Will the Korean players be able to respond to the arrogant "Geniuses"? - Match prediction for DRX vs Evil Geniuses

Next up, we have another semi-final match of the upper bracket of Valorant Champions 2023, where representatives from South Korea - DRX will face off against the top dogs of the American region, Evil Geniuses. Let's delve into the current form of the teams and try to predict which one will come out on top.

DRX Form

The Korean squad is not the most decorated team of this championship; more so, DRX has no Tier-1 tournament victories under its belt. However, the team consistently delivers decent results and has clinched prize spots: 3rd place in last year's Valorant Champions 2022, 3-4th place at VCT 2023: LOCK//IN São Paulo, and 2nd place in the VCT 2023: Pacific League regular season. Despite this, the current world championship has been going splendidly for the Koreans, who emerged as favorites in Group D of Death, bagging 2 wins against LOUD 2-1 and against NAVI 2-1, both considered strong teams, yet DRX prevailed.

So far this season, the squad has played 24 matches, winning 17 of them, with a team win rate of 70%.

Evil Geniuses Form

The majority of viewers have mixed feelings about the American team, and there's a reason for that. Despite their high level of play and leadership in their region, the squad turns fans off with their behavior and controversial statements, including taunting opponents during matches and making negative comments during press conferences. So far, the team hasn't backed up its brash behavior with major tournament wins. From the beginning of the current season, EG players took 3rd place at VCT 2023: Americas League and 2nd place at VCT 2023: Masters Tokyo. VCT 2023: LOCK//IN São Paulo was a flop for the team, with a 9-16th place finish. This can't be said about their current performance in the group stage of Valorant Champions 2023. The "Geniuses" easily advanced from their group, thanks to wins against FPP with a score of 2-0 and against FUT Esports with the same score.

Since the start of 2023, the club has played 24 matches, winning 14, with an overall win rate of 58%.

Match Prediction

Bookmakers unanimously favor Evil Geniuses, with odds of 1.52 for the team against 2.43 for DRX. Our editorial team doesn't share this view and believes that the Koreans will come out as winners of this match, and here's why. EG is a strong team only on paper; they advanced from the group so effortlessly only because their previous opponents were weak. Moreover, their first playoff opponents, EDward Gaming, made the "Geniuses" sweat. Meanwhile, DRX consistently beats the top teams, so this time the victory will be theirs.

Match result: DRX victory with a score of 2-1.

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