Evil Geniuses has officially booked its tickets to South America by dropping its previous Dota 2 roster in a move that will completely shake up two different regions.
Previous rumors have now been confirmed with EG CEO Nicole LaPointe Jameson announcing today that the NA juggernaut is parting ways with the roster that brought the team to The International 2022—and the core duo it has held since September 2016.
This move comes as the org wants to implement some of the strategies from its other competitive divisions into the Dota scene by developing talent in the rising SA region.
“Whether it’s our League of Legends rookie superstar with veteran anchor compositions to our CS:GO systems to develop and scrim differently to even our VALORANT team and how we scout and support, taking some of our learnings of what has led to success and bringing that to our Dota competitive ambitions is an area we know how to play well in and content with,” LaPointe Jameson said.
For EG, not only will this be the first time the org has not competed in NA since entering Dota in October 2011, but it will also be the first time since 2016 it will field a roster not featuring Arteezy or Cr1t-.
Both players are now officially free agents, alongside Abed, Nightfall, Fly, and former head coach BuLba following the team’s early exit at TI11 that saw them shock the world with a dominant group stage and then crumble in the playoffs.
Related: Thunder Awaken parts ways with record-breaking Dota 2 roster ahead of next big move
Management has yet to directly confirm its next move, but multiple sources have already claimed that EG will be signing part of the former core of Thunder Awaken: Pakazs, Matthew, and Pandaboo. That trio will reportedly be paired with former beastcoast players Wisper and Chris Luck as the two top SA teams basically swap two players.
