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Evil Geniuses (EG) is an American
esports Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. Although orga ...
organization based in
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,
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
. Founded in 1999, the organization has fielded players in various
fighting game A fighting game, also known as a versus fighting game, is a video game genre, genre of video game that involves combat between two or more players. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as Blocking (martial arts), blocking, grappli ...
s, ''
Call of Duty ''Call of Duty'' is a first-person shooter video game Media franchise, franchise published by Activision. Starting out in 2003, it first focused on games set in World War II. Over time, the series has seen games set in the midst of the Cold W ...
'', '' Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'', ''
Dota 2 ''Dota 2'' is a 2013 multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game by Valve. The game is a sequel to ''Defense of the Ancients'' (''DotA''), a community-created mod for Blizzard Entertainment's '' Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos.'' ''Dota 2' ...
'', ''
Fortnite Battle Royale ''Fortnite Battle Royale'' is a free-to-play battle royale video game developed and published by Epic Games. It is a companion game to '' Fortnite: Save the World'', a cooperative survival game with construction elements. It was initially re ...
'', ''
Halo Halo, halos or haloes usually refer to: * Halo (optical phenomenon) * Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head HALO, halo, halos or haloes may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Video games * ''Halo'' (franch ...
,'' ''
League of Legends ''League of Legends'' (''LoL''), commonly referred to as ''League'', is a 2009 multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by ''Defense of the Ancients'', a Mod (video games), custom map for War ...
'', ''
StarCraft II ''StarCraft II'' is a military science fiction video game created by Blizzard Entertainment as a sequel to the successful ''StarCraft'' video game released in 1998. Set in a fictional future, the game centers on a galactic struggle for dominance ...
'', ''
Rocket League ''Rocket League'' is a vehicular soccer video game developed and published by Psyonix. The game was first released for Windows and PlayStation 4 in July 2015, with ports for Xbox One and Nintendo Switch being released later on. In June ...
'', ''
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege ''Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege'' is an online tactical shooter video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on December 1, 2015; the game was ...
'', and ''
World of Warcraft ''World of Warcraft'' (''WoW'') is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. Set in the ''Warcraft'' fantasy universe, ''World of Warcraft'' takes place within the world of Azeroth ...
''. In May 2019, EG was acquired by PEAK6 Investments LLC, a Chicago-based investment company. While independently owned at the time of the acquisition, it was formerly a subsidiary of GoodGame Agency, which in turn was owned by
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through its division
Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle co ...
. EG's ''Dota 2'' squad won
The International 2015 The International 2015 (TI5) was the fifth edition of The International, an annual ''Dota 2'' esports championship tournament, which took place at the KeyArena in Seattle. Hosted by Valve, the game's developer, the tournament began in May with ...
, receiving the largest prize payout in esports history at the time. Their ''Call of Duty: WWII'' roster won the 2018 Call of Duty Championship.


