Evil Geniuses Reportedly Dropping Entire Roster and Moving Out of North America
After the conclusion of The International 2022, rumors have been circulating about Evil Geniuses (EG) parting ways with its entire roster and leaving North America. Now, another source has come forward to confirm this news.
Peter “ppd” Dager, a former professional player of Dota 2 who won TI5 with EG and briefly served as the organization’s CEO, is well-connected to the competitive scene. He has now stated that EG’s move out of North America is “already confirmed” and has been in progress for some time.
Building on the initial reports, ppd has seemingly verified that EG will release its entire current lineup and has reached an agreement to acquire a revamped Thunder Awaken roster. As part of this move, EG will reportedly bring on board Pakazs, Matthew, Pandaboo, Chris Luck, and Wisper, with the latter two switching from beastcoast as both rosters make changes.
Furthermore, EG is planning to shift its Dota operations entirely to South America (SA) instead of relocating the roster to North America. This means they are attempting to secure a spot in the upper bracket for the 2023 DPC regional league.
Ppd expressed his agreement with EG’s move, stating, “It makes sense to me, I think it’s smart. I think Dota is just dead in NA and I don’t think there’s a trend that speaks differently.”
Since TI9, North America has become the subject of jokes from other regions as South America continues to rise in the rankings, producing more competitive rosters. TI11 has proven the region’s increasing talent pool, and EG aims to take advantage of this growth.
This move not only allows EG to start afresh with an entirely new lineup for the first time since the 2016 season, but it also helps the organization cut costs. According to ppd, this move has likely been on EG’s to-do list for years.
“EG has been looking for a reason to get out of their expensive Dota roster for a long time, I think,” commented ppd. “I was thinking if EG actually does well at TI, are they going to keep the roster again? But I think this was a perfect storm for them to make a move.”
While the exact cost of EG’s current lineup is unknown, Virtus.pro management recently confirmed that the current transfer market for the competitive scene has a cap of around $100,000. This doesn’t mean that all player contracts on tier one teams fall within this range, but EG’s roster includes big names like Arteezy and Cr1t- who likely earn at least double that amount, if not more.
If EG goes through with this move, it will create an opportunity for other teams to acquire five high-level players in the post-TI11 roster shuffle, leaving the North American region more open than ever before as it loses its most dominant force in history.
Evil Geniuses, Dota 2, North America, South America, roster, move, ppd, Thunder Awaken, competitive scene, TI11