Neslyn A. January 20, 2019
After seven years with Evil Geniuses, Clinton "Fear" Loomis’ first major venture beyond EG is off to a rocky start.
J.Storm parted with Milan "MiLAN" Kozomara after qualifying to the Chongqing Major and finishing second in the North America qualifier of ESL One Katowice. Fear left EG on in May of 2018 noting his exhaustion and his hopes to spend more time with his family. But by the end of the year, J.Storm had signed the EG veteran to complete their Chongqing Major roster.
The first best-of-three series for J.Storm was against Vici Gaming, who started their draft with ambitious Earth Spirit and Dazzle picks against J.Storm’s Sven. Both teams opted for a unique draft as Vici Gaming sent Dazzle mid and J. Storm utilized Sven as a support.
Zeng "Ori" Jiaoyang’s Dazzle pick quickly paid off in combination with constant rotations from the Earth Spirit. With an early dominating streak, Ori took objectives with his Necronomicon and let the team’s carrying Terrorblade bounce back from what had been a hard laning phase.
A successful team fight inside the Roshan pit sealed the deal for Vici Gaming as they snatched the aegis and killed the enemies’ core heroes.
J.Storm managed a better showing in the second game as both teams executed successful rotations and traded important kills across the map.
Vici Gaming proved the better team when a clash in the middle lane resulted in J.Storm being wiped and Roshan going to Vici. The Chinese side ended the game in 40 minutes with a 25k gold advantage.
Unfortunately, J.Storm finished in the last spot of their group after being swept by The Pango 2-0. Team Liquid dominated the group, winning both series played while dropping only a single game.
Virtus.pro, PSG.LGD, Team Liquid, and Fnatic are all set in the upper bracket of the major’s main event after winning the top seeds in their respective groups.