History

Evil Geniuses was founded as a Quake clan in Victoria, British Columbia,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
in 1997. Playing from the first cyber cafe in Victoria, the Underground Onramp, the original roster included Dakine, MikeJ, Killboy, Zakath, Muppetman, Jello and the EG girls featured in Wired Magazine, Jasp and Mystique. The Onramp and the EG clan were very popular in the emerging gaming circuit, being on the West Coast and having access to a T1 internet connection while the rest of the world was still on dial-up. Many new members located in Seattle joined the clan and would regularly spar with members of DR including the world's first pro gamer, Thresh. Members from both the Canadian and American roster were present during the 1997 Gameworks Tournament with access to the gaming lounge. Canadian players were not admitted into the tournament at the time due to the nascent pro gaming circuit, but were allowed to warm up with the contestants. When the Underground Onramp closed, shortly after the release of modern home broadband internet, most of the Canadian roster went on to new careers, some into game development and still work in the gaming industry to this day. Meanwhile, the American roster flourished and went on to become one of the greatest gaming clans in the history of esports.
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
native and future CEO Alex Garfield started working for the team in 2004. Evil Geniuses expanded into ''
World of Warcraft ''World of Warcraft'' (''WoW'') is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. Set in the ''Warcraft'' fantasy universe, ''World of Warcraft'' takes place within the world of Azeroth ...
'' (WoW) Arena by acquiring HukHukHukHukHuk in 2007. The roster consisted of many notable players including Abdul "Bokas" Suleiman, Garett "Garett" Llorent, Jesse "Koorban" Ryan, John "Nuvas" Liao, Einar "Spinister" Galilea, Brian "Tyz" Gustafson, Cyrus "Morifen" Foroughi, Anthony "Neia" Krug, and Paul "Zsu" Coats. In 2008, Evil Geniuses later acquired Issac "Azeal" Cummings-Bentley, Conrad "Zyz" Lope, Dan "spoh" Street, Emerson "Woundman" Condon, Charles "Cdew" Dewland, and Tim "Kollektiv" Yen, forming a new 3v3 arena team, as most of the previous team retired from competitive play. Notable accomplishments including winning the 2007 US Arena Championship, placing 3rd at Blizzcon 2007 (World Arena Championship), winning MLG San Diego 2008, placing 4th at Blizzcon 2012, and winning the Intel Extreme Masters IV WoW World Championship (2010). Evil Geniuses acquired a ''
Defense of the Ancients ''Defense of the Ancients'' (''DotA'') is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) mod for the video game '' Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos'' (2002) and its expansion, '' The Frozen Throne''. The objective of the game is for each team to destroy ...
'' (Dota) roster on April 12, 2008, made up of players transferring from team eMg. EG entered the '' StarCraft: Brood War'' scene on April 25, 2009, with the recruitment of
World Cyber Games The World Cyber Games (WCG) is an international esports competition with multi-game titles in which hundreds of esports athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competitions also known as Esports Olympics. WCG events attempt to ...
USA champions Geoff "iNcontroL" Robinson, and Dan "Nyoken" Eidson, along with Eric "G5" Rothmuller, Jake "LzGaMeR" Winstead, and Bryce "Machine" Bates. EG saw its North American ''
DotA ''Dota'' is a series of strategy video games by Valve. The series began in 2003 with the release of ''Defense of the Ancients'' (''DotA''), a fan-developed multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) mod for the video game '' Warcraft III: Reign o ...
'' squad depart on December 3, 2009, following two months of minimal practice and insufficient exposure. Evil Geniuses expanded into ''
StarCraft II ''StarCraft II'' is a military science fiction video game created by Blizzard Entertainment as a sequel to the successful ''StarCraft'' video game released in 1998. Set in a fictional future, the game centers on a galactic struggle for dominance ...
'' during the game's launch year of 2010 with the recruitment of top American player Gregory "IdrA" Fields as well as the well-known commentator and player
Nick "Tasteless" Plott Nicolas Plott (born August 11, 1984), known by his alias Tasteless, is an American esports commentator. He moved to Seoul, Korea in 2007 to give commentary to e-sports competitions. He has provided commentary for multiple '' Starcraft'' and ''S ...
on September 9. In a controversial move, EG acquired the brand of fellow North American gaming organization, Loaded, on October 9, 2010, but the deal only constituted the company sponsors, team owner and their ''
Heroes of Newerth ''Heroes of Newerth'' (''HoN'') was a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game originally developed by S2 Games for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. The game idea was derived from the ''Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne'' custom ma ...
'' squad. In 2010, EG expanded into
fighting game A fighting game, also known as a versus fighting game, is a video game genre, genre of video game that involves combat between two or more players. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as Blocking (martial arts), blocking, grappli ...
s by signing
