"I don't feel like we shoot well" - dgzin on Evil Geniuses

Evil Geniuses's journey through the Group Stage of the VALORANT Champions Tour 2026 - Americas Stage 2 has come to a bittersweet close. Though the team has gone through its ups and downs, EG never looked ready to contest the top teams in the region.

In an exclusive interview with THESPIKE Brazil, Douglas "dgzin" Silva acknowledged there is still a clear difference between his team and sides like Leviatán or NRG, and argued that players on EG need to grow individually and build more confidence in order to close that gap.

"I feel the first thing we need is to be better individually. I don't feel like we shoot well. We take too long to get into the game, and against guys like that, that just doesn't work. If you're slow to get going, you're going to get punished. You end up watching the match go by in 20 minutes; it's over before you know it. So that's the first [thing EG is missing to beat teams like Leviatán and NRG]."

In order to "shoot well," though, you need to believe you're better than the player in front of you, and that's where confidence comes in. In dgzin's view, even a small shift in the mental state of EG's players can make a world of difference.

"I think confidence is the second thing. You have to look at those guys normally. Like, sure, they're champions, but on the server everyone's using the same little character model, everyone's got a mouse, everyone's got a keyboard. So we need to carry ourselves with more attitude in the game. I feel like that's what's missing. I think we need to be better individually, because once you're better individually, a lot of things improve in how you read the game. So, well, you get better individually, you can read the game better, position yourself better, have more confidence to play. So that's something I feel needs to change on our team."

Another Rough Year for Evil Geniuses so far

The fact is that EG still haven't found their footing this season. After a middling campaign at VALORANT Champions Tour 2026 - Americas Kickoff and a poor showing at VALORANT Champions Tour 2026 - Americas Stage 1, the team also failed to put together consistent performances in the Group Stage of Stage 2.

Given that, and considering the other teams that will be competing in the play-ins, dgzin feel it is almost an obligation for EG to secure one of the four playoff spots in the Americas.

"I think it's almost an obligation [to make the playoffs], to be honest, given what we showed in the first stage, right? We had a stage where we went 0-5, we came off a Kickoff where we won only two games and got eliminated. At the EWC qualifier, we won two games there too and also got eliminated. I'm speaking for myself here, I carry that feeling in my chest. I say I need to, I want more than anything to make that happen, to lock in that spot. And whether we like it or not, I think the teams that are our Achilles' heel — Leviatán and NRG — those are teams that, these days, I feel we could beat, but there's still a bit of a gap there. It really depends on how you wake up that day, how you carry yourself on the server, putting into practice everything you've been training. Leviatán and NRG, I think those teams are genuinely good, but the rest of the teams... I think those are very, very winnable."

Evil Geniuses' first game of the play-ins will come this Sunday, August 16, against the winners of Cloud9 vs Fluxo W7M. The race for VALORANT Champions Shanghai is on, and a total of 16 teams from the Americas are still in contention to secure their spot.

You can find the complete video interview with EG dgzin in the original Portuguese below:

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Featured image credit: Stefan Wisnoski/Riot Games