Top North American team Evil Geniuses (EG) overcame a stout base defense by Nigma Esports to win their marquee matchup, 2-1, to open the DreamLeague Season 13: The Leipzig Major Playoffs.
With the series tied up at one game apiece, Nigma last picked a Tinker for Aliwi “w33” Omar to head a base defense that also featured a Legion Commander for Ivan “MinD_ControL” Ivanov, Elder Titan for Maroun “GH” Merhej, and Treant Protector for Kuro “Kuroky” Salehi Takhasomi.
EG predictably dominated from the early game onwards, keyed by strong starts for Artour “Arteezy” Babaev on Bloodseeker and Abed Azel “Abed” Yusop on Outworld Devourer. However, they were unable to take any big objectives as Nigma also had the Repair Kit neutral item drop for them to supplement their already intimidating base defense.
With EG holding a gold advantage over 30k but still unable to break through Nigma’s defenses, it looked like the game was going to hit the 70-minute mark — where EG could realistically win with the right Tier 5 neutral item drops.
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However, EG stayed patient and continually applied pressure that eventually forced Nigma to venture out of their base to try and relieve it. But that maneuver played into EG’s favor, as they were able to kill four Nigma heroes to open up their base.
EG also had the Leveller — which gave attack speed and bonus damage against buildings — drop for them. That helped the North American squad eventually close the series out after 52 minutes.
With their win, EG advance to the next round of the Upper Bracket where they will be facing the winner of the all-Chinese matchup between Vici Gaming and Invictus Gaming.
Meanwhile, Nigma find themselves in familiar ground as they will once again try to win another tournament all the way from the Lower Bracket.
READ MORE: Leipzig Major Group Stage Day 2 recap
