Evil Geniuses triumph in Turkey to win StarSeries & i-League Season 8

After a loss to Ninjas in Pyjamas in the Group B semifinal, Evil Geniuses fought back through the Lower Bracket against Heroic and FURIA before getting their revenge on NiP in the Losers' Final to make their way into the playoffs.

Beating Fnatic in the Winners' Final initially 2-1, EG met the Swedes again in the Grand Finals and closed it out in clean 2-0 fashion.

Evil Geniuses won ESL One New York in their first tourney after leaving NRG Esports last month, but were eliminated in last place at DreamHack Masters Malmö after losses to Grayhound Gaming and mousesports. A win in Turkey establishes Malmö as the fluke result rather than their domestic triumph.

Last week, Fnatic won on home soil at DreamHack Masters Malmö with eerie similarity to their previous run under returning IGL Maikil "Golden" Selim that saw them victorious at WESG 2017 and IEM Katowice in 2018, but it was not to be in Turkey this weekend.

IEM Beijing next week will be the next opportunity for EG to not only win yet anothet title but add another win to their name towards the Intel Grand Slam Season 3.

As the only team heading to China with a win on the board, EG will need to see off Astralis, ENCE, FaZe Clan, mousesports, TYLOO, Vici Gaming and Team Vitality to take the lead.

Fnatic's next chance to get their second win will come if they can qualify for the ESL Pro League Season 10 Finals.

After finishing second in their group, they will return to the UK for a second round of games in the middle of November and will need to finish in the top two of their group to make it to Odense, Denmark.

Evil Geniuses are already qualified for the next EPL Pro League Finals, so could potentially have three out of four events needed for the Grand Slam heading into 2020.