The CS:GO offseason has always been a turbulent period, with players switching teams left and right, but this year is different. This is the year of Counter-Strike 2, which amplifies the transfer market madness up to eleven. The latest transfer reports suggest that the anticipated move of Evil Geniuses to EU might not materialize before the CS2 launch as their perceived targets are slipping away one by one.
Update June 22, 7:20am CT: According to a new report by Dust2.us, yet another player associated with a move to Evil Geniuses, Audric “JACKZ” Jug, has failed to reach an agreement with the organization and is “no longer on the cards” for EG.
Despite there being at least one non-NA player on the roster at all times since Evil Geniuses joined the CS:GO scene in 2019, the organization has been exclusively associated with the NA region. That’s why the recent reports that EG is looking to abandon North America and form an EU roster were considered a big blow to the NA scene.
New supposed developments on this front could be good news for American Counter-Strike fans, though the Evil Geniuses management is perhaps less pleased with how their plans ahead of CS2 are currently unraveling.
A report by dust2.us claims that EG’s acquisition of Russian AWPer Aleksandr “zorte” Zagodyrenko, currently at FORZE, has collapsed. The deal was believed to be more or less guaranteed, so this outcome comes as a sizable shock. Furthermore, zorte and his AWP prowess were considered the centerpiece of the new Evil Geniuses lineup. His signing falling through could be the first domino that will keep EG in NA, at least for the foreseeable future.
The same source claims that Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski’s transfer from Team Liquid to Evil Geniuses is also “hanging on by a thread”. With two of their main targets apparently out of the picture and the BLAST roster lock right around the corner, EG’s big plan for CS2’s launch appears to be on the verge of collapse.
The one positive snippet of info for EG comes from the NAVI camp. Reports that the CIS team has already agreed terms with Apeks rifler Justinas “jL” Lekavicius and is very close to doing the same with Finnish IGL Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen opens the door for another rumored EG target, Denis “electroNic” Sharipov, to join the Evil Geniuses CS2 project.
In a vacuum, that would be great news, but electroNic might not be as tempted if his compatriot zorte is not part of the roster. Building a functional CS2 team isn’t easy and it’s looking more and more likely that Evil Geniuses will have to stay put in NA, whether they like it or not.
