Evil Geniuses are the MDL 2016 championship team

Evil Geniuses are the MDL 2016 championship team! After a four game series the TI5 giants overthrew the TI4 champions 3:1 in the grand finals. With an incredible LAN debut of their newly revamped roster, the North American team seizes the first post TI6 title and promise for a successful and exciting Fall Major 2016 season. Evil Geniuses walk away with $112,500 while Newbee take a commendable second place and $50,000 prize.

Evil Geniuses have become the MDL 2016 championship team after a very cogent 3:1 win over Newbee in the grand finals.

It was the first LAN event after TI6 with both teams showing off their new rosters after each having lost key talent and captains. Without much time of a transition for the new rosters to gel, both teams displayed individual talent, synergy and top notch performances already.

After a convincing 2:0 victory over OG, Evil Geniuses proceeded to the Grand Finals to face the TI4 team Newbee.

In the former TI championship face off both teams were poised for greatness but it would be Evil Geniuses that would come out ahead with superior drafting and stellar execution.

MDL 2016 LAN: Lower Bracket Finals

Evil Geniuses vs OG

EG at MDL 2016 playoffs courtesy of Dimitri Vallette

The first game of the series belonged to Evil Geniuses since the start even though it took one hour for them to seal the deal. With a slight advantage in the early game, the North American team started to pull much more ahead as they shut down Morphling and Faceless Void. Ludwig “zai” Wåhlberg had a flawless game and was steadily farming away on Naga while Artour “Arteezy” Babaev’s Anti Mage continued to overwhelm with his own farm – topping the net worth charts. For the second match OG went with the Drow Ranger strategy which worked well for them in the end. After starting out relatively even, with a slight lead in favor of EG, Johan “N0tail” Sundstein’s perfect Drow and Anathan “ana” Pham outstanding Storm Spirit brought the European team to victory in 30 minutes. Their victory forced a deciding game 3. The third game was a solid start for Evil Geniuses taking the first few kills – a level 1 fight with a 5:0 advantage leading to a 10:0 start with both Luna and Alchemist getting free farm. With little way for OG to catch back up after a devastating start EG took the win in just over 30 minutes and the series to move into the Grand Finals.

Evil Geniuses 2:0 OG. Evil Geniuses advance to the Grand Finals. OG are eliminated

MDL 2016 LAN: Grand Finals

Newbee vs Evil Geniuses

Arteezy at MDL 2016 courtesy of Dimitri Vallette

The first match of the long awaited grand finals was an action packed, intense one hour long game. After losing their initial lead around minute 33, Evil Geniuses were able to reclaim it again and rebound about 51 minutes into the game – showing they were able to keep their composure and continue to work on capitalizing on opportunities and build momentum. Syed Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan had a great game on Mirana. Song “Sccc” Chun’s Invoker couldn’t keep the North American’s down for long and Newbee was forced to surrender the first match. The second match Evil Geniuses outdrafted Newbee. The Chinese team didn’t have a counter to Storm Spirit, played extremely well by SumaiL and EG also picked up the Ursa for Arteezy which went well with their strategy. The match was pretty much one sided and EG took their second victory in 38 minutes. After a chaotic start with lots of fighting from both sides and being relatively even, Newbee pulled ahead at minute 20 with a favorable fight. On the back of Xu “uuu9” Han’s Luna and another outstanding game by “Sccc” Newbee was able to take the victory and pushing into a fourth match. The last match EG went with a wisp pick for Ludwig “zai” Wåhlberg giving them an escape, mobility and initiation needed. With stellar coordination and combos EG were able to overtake the Chinese team and the series.

Newbee 1:3 Evil Geniuses. Evil Geniuses are the MDL 2016 championship team

MDL 2016 LAN prize pool

The total prize pool for the event is $250,000.

MDL 2016 Championship team –

Syed Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan, EG, during The International 6 © Valve

After TI6, the long time captain Peter “PPD” Dager transitioned out of the team into a business management position with the brand.

Andreas Franck “Cr1t-” Nielsen stepped into the rather large shoes left open with PPD’s departure. Hailing from one of the most successful teams of the 2015 -2016 year, OG – Cr1t- was part of history as the only team to claim two Valve sponsored championship titles – Frankfurt Major and Manila Major.

For the third time, Artour “Arteezy” Babaev dons the blue jersey for the organization. The famed Canadian player has had an on and off again relationship between Team Secret and Evil Geniuses since 2014.

Saahil “UNiVeRsE” Arora, Syed Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan and Ludwig “zai” Wåhlberg have remained with the team.

Evil Geniuses were close to getting their names written on the Aegis of Champions for the second time. Not close enough, though: they fell to Digital Chaos in the Lower Bracket Finals and placed third overall.

New Evil Geniuses roster:

Artour “Arteezy” Babaev
Andreas Franck “Cr1t-” Nielsen
Saahil “UNiVeRsE” Arora
Ludwig “zai” Wåhlberg
Syed Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan