Omega League’s Europe Immortal division is about to kick off and the league is set to feature both interregional competition and some interesting new matchups.
One of the contests that will have both of those is Evil Geniuses vs. 5men. After months of competing exclusively against North and South American foes, Evil Geniuses will get the chance to face stiff competition from Europe. 5men is an interesting new squad, bringing together a number of veteran free agents.
The two are set to face off on August 15 for the second day of the group stage. It will be both teams’ debut in the event.
5men was one of the interesting new squads that appeared in the Omega League qualifiers. Bringing together veteran players from the dissolved rosters of Cloud9 and OG Seed, it established itself as a team to watch by defeating a number of solid European and CIS squads including Team Unique, B8, and Cyber Legacy.
The 5men roster includes the following players:
The ceiling of 5men is unknown at this time. Outside of a youngster in Xibbe, each of the players attached to 5men has a load of experience to their name alongside some major achievements in the past.Â
None of them have done much of note over the last few years, but 5men also looked excellent during the qualifiers. The team had an 8-1 record in the closed qualifier and it might just have the right combination of players to do some big things. If 5men can put forward even a decent performance in the stacked Omega League Europe Immortal division, it’ll mean big things.
Evil Geniuses’ diverse team that brought together players from four different regions looked solid at the start of the season, but hit the rocks when travel restrictions were rolled out. This forced the team to compete with various substitutes and stand-ins and while Evil Geniuses still performed well, it was still successful in large part thanks to the weak competition in North America.
But after months of being separated, Evil Geniuses is set to reunite with one of the players it has been separated from as off laner Roman “RAMZES666” Kushnarev will be competing with the team for the event. This is his first time playing with Evil Geniuses since DOTA Summit 12 in March.
Evil Geniuses’ roster for the Omega League will look like this:
The other noteworthy name on Evil Geniuses’ roster is gpk. The Gambit Esports player will be subbing in as the mid laner for Evil Geniuses as Abed “Abed” Azel L. Yusop remains unable to compete with the team due to his living in his native Philippines.
gpk has largely gone underappreciated due to Gambit Esports’ struggles in holding down a steady roster, but he is a serious talent that could post a breakout performance with Evil Geniuses if he can gel with the team quickly.
The lines are out for Evil Geniuses vs. 5men and according to Winners.bet, Evil Geniuses stands as a fairly significant favorite at 1.29 to 5men’s 3.25. That’s not especially surprising given the star power on Evil Geniuses’ roster and the success its lineup had in a live event setting, but it is a tad unusual given how many variables are attached to Evil Geniuses as the team stands today.
RAMZES666 hasn’t competed with the team in months. gpk hasn’t ever competed with Evil Geniuses before. At least a few members of Evil Geniuses will be dealing with network issues as they play on European servers from North America. Couple all of that with the fact that 5men might be better than they seem on paper, and there is strong upset potential here.Â
5men winning would certainly still be an upset though, and it’s up to the bettor whether the 3.25 line is enough to woo them into rolling the dice.
If you are looking for an esports bookmaker, feel free to try out winners.bet and if you’re looking to find a specific betting related feature or read reviews of bookmakers, visit winners.net
Players must be 21 years of age or older or reach the minimum age for gambling in their respective state and located in jurisdictions where online gambling is legal. Please play responsibly. Bet with your head, not over it. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, and wants help, call or visit: (a) the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey at 1-800-Gambler or www.800gambler.org; or (b) Gamblers Anonymous at 855-2-CALL-GA or www.gamblersanonymous.org.
