
Evil Geniuses and Fnatic settled for draws against respective foes to end Day 2 hostilities in The International in Bucharest, Romania on Friday, October 8.
EG failed to sustain its momentum after a blistering Game 1, allowing Alliance to force a draw in Game 2. Fnatic, on other hand, was able to salvage a game against Quincy Crew to still end day with a point after suffering two sweep losses early on.
It was a dominant showing for EG in the series opener as it routed Alliance, 29-9, in just 29 minutes of play. Artour “Arteezy” Babaev put on a show on his Monkey King, finishing with an impressive 11-1-11 KDA to lead the North American squad. Filipino star Abed “Abed” Yusop provided the support with a 6-2-10 stat line.
The Game 1 beatdown, however, came as a wake-up call for Alliance as it returned the favor in Game 2. Nikolay “Nikobaby” Nikolov led the European team to a 22-14 retaliation in the second game to force a draw. EG had no answers for Nikobaby on his Morphling, who wreaked havoc with an impeccable 11-0-4 showing.
The same scenario also happened to Fnatic in the last of its three-match schedule in Day 2.
After surrendering 2-0 sweeps against SG Esports and group leader PSG.LGD, Fnatic showed some urgency after pulling off a 27-14 victory in Game 1. The Filipino one-two punch of Raven “Raven” Fausto and Djardel “DJ” Mampusti worked wonders for Fnatic. DJ on his Winter Wyvern dictated the tempo with 2-2-17 KDA while Raven had perfect 8-0-9 performance on his Wraith King.
Quincy Crew, though, found answers against Fnatic in Game 2 squeezing a 19-14 win to even the series.Quinn “Quinn” Callahan on his Void Spirit led the attack for QC with a 7-2-7 KDA as Fnatic once again struggled in the final game of the series.
Fnatic will face Beastcoast and Team Spirit while EG will lock horns with the defending champion OG and Thunder Predator in Day 3.