The 2022 LCS Summer Playoffs continue to heat up, with Cloud9 defeating Evil Geniuses 3-1 in the second round of competition. The result came as a shock to many fans and analysts, considering the perceived strength of both teams heading into the match. Most had EG as the favorites — while they had cruised to a first place ranking off of a fresh LCS championship, C9 face many struggles throughout the year, and narrowly escaped dropping to the lower bracket of playoffs after a 3-2 victory against Counter Logic Gaming. 

To not only defeat EG, but to do so in the one-sided fashion that Cloud9 did, was a huge surprise to most — including EG. Despite their team success, and every member of the team making the 2022 Summer Split’s LCS All-Pro Team, and having the privilege of having a full series of game footage to scout C9, EG failed to show up. 

What was weirder was that although it was apparent they had many problems, it wasn’t as though there was a glaring reason for their loss. C9 performed okay, but many saw it as an EG blunder rather than an incredible showing from the former. On social media, many reflected that their read of the changing meta may have something to do with it — a common cause for elite teams faltering. However, when Inven Global asked about this with the team’s mid laner Joseph "Jojopyun" Pyun, he did not see it that way. “I don't think so,” Jojopyun explained. “We like the meta how it is, we just didn't play well. We didn't really do anything too well today."

All other possible reasons quickly fall under scrutiny. It wasn’t one individual dragging the rest of the team down — everyone seemed to hold responsibility. It wasn’t burnout after a long season — the coaching staff took active measure to prevent this, and none of the players complained of this being a problem. They took the same measure to prevent the team from becoming overconfident, with Jojopyun saying, “It's not like we were being complacent before this. I mean, we were still doing the same hard work. I think we just played badly.”

Rather than a diagnosable problem, the sentiment among EG’s players appears to be that the reason for their loss was more just them having a cold night. Kacper "Inspired" Słoma aired a similar thought to Jojopyun in his interview with Upcomer, stating, “I think today we just choked.” What’s odd, though, when considering last split. EG were the exact opposite — average throughout most of the regular season before going into playoffs. 

However, their aspirations for the LCS Championship and Worlds 2022 are not over. They will soon face TSM in the losers bracket, and have the opportunity to prove this loss as a simple hiccup. It’s a long road, but EG has pleasantly surprised North American fans many times this year. When asking Jojopyun what he would like to say to EG fans, he stated, “Thank you for supporting us even after this loss. We'll definitely show up, so just keep faith in us.”