TSM took down Evil Geniuses in a 3-1 series to advance in the lower bracket of the Mid-Season Showdown on March 27. Evil Geniuses, as the sixth seed, are out of the playoffs and will be looking towards the Summer Split for international competition qualification. TSM will move on in the lower bracket and face either 100 Thieves or Dignitas in the second round. TSM was knocked into the lower bracket after a 1-3 loss to Team Liquid earlier in the tournament.
Hu “SwordArt” Shuo-Chieh earned player of the series as the support player and had 26 assists over the four game match. The imported player also had many clutch fights and helped the team over the hump in the final game to close out the series.
TSM roll through Evil Geniuses at Mid-Season Showdown
In the first game, TSM took almost every objective and closed out the match in under 30 minutes. The squad only had six deaths and only gave up one Drake to Evil Geniuses. Evil Geniuses took the second matchup in a similarly dominant fashion. The eventual losers only gave up five deaths, two towers and two neutral objects in the match. In that same game, TSM’s two star players Tristan “PowerOfEvil” Schrage and Lawrence “Lost” Sze Yuy Hui did not put up a single kill.
The third and fourth games were much closer than the previous matchups as both teams had neutral objective control and close fights at many points. TSM took game three thanks to the team’s bot lane team fighting. Lost and SwortArt combined for only three deaths and 13 assists. The team took control of the final 10 minutes thanks to a team fight win around the Drake. TSM converted that team fight into a second Drake, Baron and eventually the game.
Evil Geniuses went into the final game with a slight lead thanks to early top pressure. That lead was converted to a tower and Rift Herald. The team accrued a gold lead after that, peaking at an over 2,000 gold at 32 minutes. But after a disastrous team fight at 30 minutes, because of a Lost double kill, Evil Geniuses lost its lead and eventually the game.
TSM finished off the series 3-1 and will move on to the next round of the tournament. Evil Geniuses are now eliminated from the post-season. The team will be back to competition in the Summer Split of the LCS.
