Evil Geniuses is back in action in the Dota Pro Circuit’s North American league, and the team looks to be in good form. But can the squad be looked at as a slam dunk against all comers moving forward?
That’s the question bettors are facing at the moment as EG approaches something of a grudge match against SADBOYS. This was one of the most intriguing matchups set to happen in the league’s first season, and it’s now set to happen in the first week of action. But how should this one be approached by bettors?
Evil Geniuses is one of Dota 2’s biggest names, but the game was forced to move on without them for a long while. After staying active during the first half of 2020, Evil Geniuses took most of the summer off. The team’s only appearance in a tournament since June 2020 was a mediocre showing in OMEGA League’s Europe Immortal division.
The team technically came back largely intact for the DPC leagues, but was actually forced to start over. Mid laner Abed “Abed” Azel L. Yusop hadn’t competed with Evil Geniuses since March, and off laner Roman “RAMZES666” Kushnarev was dropped in favor of Daryl Koh “iceiceice” Pei Xiang.
The lineup played its first game together on January 19 by defeating 4 Zoomers. While EG took the victory, 4 Zoomers made them work hard for it.
Were those difficulties due to Evil Geniuses being rusty? The new roster not working well? Or is it just that 4 Zoomers is finally starting to come into its own? That’s hard to say, but oddsmakers are approaching EG as though it’s firing on all cylinders. That may or may not be true, but Evil Geniuses is now set to face one of the most seasoned teams in the league in its second game.
SADBOYS is an interesting squad made up of veteran players, including two members of Evil Geniuses’ The International-winning lineup in Peter “ppd” Dager and Clinton “Fear” Loomis. The duo is surrounded by a number of skilled teammates, most of whom have enjoyed success on Dota 2’s grandest stages.
The team came together seemingly on a whim, pulling apart the short-lived 4FUN squad and adding two veterans coming off of an extended hiatus. Their only appearance to date came in the BTS Pro Series Season 4 event, where the team finished third. Veteran squads tend to be a mixed bag, but with a young mid laner and a proven captain, there could be something to this particular team.
SADBOYS has undoubtedly been spending the last several weeks practicing, and that should mean that this is a better version of the team than the one seen in December. But can they beat Evil Geniuses?
Though Evil Geniuses isn’t yet a proven commodity in the region, the team is regarded as an enormous favorite over SADBOYS in their matchup. Winners.bet has a bet on SADBOYS to win the series over 4.50 at this time, compared to 1.16 for Evil Geniuses.Â
Though Evil Geniuses should be looked at as the favorite, it’s hard not to look at them as overrated here. That isn’t to say that they should be bet against, but it’s worth taking a good look at the side markets on this one just because it likely won’t end in the complete drubbing that the odds would suggest.
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