EG reportedly set to sign veteran European player for CS:GO roster

Could this save EG?

Photo by Helena Kristiansson via ESL FACEIT Group

Evil Geniuses is reportedly looking to make another change to its CS:GO lineup with the signing of an experienced European player.

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The North American organization has reportedly reached a verbal agreement with Sprout’s Ismail “refresh” Ali, according to Blix.gg today. The Dane would be a direct replacement for Jadan “HexT” Postma, who joined the main EG roster in August last year.

Refrezh joined Sprout in August 2022 after being replaced in Heroic, with whom he won ESL Pro League Season 13. He took the role of in-game leader, but Sprout didn’t meet expectations. They qualified for the IEM CS:GO Rio Major 2022 but didn’t have any deep runs in other top-tier events.

The Dane was replaced on March 3 by returning Australian in-game leader Aaron “AZR” Ward. As a result, it’s no surprise refresh is reevaluating his options and could join Evil Geniuses.

If refrezh joins EG’s ranks, it’s unclear whether he will become the team’s IGL or if that role will still belong to Sanzhar “neaLaN” Iskhakov. The report indicates he would directly replace HexT. In the last three months, the Canadian recorded a poor 1.0 rating and 0.68 damage per round, according to HLTV.

Related: Kiwi CS:GO star set to make competitive return with Asian squad

In recent months, EG failed to qualify for the BLAST.tv Paris CS:GO Major and didn’t win a single game at IEM Katowice 2023. During BLAST Premier: Spring Groups 2023, they only won one series. Roster changes could be imminent.

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Image of Mateusz Miter
Mateusz Miter
Freelance Writer at Dot Esports. Mateusz previously worked for numerous outlets and gaming-adjacent companies, including ESL. League of Legends or CS:GO? He loves them both. In fact, he wonders which game he loves more every day. He wanted to go pro years ago, but somewhere along the way decided journalism was the more sensible option—and he was right.