lacking. I think both games would have been a win if I had played better so I would just like to apologize. In the coming weeks, I am sure we will have a much better showing.
Where you can watch League of Legends LCS
Viewers can tune in for week 6 of the LCS 2023 Spring Split through the LCS Twitch and YouTube channels.
