EG Inspired says MAD Lions laners played like “bots” in Worlds match

A former LEC player himself, Evil Geniuses jungler Inspired had some strong words for MAD Lions after he eliminated them 3-0 from Worlds play-ins on October 4.

Kacper ‘Inspired’ Słoma has never been a player to mince his words — and his post-game interview after taking down MAD Lions at the 2022 Worlds Play-Ins was no exception.

The matchup between Evil Geniuses and MAD Lions for a spot in the World Championship group stage was, for many, a supposedly foregone conclusion. Only 15.1% of fans predicted an EG victory in their Worlds Pick-ems.

But in the first EU vs NA best-of-five in four years, it was Evil Geniuses who came out on top. And in his post-game interview, Inspired had a lot to say to MAD Lions, saying that every player on the team except Elyoya had played like “bots”.

A grudge match for Inspired

Inspired has a history against MAD Lions that stretches all the way back to his origins as jungler for Rogue in the LEC.

He explained in a post-game interview that he still held a grudge against MAD’s jungle/support pairing, who denied him multiple shots at an LEC title during his time in Europe. But despite this grudge against Elyoya, he admitted that he had “a lot of respect” for the MAD Lions jungler.

“I thought he was going to perform very well,” he explained. “He was like the main carry of the team, but I think today he had to play with four bots.” The insult (referencing the notoriously poor AI in the game’s co-op vs AI mode) was directed at MAD’s laners, who performed significantly below expectations in the EG matchup.

This is the second time that MAD Lions have failed to make it out of the Play-Ins, having also crashed out of Worlds 2020 at this stage. They are now the only organization from a major region to fail to qualify for groups twice.