Justin Wong Justin Wong, occasionally shortened to just Jwong, is a formerly American and now Canadian professional fighting game player. Wong has won more EVO titles than anyone else with nine tournaments won: seven for '' Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of ...
and Martin "Marn" Phan. Within a year, they expanded their fighting game division with the addition of Ricki Ortiz, Ari "fLoE" Weintraub, and Eduardo "PR Balrog" Perez-Frangie, as well as Japanese players
Yusuke Momochi Yusuke Momochi, better known as Momochi, is a Japanese professional fighting game player, particularly of ones in the '' Street Fighter'' series by Capcom. Momochi won the Capcom Cup 2014 championship, as well as winning the EVO 2015 title for ' ...
, and Yuka "Chocoblanka" Kusachi. Marn was eventually let go in 2011 at his own request, with the intention to start his own ''League of Legends'' team, Team MRN. On March 31, 2011, long-time member
Manuel "Grubby" Schenkhuizen Manuel Schenkhuizen (), better known as Grubby, is a Dutch real-time strategy gamer and former professional esports player. He competed in the RTS games ''Warcraft III'' (WC3), '' Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne'' and '' Starcraft II''. Grubby ...
, as well as ''StarCraft II'' division manager
Nick "Tasteless" Plott Nicolas Plott (born August 11, 1984), known by his alias Tasteless, is an American esports commentator. He moved to Seoul, Korea in 2007 to give commentary to e-sports competitions. He has provided commentary for multiple '' Starcraft'' and ''S ...
departed from the organization. EG lost its ''Heroes of Newerth'' squad on July 8 to
SK Gaming SK Gaming is a professional esports organization based in Germany that has teams across the world competing in different titles. SK is particularly known for their success in '' Counter-Strike'' (CS) tournaments. SK's Brazilian ''CS'' team wo ...
, due to sponsorship complications. Near the end of that month, the Korean
North American Star League The North American Star League was a professional e-sports league that features the games ''StarCraft II'' and ''Heroes of Newerth''. Originally modeled after successful South Korean professional ''StarCraft'' leagues, it was founded in 2011 by Ru ...
champion, Ho Joon "PuMa" Lee, joined up with EG, despite the lack of consultancy with his previous organization. Three weeks later, the top Canadian player, Chris "HuK" Loranger, left his long-time organization of
Team Liquid Team Liquid is a multi-regional professional esports organization based in the Netherlands that was founded in 2000. With the release of '' StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty'', Team Liquid signed their first professional players. In 2012, Team Li ...
, and joined EG, to compete alongside Fields and Lee in
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
. On October 21, it was announced that the trio would be moving to stay with the South Korean team SlayerS, in accordance with a correlating partnership established between the organizations. EG saw the return of two former ''DotA'' players, Clinton "Fear" Loomis and Jimmy "DeMoN" Ho, with the acquisition of their first ''
Dota 2 ''Dota 2'' is a 2013 multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game by Valve. The game is a sequel to ''Defense of the Ancients'' (''DotA''), a community-created mod for Blizzard Entertainment's '' Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos.'' ''Dota 2' ...
'' squad. On January 7, 2012, EG announced the dismissal of its long-standing ''
Counter-Strike ''Counter-Strike'' (''CS'') is a series of multiplayer tactical first-person shooter video games in which teams of terrorists battle to perpetrate an act of terror (bombing, hostage-taking, assassination) while counter-terrorists try to preven ...
'' squad, though star player Jordan "n0thing" Gilbert initially stayed on to produce content related to the game. In September 2012, Bulba and xHobbzeEx left the ''Dota 2'' team due to personal issues and were replaced by Jio "Jeyo" Madayag and Robert "bdiz" Tinnes. On December 5, 2012, EG signed the successful '' StarCraft: Brood War'' Zerg player
Lee Jae-Dong Lee Jae-dong (born 9 January 1990), who plays simply under the name Jaedong, is a South Korean professional '' StarCraft: Brood War'' player and former ''StarCraft II'' player, playing most recently for team Evil Geniuses prior to his StarCraft ...
. On January 25, 2013, EG announced their expansion into ''
League of Legends ''League of Legends'' (''LoL''), commonly referred to as ''League'', is a 2009 multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by ''Defense of the Ancients'', a Mod (video games), custom map for War ...
'' with the signing of the former Counter Logic Gaming European division – in negotiations that reportedly spanned three months, however the team would later disband due to extremely poor results. On April 4, 2014, EG announced that they had signed fighting game player Kenneth "K-Brad" Bradley. Prior to this, Ari "fLoE" Weintraub had been let go from the team. On October 27, 2014, it was announced that three players from the Evil Geniuses ''Call of Duty'' squad,
Patrick "Aches" Price Patrick Price (born July 18, 1994) known by his video game moniker ACHES, is an American professional esports player. Price is best known for playing ''Call of Duty''. Career Price won the Call of Duty Championship 2014 with compLexity Gaming an ...
, Ian "Crimsix" Porter, and Ken Dedo, had left the organisation, later joining
