Evil Geniuses’ New Roster and What it Could Mean for NA and SA Dota

Time Stamp: November 26, 2022 5:32 PM

Evil Geniuses has a new roster and plans to relocate to the continent where the players are based

With the post-TI shuffle in full swing, Evil Geniuses has already made their move and gone for a band of South Americans for the next Dota Pro Circuit season. On November 24, Evil Geniuses announced their fresh roster of players, and all of them are from the South American region. The organization made a post on Twitter — putting an end to any rumors one way or another — with the message “Time to confirm the unconfirmed.” 

Ex-Thunder Awaken players Christian “Pakazs” Savina, Jose “Pandaboo” Hernandez and Farith “Matthew” Huamancaja will now make up the EG squad alongside ex-beastcoast veterans Adrián “Wisper” Dobles, Jean “Chris Luck” Salazar. The North American organization has also expressed the intent to move to the South American region while announcing this lineup.

The organization scouted many players during the recently concluded The International 11, and decided to pick up the remaining members from two South American giants after the others banded together to form the new beastcoast lineup. The players all proved their worth over the course of TI11, and not only outperformed EG’s old squad but also knocked them out of the tournament.

Evil Geniuses Reformed

The recent growth of South American organizations and the success of their players have influenced EG’s top brass into being interested in getting their own squad of SA players. EG recently let go of their previous roster after they performed poorly in the previous DPC season as well as TI. Furthermore, the organization abandoned the North American region even after winning The International 2015 while based there. 

The released roster consisted of Carry Artour “Arteezy” Babaev, Mid Laner Abed “Abed” Yusop, Off Laner Egor “Nightfall” Grigorenko, Soft Support Andreas “Cr1t-” Nielsen, Hard Support Tal “Fly” Aizik and coach Kanishka ‘Sam’ “BuLba” Sosale. EG bid them farewell in an emotional Tweet, thanking them for their service to the clan.

Alongside this announcement, Evil Geniuses also posted a video featuring EG CEO Nicole LaPointe Jameson, who further elaborated on the change in the roster. She thanked the released team members with an emphasis on Cr1t- and Arteezy. She also stated that the team’s legacy had been an anchor of the entire organization for over seven years. 

Earlier, the other five Thunder Awaken and beastcoast players announced the formation of the new beastcoast. After being part of the same roster for over four years — the longest time in Dota 2 history — Jean “Chris Luck” Salazar and Adrián “Wisper” Dobles were released from the team. 

Meanwhile, Jose “Pandaboo” Hernandez, Crhistian “Pakazs” Savina, and Farith “Matthew” Huamancaja powered through the 2021/2022 DPC season with Thunder Awaken. This Thunder Awaken trio enabled their team to overpower the regional league and get into the top six at quite a few LAN events, including The International 2022.  

The quintet joined forces to essentially form a top-two Peruvian sides shuffle and enlisted in the Evil Geniuses organization. It remains to be seen how the former rivals mesh together to fight in tandem — on both EG and beastcoast.

Repercussions on NA and SA Dota

It is safe to assume that EG are preparing to compete in the South American region in the upcoming DPC season. This doesn’t change much for SA in terms of hierarchy, because the emergence of any other superteams teams notwithstanding, it’ll still most likely be a battle at the top between the same 10 players as last season except in different combinations.

What really gets shaken up by this is the North American scene. With the exception of short bursts of dominance from Quincy Crew, the NA scene had been ruled by EG since as far back as 2014. However, the players released by EG have claimed that they will stick together and reform under a different banner, until and unless they do there might be a bit of a power vacuum in the NA Dota scene.

Soniqs were quick to disband their roster — consisting of, basically, Quincy Crew — after a disastrous TI, but it remains to be seen where those players will head to next. NA has seen its scene dwindle from a thriving community with many rising stars to a few old hands still grinding away, and the current situation could essentially leave the continent open for a new regional superpower to emerge. 

Whether that team can compete with the world’s best or not remains to be seen. As it was, most of the top NA teams — EG included — had already long been siphoning players off of other regions with attractive offers that included the chance to play with star players in a TI-winning organization. In fact, only one of EG’s old lineup hailed from the continental US (Canada, to be exact). 

As things stand, the NA scene will have to undergo a major rebuilding process regardless of what teams form with what players. Otherwise, the only American teams we might see in the next TI — set to return to Seattle — will be there by way of the Regional Qualifiers. 

Check out our other Dota articles if you love the game, and keep an eye on our site for more Dota news, insight, guides, and strategies.

Time Stamp:

More from Esports News Network