On May 23, Evil Geniuses pulled arguably the biggest upset on day 4 of MSI 2022 Rumble Stage, as they beat T1 in their first match of the day. With their victory, G2, EG, and T1 are 4-3 so far. 

The top laner for EG, Jeong “Impact” Eon-young, joined Jeesun Park for a victory interview on the LCK broadcast.

Congratulations on your victory against T1. Talk to me about the match.

To be honest, I thought we lost. The top lane matchup was one where I cannot die, because it was hard for other champions on our team to focus Gwen. I needed to maintain lane priority, but I ended up dying. I think it was around lvl 6 where I lost my Flash, so that’s when things went south. I thought I was being careful, but Zeus caught me out. So I needed to play greedy and somehow get my Triforce. I needed to somehow get it to salvage the game, but Zeus faked his recall and was gunning for me. I thought the game was doomed because Taric was so good into our team composition.

However, I got a lot of shutdowns in front of our inhibitor, so the game became winnable. They randomly started Baron because I think they got hasty and wanted to close out the game quickly off that one mistake they made.

Was all the shutdown gold that EG got the turning point for EG? Or was it the Baron contest?

I think the Baron was the biggest reason, but I also think the shutdown by the inhibitors was also huge. If T1 started Baron without giving us the shutdown gold, they would’ve got it. I wouldn’t have had the items I needed. I’d say the shutdowns near the inhibitor were huge. It was good for us, but their performance was questionable. I didn’t feel good about the win, because it felt like we didn’t deserve it.

Thoughts on the Kalista-Taric bot lane?

I’m not a bot laner, so I just left it to our bot lane to do well. It did look a bit strong. They picked Taric to counter our Nocturne-Galio, but Keria’s plays were a bit hasty. If they tried to bait more with Gwen in the front lines, I think the results would’ve been different. Overall, it felt like they were playing hastily.

PSG also beat G2, so doesn’t this mean good news for EG?

Initially, I hoped that G2 would go to the Rumble Stage as first seed and pick us as their opponents. G2’s a team that rotates with caPs having priority, but I was like, “Why is G2 drafting like that”? I thought G2’s draft was terrible. Nowadays, I think the draft determines which team wins/loses. Tristana looked like the perfect answer to G2’s comp that game. 

Why did you hope G2 would get out as first seed?

Out of RNG, T1, and G2, it looks the most winnable against G2. They’re a team that really loves to fight, but I don’t think they’re too smart about how they skirmish. In that regard, RNG’s better. That’s why I wanted G2 to pick us, but I think that’ll change. It looks a lot tougher if RNG picks us.

EG now sits at a tie record with T1 in the Rumble Stage. What are your thoughts on moving forward?

I’m going to give it my all. It sucks that we didn’t play well early on in the tournament. In the end, the game plan became to fight when we see the angle, and to just be like, "Whatever" if we lose. My teammates agreed to that game plan, and I think it led to great results. If we played scared and passive, I think this game would’ve been tough as well. I think that if we regain our confidence and make the right plays, I think we’ll play better.