Interview with Evil Geniuses Support Eyla

The 2023 NA LCS Summer Split Playoffs have finally started. In the first series of playoffs, Team Solo Mid (TSM) faced off against Evil Geniuses (EG). After a dominant win in Game 1 through the double ADC and peel composition thanks to TSM Hauntzer and Chime, TSM looked to go to match point in Game 2. In Game 2, Evil Geniuses’ top laner Revenge got his revenge against TSM as Jax; in the game, there was a split second, TSM’s Wild Turtle looked like they could bring it back, but Revenge’s lead was too much (18/2/8). After securing a Penta Kill, Evil Geniuses was flying high and looking to take the lead in game 3.

In game 3, EG continued to control the map and dominate TSM; however, twenty minutes into the game, EG threw their lead and allowed TSM to get back into the game. Within five minutes, the kill disparity went from 2 to 11 to 8 to 11. After trying to stop EG from taking Baron, EG secured it and turned on TSM taking them out in TSM’s blue side jungle. At that point, the match was over, and seemed like TSM had given up.

After winning game 3, Evil Geniuses found themselves on match point and just needed to continue their momentum. However, the break in-between matches helped TSM refocus. Finally able to secure Tristana, TSM was able to run away with Game 4 and take the series to a winner-takes-all, Game 5; TSM Hauntzer’s Rumble choice helped split the damage types in the game allowing Tristana to pick up easy kills.

After a hard-fought battle in game four. Team Solo Mid fell apart in game 5. Despite having multiple tanks and a ton of peel for their protect the ADC comp, it seemed like there wasn’t anything TSM could do in order to win team fights. After the first two kills, EG’s Revenge used Aatrox to run away with the game and steamroll TSM. In the matches that Evil Geniuses won, Elya had a strong presence supporting his teams with Rakan.

With Evil Geniuses winning, they move on to face Cloud 9 in the Upper Bracket 2nd round. Earlier this split, we had the opportunity to speak with EG’s support Eyla about hobbies, team environment, favorite champions, and much more.

Eyla (Bill Nguyen) Interview

What other teams have you played for?

EG Eyla – in North America, I played for Team Liquid for two years in Academy. This year I was a part of FlyQuest in the Spring Split then I got traded. So now I am on EG.

Which team had the better environment?

EG Eyla – So I think just the people here are a lot more close to each other. We’re friendly. Like, we laugh and make jokes. I think that will be the biggest difference. I think Flyquest things felt a lot more tense.

Who are some of your favorite champions?

EG Eyla – I really like playing ADC; I like playing Aphilios and Kai’sa. Even though I’m not very good at them they are so mechanically intensive, you just focus on that, and so I find that very fun. For supports, I like Senna; Senna, Rakan, and Thresh are fun. I like the champions that play make. Senna is basically an ADC so I like her a lot.

Were there any League of Legends players that inspired your champion pool?

EG Eyla – I don’t like players based on their champion pools, I like the players for who they are. I have a tendency to respect non-support players. So I really like watching Faker and Ruler.

Foods and Hobbies

What are some of your favorite foods?

EG Eyla – I really like Gabi; that is my favorite and then sushi is a close second.

Any specific type of Sushi?

EG Eyla – No, I like all kinds of Sushi.

What are your hobbies?

EG Eyla – I mean, during the season, nothing. Out of season, sometimes I go for a jog. Not during the season, because during the season, it’s too hard and I’m lazy. You spend so much time scrimmaging and you’re like I really want to go for a jog. Outside of that, I like to do some exercises in the off-season. I play other games and listen to music. Sometimes I like to play the piano; I used to play it and then every offseason I relearn it because like it’s like phases of going in and out of playing it.

Do you have any favorite games or bands?

EG Eyla – Hiroyuki Sawano, he’s a composer and he makes a lot of music for anime. I really like him. He did the music for Attack on Titan.

Every offseason I try to pick up a game. In the past, I picked up Overwatch for a whole offseason. I played Diablo 3 and Maplestory. I tend to rotate between games during the off-season. I don’t like playing the same one as before.