stanislaw on taking a break: "It was definitely necessary; I was not anywhere near a good mental space"

The Evil Geniuses in-game leader spoke about his extended time off the server and coming back in time for the last RMR tournament, IEM Fall.

It has been a difficult couple of months for Evil Geniuses. After returning from the player break, they learned that they would be playing at ESL Pro League Season 14 without Peter "⁠stanislaw⁠" Jarguz after the Canadian decided to take some time off the server, stating that he wasn't feeling mentally ready to travel and compete.

With coach Damian "⁠daps⁠" Steele stepping in, the team went out last at the event without a single victory in the group stage, and things were only about to get worse. Before BLAST Premier Fall, Vincent "⁠Brehze⁠" Cayonte returned to North America due to mental health issues as well, leaving the team to compete with just three of their main players and resulting in another early elimination at the event.

Speaking to HLTV.org in an interview ahead of IEM Fall, where Evil Geniuses will play for PGL Major Stockholm qualification again with their full lineup, stanislaw spoke about why he took an extra month off following the break and the situation it left the team in.

"I don't know if it being worth it is the right phrase, but it was definitely necessary," he explained. "I have a lot of things going on in my personal life — or I had, at least — and I was not anywhere near being in a good mental space. I just felt like if I were to play, I wouldn't be able to perform at my best."

"I just talked to my team about it and they agreed that it would be okay for me to take a break now, and we'd just focus on the Major."

stanislaw discussed how his absence has affected the team and whether they will be able to return to form going into such an important tournament like IEM Fall, having only returned to the full lineup around two weeks ahead of the RMR event. The Canadian said that EG were feeling confident but sounded far from it himself, admitting that getting back into form won't be easy.

"They [the rest of the team] have had a lot of practice in Europe, which is good. I've been trying to play as much as I can here, but as we all know practice in NA is not anywhere near what it is in Europe," the in-game leader said.

"We're still trying to practice as much as we can, it is going to be hard to get back into form, but we're just going to do the best that we can and hope we make the Major."

We finally asked the 27-year-old about the most recent update to the game, which saw several important changes be made, including the introduction of the ability to drop utility to teammates. stanislaw shared his thoughts on how that will affect IEM Fall, saying that it might take time before teams optimize ways to use it.

"I don't think the meta is going to shift too much for IEM Fall," he reckons. "I think you're going to see the game update take effect in the later stages of the year because people need time to figure out what best ways there are to implement the update into their gameplay."

"It just feels like the old patch, but there are a few rounds that feel a little bit different."

Evil Geniuses are set to begin their campaign at IEM Fall North America on Tuesday. The all-important best-of-one round robin group stage pits them against a Brazilian-heavy opposition in FURIA, GODSENT, TeamOne, 00NATION, and Triumph, among whom stanislaw and company will need to finish at least in third place to have a chance at qualifying for PGL Major Stockholm.

Below is a schedule of Evil Geniuses' matches in Group B at IEM Fall:

Tuesday, October 5
00:45 Evil Geniuses vs. 00NATION
03:15 Evil Geniuses vs. TeamOne

Wednesday, October 6
22:15 Evil Geniuses vs. Triumph
03:15 Evil Geniuses vs. GODSENT

Thursday, October 7
01:30 Evil Geniuses vs. FURIA