OpTic Gaming OpTic Gaming is an American professional esports and entertainment organization headquartered in Frisco, Texas. The organization currently operates a ''Call of Duty'' team in the Call of Duty League, OpTic Texas, they also operate a ''Overwatch ...
. The CEO of EG, Alex Garfield confirmed via
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that he had indeed let three of the players go to OpTic. On November 21, 2014, Evil Geniuses announced the launch of its first ''Halo'' squad, consisting of the twins Jason "Lunchbox" Brown and Justin "Roy" Brown, the 2014 ''Halo 4'' World Championship finalist Justin "iGotUrPistola" Deese and the Eric "Snip3down" Wrona, who is reckoned among the best slayers in the world. The team competed in the Halo Championship Series Season 1 and won 3 online cups to this point. On December 21 iGotUrPistola left the squad due to an injury. He was replaced by Tony "LxthuL" Campbell transferring from the BTH. On December 9, 2014, Evil Geniuses' parent organisation, GoodGame Agency announced that it had been acquired by
Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle co ...
. On December 16, 2014, Evil Geniuses' Yusuke Momochi won the 2014
Capcom Cup Capcom Cup is an annual fighting game tournament specifically focused on the ''Street Fighter'' series. The event's first incarnation was in 2013 which featured '' Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition'' version 2012, ''Ultimate Marvel vs. Capc ...
tournament. Momochi has qualified for the event by winning South East Asia Major 2014 in Singapore. This win automatically granted him entry into
Capcom Cup 2015 Capcom Cup 2015 was a professional ''Ultra Street Fighter IV'' video game tournament that was held at Moscone Center in San Francisco on December 6, 2015. 32 players qualified for the tournament by winning one of the 16 Capcom Pro Tour Premier Ev ...
. On July 19, 2015, Yusuke Momochi won Evolution 2015, taking the win from AVerMedia's Bruce "Gamerbee" Hsiang in a controversial Grand Finals set that saw Momochi suffer from hardware failure with his
Razer Razer may refer to: * Razer (Canadian TV channel), former name of MTV2, a Canadian digital television specialty service * Razer Inc., a Singaporean-American computer peripherals manufacturer specializing in PC gaming * Razer Phone, a smartphone desi ...
arcade stick. On December 12, 2016, Evil Geniuses along with
Alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
became player-owned organizations. It was later confirmed that American
Dota 2 ''Dota 2'' is a 2013 multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game by Valve. The game is a sequel to ''Defense of the Ancients'' (''DotA''), a community-created mod for Blizzard Entertainment's '' Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos.'' ''Dota 2' ...
player Peter "ppd" Dager was named CEO of Evil Geniuses. At the beginning of 2017, ppd announced lineup switches for the fighting game and ''StarCraft II'' divisions. PR Balrog, Justin Wong, Momochi, and ChocoBlanka would depart from the FGC division; Ricki Ortiz, PPMD, and K-Brad would be kept while adding
NYChrisG Christopher Gonzalez, also known as NYChrisG, is an American competitive gamer, specializing in fighting games. He is considered one of the top '' Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3'' players. He is also the EVO 2016 champion for Ultimate Marvel vs. ...
to the team. In addition, ppd announced that their SC2 division would be disbanding as InControL and HuK. On March 24, 2017, Evil Geniuses entered into the Smash Bros. for Wii U scene by acquiring Julian "Zinoto" Carrington. On November 10, 2017, Evil Geniuses announced that the organization had entered ''Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege'' by signing the former Continuum roster. On April 12, 2019, Evil Geniuses entered ''Fortnite Battle Royale'' by signing Jordan "JTruth" Clouse and Chance "MoNsTcR" Duncan. In late August 2019, Peter Chau, Troy "Canadian" Jaroslawski, and Aaron "Gotcha" Chung all left the Evil Geniuses ''Rainbow Six Siege'' division. Morquis "Modigga" Hribar joined the team as a player. On September 26, 2019, the team confirmed their return to
Counter-Strike ''Counter-Strike'' (''CS'') is a series of multiplayer tactical first-person shooter video games in which teams of terrorists battle to perpetrate an act of terror (bombing, hostage-taking, assassination) while counter-terrorists try to preven ...
, signing the roster of
NRG Esports NRG Esports is an American esports organization based in Los Angeles, California. It has rosters in '' Apex Legends'', '' Clash Royale'', ''Dragon Ball FighterZ'', '' Fortnite'', ''Gears of War'', ''Hearthstone'', ''Overwatch'', '' Rocket League ...
. The Evil Geniuses would shock the Counter Strike: Global Offensive scene by winning their first big event together, ESL One New York 2019. On April 15, 2020, Evil Geniuses released their ''Rainbow Six Siege'' team and exited the scene. On March 30, 2021, Evil Geniuses partnered with American apparel company POINT3. In April 2021, Evil Geniuses partnered with
cryptocurrency A cryptocurrency, crypto-currency, or crypto is a digital currency designed to work as a medium of exchange through a computer network that is not reliant on any central authority, such as a government or bank, to uphold or maintain it. It i ...
company
Coinbase Coinbase Global, Inc., branded Coinbase, is an American publicly traded company that operates a cryptocurrency exchange platform. Coinbase is a distributed company; all employees operate via remote work and the company lacks a physical headq ...
.


