The majority of the Evil Geniuses reserve VALORANT roster, whom the organization says were vital to the main roster’s ultimate triumph at Champions 2023, are now available as unrestricted free agents going into the next VCT season.
Four of the five reserve players in Jeffrey “Reformed” Lu, Vincent “Apotheon” Le, Jacob “icy” Lange, and Brendan “BcJ” Jensen, as well as coach Addison “zecK” Gorzec will become available for any team to acquire before next season at no buyout, EG announced today. In a follow up reply, the organization stated that Kyle “ScrewFace” Jensen “is still on our roster as we continue to explore options together.”
EG stated that “on a regular basis these five individuals were scrimming and stomping a majority of the VCT Americas teams, in addition to playing against our starting roster and providing a level of practice we weren’t able to get anywhere else. And because they had no competitions to work for, the only thing driving them forward was to make both themselves and the starting five better.”
Reformed departs as technically the longest standing player on EG, having joined the team back in January 2022, although he was sidelined after the team received partnership in VCT Americas. BcJ, who joined as one of two prolific signings in the offseason prior, was moved to the reserve roster midseason after the team promoted Demon1, in a move many consider the starting point of what turned out to be a world championship run for EG.
EG cited changes to the VCT ecosystem and the impending esports winter as reasons why they weren’t sure what their reserve program would look like next year—and they also believe that “these individuals deserve a shot, they’ve proven that.” A number of recent reports suggest that several VCT Americas teams are going to scale back spending on player salaries next season.
ScrewFace’s undetermined status could be related to the recent changes to the VCT 2024 season that no longer require teams to retain a “sixth man” on their roster.
