EG Ethan on Demon1: "Honestly, we kind of got him just for the raw firepower."
Evil Geniuses are no longer winless in VALORANT Champions Tour Americas 2023. After starting out the circuit with a pair of 0-2 losses to fellow North American squads Cloud9 and 100 Thieves, EG clawed their way to a 2-1 victory last Sunday over KRÜ Esports.
The match against KRÜ was the first full match for Max “Demon1” Mazanov, who played one of the map against 100 Thieves the week prior but came in as a full-time starter for EG against KRÜ. The roster change was considered controversial not due to Demon1 himself, but due to who he was replacing – Brendan "BcJ" Jensen, who has been EG’s best individual performer in VCT Americas, was sat in favor of Demon1.
EG’s roster move ended up paying off, but it didn’t look that way right out of the gate. KRÜ was up 9-3 at the half on Pearl, but it was EG who stormed back and took the map 13-11. Ascent was equally competitive, but it was KRÜ who took the win by the same score as the previous map. Fracture was deadlocked at 7-7 before EG took over and won the last six rounds in a row to take the match.
“I think that's kind of how fracture is right now,” Ethan "Ethan" Arnold told Esports Illustrated after the win. “If you're reading the enemy team well, t just snowballs so easily. Ults are a huge thing on that map, too, so if something goes wrong, and you get the right number of ults and the right combos, you just you can just start rolling. That’s kind of what happened.”
One thing was constant throughout all three maps: EG looked better than they have all season with Demon1 in the lineup. BcJ is an undeniably talented player individually, but with Demon1 in the roster, EG possess a gear not previously seen in the first two weeks of VCT Americas.
Honestly, we kind of got him just for the raw firepower,” said Ethan when asked about Demon1. “We felt like we were a little lacking with the five that we had, and there were a couple role incompatibilities. So him coming in helped, and also changed things a little bit.
I think he definitely has the talent. He's up and coming. So I mean, we just got to mold them correctly. And he's brought a lot already just in practice and stuff. So yeah, I think he's a bright future”
EG will look to keep their momentum heading into the VCT Americas super week against Brazilian powerhouses FURIA Esports on Saturday, April 22nd and LOUD on Monday, April 24th,