Current divisions


''Dota 2''

After the International 2011, Evil Geniuses announced their new ''Dota 2'' team in October 2011. This roster included Clinton "Fear" Loomis, Rasmus Berth "MiSeRy" Filipsen, Jimmy "DeMoN" Ho, Amel "PlaymatE' Barudzija, and Pers Anders Olsson "Pajkatt" Lille. EG acquired Kurtis "Aui_2000" Ling from
Cloud9 Cloud9 Esports, Inc., or simply Cloud9 (C9), is an American professional esports company based in Santa Monica, California. The company was originally founded as a professional ''League of Legends'' team by Jack and Paullie Etienne in May 2013 ...
in December 2014 and
Sumail Syed Sumail Hassan ( ur, ; born 13 February 1999), better known mononymously as Sumail, is a Pakistani and American professional ''Dota 2'' player for Nigma Galaxy. He has played in five iterations of The International, winning in 2015 as a m ...
from Pakistan. On August 8, 2015, Evil Geniuses beat
CDEC Gaming CDEC Gaming is a Chinese professional ''Dota 2'' esports team based in Shanghai. The team placed second at The International 2015, which they qualified for with a wildcard. The achievement was considered a major upset. At TI CDEC also won their ...
to win
The International 2015 The International 2015 (TI5) was the fifth edition of The International, an annual ''Dota 2'' esports championship tournament, which took place at the KeyArena in Seattle. Hosted by Valve, the game's developer, the tournament began in May with ...
, securing a first-time championship and winning a total of 6,616,014, which was one of the largest purses ever awarded in esports. They were also the first American-based team to win the event. A week later, Aui_2000 was released from his contract with the team, with former member
Arteezy Artour Babaev, better known as Arteezy, is a Canadian professional '' Dota 2'' player for Shopify Rebellion. He is also one of the most popular streamers among the community. Born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Babaev showed much promise as a child, ...
replacing him on the roster. EG finished third at both the
Frankfurt Major 2015 The Frankfurt Major, also known as the Fall Major, was a ''Dota 2'' tournament which took place from November 13–21, 2015. The tournament took place at the Festhalle Frankfurt in Frankfurt, Germany. It was the first of three Valve sponsored major ...
and the
Shanghai Major 2016 The Shanghai Major was a '' Dota 2'' tournament that took place in Shanghai from March 2–6, 2016, and was the second Major of the 2015-2016 professional '' Dota 2'' season. 16 teams competed in the tournament; eight were given direct invitations ...
. On March 22, Arteezy and UNiVeRsE left the team to join Team Secret. On March 25, EG announced that former members Aui_2000 and Bulba would rejoin the roster to fill these vacancies. EG placed third at
The International 2016 The International 2016 (TI6) was the sixth iteration of The International, an annual ''Dota 2'' esports championship tournament. Hosted by Valve Corporation, the game's developer, the tournament began in June 2016 with the qualifier phase and ...
. After the tournament the team released ppd and Fear, who both decided to retire from playing ''Dota 2'' to pursue other opportunities within the organization. They were replaced by Andreas Franck "Cr1t-" Nielsen, who would go on to become the new captain, and Arteezy. Following their elimination at
The International 2017 The International 2017 (TI7) was the seventh iteration of The International, an annual ''Dota 2'' esports world championship tournament. Hosted by Valve, the game's developer, the tournament began with the online qualifier phase in June 2017, a ...
in August, Ludwig "zai" Wåhlberg departed Evil Geniuses, saying he would seek new options about his career. Shortly after, Peter "ppd" Dager stepped down as CEO and was replaced by former team manager, Philip Aram. The following month, Evil Geniuses announced that Clinton "Fear" Loomis would come out of his coaching role to rejoin the team as an active player. In December 2017, EG announced that they would be releasing UNiVeRsE and their head coach, SVG. They would pick up Rasmus "Misery" Filipsen and Sam "Bulba" Sosale to replace them, respectively. In May 2018, EG announced the acquisition of former OG players s4 and
Fly Flies are insects of the Order (biology), order Diptera, the name being derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwing ...
after releasing Fear and Misery from their contracts. Shannon Larkin was added as the Dota team's manager in June 2018, in time for the team's participation in Dota Summit 9, which they would win. After adding two of ''Dota 2'' most accomplished players, EG headed to
The International 2018 The International 2018 (TI8) was the eighth iteration of The International, an annual ''Dota 2'' world championship esports tournament. Hosted by Valve, the game's developer, TI8 followed a year-long series of tournaments awarding qualifying po ...
in
Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. After a successful group stage where they went 13–3, the joint highest record with
Team Liquid Team Liquid is a multi-regional professional esports organization based in the Netherlands that was founded in 2000. With the release of '' StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty'', Team Liquid signed their first professional players. In 2012, Team Li ...
. They defeated
Team Secret Team Secret is an esports team based in Europe formed in 2014, best known for their ''Dota 2'' team. In March 2016, Team Secret picked up an international female '' Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'' team. In April 2016, Team Secret expanded into ...
2–0 in the upper bracket, before setting up a grudge match with OG. The series went to three games, eventually culminating in EG's defeat as they fell to the lower bracket. They continued eliminating tournament favorites in
Virtus.pro Virtus.pro (VP) is an international esports organization founded in 2003 in Russia and acquired by Armenian investors in 2022. The organization has players competing in such games as '' Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'', '' Dota 2'', ''Rainbow ...
and Team Liquid, before bowing out to
PSG.LGD PSG.LGD is a professional ''Dota 2'' team based in China. They were formed as a partnership between PSG Esports and LGD Gaming in April 2018. PSG.LGD has finished as the runner-up in The International 2018 and The International 2021, 2021. His ...
and taking third place and more than US$2.6 million in prize money. As of November 15th, 2022, Evil Geniuses has ceased operations in the North American Dota Scene, and has switched operations to the South America region, according to a tweet by CEO Nicole LaPointe.


''Counter-Strike''

EG had multiple ''Counter-Strike Source'' teams during the late 2000s and early 2010s. In September 2019, Evil Geniuses acquired the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CSGO) team of
NRG Esports NRG Esports is an American esports organization based in Los Angeles, California. It has rosters in '' Apex Legends'', '' Clash Royale'', ''Dragon Ball FighterZ'', '' Fortnite'', ''Gears of War'', ''Hearthstone'', ''Overwatch'', '' Rocket League ...
the day before ESL One New York 2019. The original team consisted of Peter "stanislaw" Jarguz, Tarik "tarik" Celik, Vincent "Brehze" Cayonte, Ethan "Ethan" Arnold, Tsvetelin "CeRq" Dimitrov, and Chet "ImAPet" Singh as coach. At ESL One New York, EG was in Group B, alongside Danish superstars
Astralis Astralis is a Danish esports organization. Best known for their '' Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'' team, they also have teams representing other games, such as ''FIFA'' and ''League of Legends''. The parent group of Astralis is the Astralis ...
,
FaZe Clan FaZe Clan (formerly FaZe Sniping) is a professional eSports, esports and entertainment organization headquartered in Los Angeles, California, USA. Founded on May 30, 2010, the organization has players from around the world, across multiple game ...
, and
OpTic Gaming OpTic Gaming is an American professional esports and entertainment organization headquartered in Frisco, Texas. The organization currently operates a ''Call of Duty'' team in the Call of Duty League, OpTic Texas, they also operate a ''Overwatch ...
. EG's opening match was against FaZe Clan, in which they won 2–0. The following match was against Astralis, in which EG defeated them 2–0, something they have done only twice before and qualified for the playoffs. Evil Geniuses defeated
G2 Esports G2 Esports (G2) is a European esports organization headquartered in Berlin, Germany, with players competing in ''League of Legends'', ''Valorant'', '' Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'', '' Hearthstone'', ''Rocket League'', ''Rainbow Six Sieg ...
2–0. In the Grand Final, Evil Geniuses faced Astralis again, this time in a best of five. EG took the first map 16–3 and the second map 16–12. Unfortunately, on match point, EG choked a 4-round lead after reaching 15–11 and eventually lost the map 20–22. The next map, after struggling in the first half, EG won 16–8 and won the series 3–1. Brehze was named MVP of the event. At DreamHack Masters Malmö 2019, Evil Geniuses placed last alongside
North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...
, TyLoo, and fellow North Americans,
Team Envy Team Envy was an American esports franchise based in Dallas, Texas, owned by Envy Gaming. Founded in 2007 as a professional ''Call of Duty'' team under the moniker Team EnVyUs, they fielded rosters in '' Counter-Strike, FIFA, Fortnite, Gears o ...
. At StarSeries i-League CS:GO Season 8, located in
Belek Belek is a township in the Serik district in Turkey's Antalya Province. The local population in 2022 is 73,260. Belek is one of the centers of Turkey's tourism industry and is home to more than thirty four-star and five-star hotels and many ...
, Turkey, Evil Geniuses faced unknown Chinese 5Power Gaming in the opening match, where they won 2–0 relatively easily, though the team would fail to take two maps away from Swedish
Ninjas in Pyjamas Ninjas in Pyjamas (NIP) is a professional esports organisation based in Sweden that is best known for its '' Counter-Strike'' teams. In 2012, the team reformed with a '' Counter Strike: Global Offensive'' lineup upon the release of the game. As ...
(NiP), forcing the EG into the losers bracket. In the losers bracket, the team would defeat
Heroic Heroic may mean: *characteristic of a hero *typical of heroic poetry or of heroic verse *belonging to the Greek Heroic Age *Heroic (esports), a Danish esports organization *Heroic (horse) Heroic (1921–1939) was an Australian Thoroughbred ra ...
after narrowly losing the first map but taking the next two with little struggle. EG took a solid victory against Furia 2–0 then took revenge against NiP by defeating the Swedes 2–0, progressing to the upper bracket. Evil defeated Renegades (which later became 100 Thieves) 2–0, taking the first map easily but struggling slightly more on the second. EG would next play
Fnatic Fnatic (pronounced "fanatic"; also stylized as fnatic or FNATIC) is a professional esports organization headquartered in London, United Kingdom. Founded 23 July 2004, the team has players from around the world, across a variety of games, such ...
in the upper bracket finals. After a terrible first map losing 16–2, EG took the next two maps and booked a spot in the grand finals, facing the winner of the losers bracket, Fnatic once again. In the grand final, EG played extremely well, making a tremendous comeback from a 9–0 deficit to win the first map 16–12 and win the second map much more decisively with a 16–9 score. Ethan was named MVP of the event


Current roster


''League of Legends''

In September 2019, Evil Geniuses announced it would be reentering ''League of Legends'' by filling in the ''League of Legends'' Championship Series (LCS) slot left open following the departure of
Echo Fox Echo Fox was an American esports organization. It was founded on December 18, 2015, by retired basketball player Rick Fox, who created Echo Fox after he purchased the NA LCS spot of Gravity Gaming. The organization had expanded into various g ...
. During November, Evil Geniuses announced the signing of Dennis "
Svenskeren Dennis Johnsen (born January 2, 1996), better known as Svenskeren, is a Danish former professional '' League of Legends'' player. He has played for SK Gaming, Supa Hot Crew, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Copenhagen Wolves, Team SoloMid, Cloud9, and Evil ...
" Johnsen, Tristan "Zeyzal" Stidam and Colin "Kumo" Zhao of
Cloud9 Cloud9 Esports, Inc., or simply Cloud9 (C9), is an American professional esports company based in Santa Monica, California. The company was originally founded as a professional ''League of Legends'' team by Jack and Paullie Etienne in May 2013 ...
, Bae "Bang" Jun-sik of 100 Thieves, Daniele "Jiizuke" di Mauro of
Team Vitality Team Vitality is a French esports organisation founded in August 2013 by Fabien Devide and Nicolas Maurer. It has several professional teams and content creators from across Europe and India. Team Vitality's main ''League of Legends'' team comp ...
and Heo "Irean" Yeong-chol of
Counter Logic Gaming Counter Logic Gaming (CLG) is an American esports organization headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in April 2010 by George "HotshotGG" Georgallidis and Alexander "Vodoo" Beutel as a ''League of Legends'' team, and has si ...
as the Head Coach. They ended the Spring Split in 3rd place, losing to
FlyQuest FlyQuest is a professional esports organization based in the United States that was founded on January 6, 2017. It is owned by the Viola family, owners of the Florida Panthers. FlyQuest was originally founded after the acquisition of the ''Lea ...
in the
playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...
with a final score of 1–3. In the 2022 spring split, the team placed fourth in the regular season with a .500 record of 9–9, and played against the first seed
Team Liquid Team Liquid is a multi-regional professional esports organization based in the Netherlands that was founded in 2000. With the release of '' StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty'', Team Liquid signed their first professional players. In 2012, Team Li ...
in the first round of playoffs, falling 3–2. The team then went on to complete a lower bracket run all the way to the Grand Finals, including a decisive 3–0 win against Team Liquid. In the Grand Finals, Evil Geniuses beat 100 Thieves 3–0 to win their first LCS Championship as an organization. They went on to finish 3–4th at the 2022 Mid-Season Invitational, losing 3–0 against eventual champions
Royal Never Give Up Royal Never Give Up (RNG) is a Chinese esports organization whose '' League of Legends'' team competes in the League of Legends Pro League. It was established in May 2015. RNG won the 2016 LPL Spring Playoffs, 2018 LPL Spring Playoffs and 2018 ...
. Keeping the same roster for the summer split, Evil Geniuses finished 3rd following a 3–2 loss against 100 Thieves. Following the 2022 World Championship, where the team placed finished 11th–14th with a 1/5 group stage record, Evil Geniuses released their coaches Peter Dun, Artemis, Rigby, Artemis, and academy head coach ZzLegendary. It was later announced that
Impact Impact may refer to: * Impact (mechanics), a high force or shock (mechanics) over a short time period * Impact, Texas, a town in Taylor County, Texas, US Science and technology * Impact crater, a meteor crater caused by an impact event * Impac ...
also left the team.


Current roster


''Rocket League''

During September 2021, Evil Geniuses announced their return to the
RLCS The Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS) is an annual ''Rocket League'' esports tournament series produced by Psyonix, the game's developer. It consists of three online qualification splits in several regions, with teams earning points towa ...
. On October 5, they announced the signing of "German Amigos" consisting of Leonardo “Catalysm” Crist Ramos, Ivan “ivn” Sabri, Riccardo “Rizex45” Mazzotta and coach Kuno “Mumen” Hildebrandt. On September 30 Rizex45 and Mumen were released.On October 3 Damian "Tox" Schäfer was signed as a player with John "Virge" Willis as coach.


Current roster


Valorant

On January 27, 2021, Evil Geniuses entered Valorant with their first roster consisting of Temperature, aleksandar, Osias, clawdia and Potter. On September 21, 2022, they were selected as a partner to compete in the Valorant Champions Tour Americas League.


Current roster


Former divisions


''Fortnite Battle Royale''

In early 2019, Evil Geniuses acquired a ''Fortnite Battle Royale'' team. The team was released in June 2020.


''Overwatch''

In July 2017, Evil Geniuses announced that they would be releasing their Overwatch team just two months after it was originally formed.


''PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds''

In October 2017, Evil Geniuses acquired a PUBG team. After many changes throughout the following year, Evil Geniuses dropped the team in December 2018.


''Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege''

In November 2017, the team announced that they had acquired the roster for the Rainbow Six Pro League team of Continuum shortly before the Year 2 Season 3 Finals. It included Troy "Canadian" Jaroslawski, Nathan "nvK" Valenti, Austin "Yung" Trexler, Brandon "BC" Carr, Ammar “Necrox” Albanna, and Jordan “BKN” Soojian as the team's Coach. At the Year 2 Season 3 Finals in São Paulo, Brazil, EG placed 5–8th after losing to eventual champions ENCE Esports in the quarter finals. In February 2018, the team placed second to
PENTA Sports Penta may refer to: Places * , an Italian hamlet (') of Fisciano, Salerno * Penta-di-Casinca, a French municipality of Corsica * Penta, Chhattisgarh, a town in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh, India * , a small river in Lithuania Other * P ...
in the Six Invitational 2018, the ''Rainbow Six Siege'' world championship. BKN would be released from the team on August 30 after placing second to
G2 Esports G2 Esports (G2) is a European esports organization headquartered in Berlin, Germany, with players competing in ''League of Legends'', ''Valorant'', '' Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'', '' Hearthstone'', ''Rocket League'', ''Rainbow Six Sieg ...
, who picked up the former PENTA roster, in the Six Major Paris 2018. Necrox was later moved to the coach role as the team acquired Emilio "Geoometrics" Leynez Cuevas on September 3. Peter Chao also became manager of the Rainbow Six Siege team the same day. BC retired from a playing role on September 20, bringing Necrox back to a player role. On October 12, Aaron "Gotcha" Chung filled the empty spot of coach for the team and often played when another member of the team was unable to play. In August 2019, Evil Geniuses would fall in the group stages of the Six Major Raleigh 2019 stunning fans and opponents. After a disappointing run in the Six Major Raleigh, Peter Chao, Gotcha, and Canadian all left the team, supporting the rumors of a potential change. To replace Canadian as a player, Morquis "Modigga" Hribar joined EG from Gotcha's former team, Disrupt Gaming. Ryan Towey also replaced Peter Chao as Manager. Canadian joined Spacestation Gaming and Gotcha joined
Team SoloMid Team SoloMid (TSM) is a professional esports organization based in the United States. It was founded in September 2009 by Andy "Reginald" Dinh. TSM currently fields players in ''League of Legends'', ''Dota 2'', '' Apex Legends'', '' Valorant'' ...
(TSM). EG performed relatively badly in the second half of Pro League Season 10, tying to Susquehanna Soniqs, Rogue, losing to
Luminosity Gaming Luminosity Gaming is a professional esports organization based in North America. It has teams competing in '' Call of Duty, Overwatch, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege'', '' Super Smash Bros.'', ''Fortnite,'' ''Apex Legends and Rocket League''. ...
, placing 3rd failing to reach the Pro League Season 10 Finals in
Tokoname is a city in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 57,872 in 24,872 households, and a population density of 1,035 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Tokoname is located on the western coast ...
, Japan. In November, Geoometrics left to join TSM and was replaced by Gotcha as a player. Tristan "Ranger" Pehrson, the former coach of Rogue, joined as a coach. On April 15, 2020, Evil Geniuses released the roster.


References


External links

* {{Rocket League 1999 establishments in Washington (state) Esports teams established in 1999 Call of Duty teams Counter-Strike teams Defunct and inactive StarCraft II teams Dota teams Esports teams based in the United States Fighting game player sponsors Defunct and inactive Halo (franchise) teams Defunct and inactive Heroes of Newerth teams Heroes of the Storm teams League of Legends Championship Series teams Former European League of Legends Championship Series teams Rocket League teams Super Smash Bros. player sponsors Team Razer Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege teams Defunct and inactive Overwatch teams Valorant teams