Evil Geniuses announce changes to academy rosters

20-3-2023 19:05

The organization is looking to restructure their 'Blueprint' initiative following a poor start to 2023.

Evil Geniuses have announced their decision to part ways with EG White just nine months following their acquisition of the roster that was previously known as Party Astronauts. The starting lineup has been released from the organization, while coach Joseph "⁠Muenster⁠" Lima will stay on in a merger with EG Black.

The move was revealed in an exclusive Dust2.us interview with Evil Geniuses' Director of Athletics, Soham "⁠valens⁠" Chowdhury. The American commented on the 'Blueprint' project's development and the changes in the organization as a consequence of a difficult start to the year, which culminated in Evil Geniuses missing out on qualification for the imminent Paris Major.

The changes come in a time of instability and speculation for Evil Geniuses, which are rumored to be in talks with Ismail "⁠refrezh⁠" Ali as a replacement for Jadan "⁠HexT⁠" Postma. Dust2.us also indicate the 21-year-old is set to be on his way back to EG Black as a replacement for a departing Peter "⁠stanislaw⁠" Jarguz.

Muenster is set to remain at Evil Geniuses

Party Astronauts and Carpe Diem were acquired by the Evil Geniuses organization in June 2022 as part of their 'Blueprint' project, an initiative aimed at creating a fluid 15-player roster by 2023. The idea seemed to take inspiration from the North American organization's League of Legends model, which featured two junior lineups to draw talent from and led to their first-ever LCS title.

The project never hit its stride and the two new lineups seemed to operate without the fluidity first intended. Their latest decision to combine the remaining elements of two junior lineups marks a drastic shift from their previous approach into a more standard academy project, something which was specifically not the aim at the project's inception.

It's a different approach from the fact that we do not see them as an academy team

Danny Engels, EG's Director of Gaming Excellence to HLTV.org nine months ago

EG Black was the only team that successfully developed players perceived as capable enough to be promoted to the main lineup such as HexT and Jerric "⁠wiz⁠" Jiang, while EG White failed to raise any of its players to the senior team. Now the roster consisting of Ben "⁠ben1337⁠" Smith, Wesley "⁠viz⁠" Harris, Josh "⁠PwnAlone⁠" Pigue, Jonathan "⁠Jonji⁠" Carey, and Khizar "⁠Momo⁠" Rehman are no longer part of the organization.

EG sign Carpe Diem, Party Astronauts rosters, announce plans to create fluid 15-man team

EG White started their journey under their new banner on the wrong foot and crashed out of the Pinnacle Cup Championship 2022 in last place. The lineup then successfully qualified for ESL Challenger Melbourne over the likes of ATK and TeamOne, but also finished at the bottom of the standings in Australia.

Fragadelphia 17 finally gave ben1337's team something to celebrate as they beat BIG Academy in the final to lift the trophy in front of the North American crowd. Their success was, however, limited to the Pennsylvanian city, and their next outings at CCT North America Series 2 and 3 both ended in elimination after two 5-8th exits. Their only recent successes amounted to a few online ESEA Cash Cup victories.

Evil Geniuses are parting ways with the following players:

Jonathan "⁠Jonji⁠" Carey
Khizar "⁠Momo⁠" Rehman
Ben "⁠ben1337⁠" Smith
Josh "⁠PwnAlone⁠" Pigue
Wesley "⁠viz⁠" Harris

NA lul

2023-03-20 19:05

4 replies

sad for jonji and viz, they actually have potential but this EG White roster didnt seem to have any purpose as they didnt play in ECL or anything minimally relevant outside of random cash cups

2023-03-20 19:23

3 replies

+1 I hope both find something better

2023-03-20 21:33

Unfortunate but thats the state of NA CS and has been for years. Orgs will only fund so much for academy teams & in their case signing with EG got them consistent paychecks but they knew they would miss out on a lot of opportunities to compete because of the other two EG line ups taking part in them.

2023-03-21 00:02

they can hopfully get a org now and compete against eg I feel it still was a good move to join them now but now its time to part ways after all the xp and resourced eg provided improved them

2023-03-21 03:34

2 replies

Does Germany even have 1 good player? Lol

2023-03-21 23:41

1 reply

TabseN?

2023-03-22 01:16

wow what a surprise !!!!!!!!!

2023-03-20 19:06

noooooo pwnalone 32yo talent

anyway EG Black > EG

Just donate money for the charity and cease operations. Stop wasting it for hopeless projects.

2023-03-20 23:27

jeorgesnorts to navi

na dickstacy ngl

2023-03-20 19:19

2023-03-20 22:23

rip

should’ve never signed this roster tbh, it was obvious they had no future

2023-03-20 19:07

It's clear there is a problem when the best and most promising player is 32

2023-03-20 19:10

hope EG.PA will stay together and still play in the NA circuit

2023-03-20 19:09

NA in a nutshell

2023-03-20 19:08

Nice #EZ4EG

Time for Ben`s Anime Team to make a comeback Time for them to shine again.

Eg makes na look like clowns. Might end up changing my flag because of this

i respect the orgs dedication to developing NA, as little as there is to develop at least, but their execution is so bad

2023-03-20 19:11

I wish eg would develop me as a coach. I peaked faceit 8 and watch lau demos. They should make me a coach

2023-03-20 19:16

Vorborg is good, but u can probably replace Axed hehe

finally, i was thinking at this 2-3 days ago too now fix eg main too

hehe so because of EG main team bad performance EG black get released :D should only have 1 academy team anyway, was always bad idea from start.

+1 I feel like EG had no plan with these academy teams and just needed to burn some money. -A man who does not plan long ahead will find trouble at his door

Quickly bought all avaiable csgo player which has not made a move to valulrant yet~ paid them 9 juicy month salary~ random promote few of them to main team which has never worked, i meant , hext,wiz ?? Come on! ~ then try to bring some European player to replace, why dont u just do this in the 1st time lul

2023-03-20 19:14

But they are keeping the eg gold roster.. wow what an embarrasment

2023-03-20 19:12

im starting to really fucking hate this org

what a waste of time, so sad to see PA just get locked out of playing events because they are signed by this shit organization hopefully they try to go for challenger league and next RMR/iem events, it's boring with so little teams here

2023-03-20 19:17

Extra Salt should come back to the scene and sign them

2023-03-20 19:25

or is it not a coincidence that Moist esports tweeted about CS today?

2023-03-21 02:11

Unlucko, it’s not like EG White was ultra bad, they in fact were the standard tier 2 Na team (play small event and cash cups), and they even were winning some trophies now and then. I get it that they weren’t able to create talent for the main roster. Best of luck for them in the future!

2023-03-20 19:24

EG White was better than the main roster tbh. they wouldnt have lost to yur or Team One

2023-03-21 02:12

I stand with EG. EG will win major this year. I AM NACS INCARNATE. ALL WHO OPPOSE ME WILL FEEL MY WRATH

refrezh from doing 1v5 clutches in heroic, to flopping in sprout and ending in EG

2023-03-20 19:26

Eg pays 3x if not more salary. And hext and wiz is biggest problems. If refrezh join they can somwtime take 1 map or maybe even a game from opponents. For both parties is upgrade in my eyes. Refrezh bigger org and better paying. For eg roster more uptodate meta as refrezh was igling a little bit so he can give tips not even call as he stutters. But more firepower and better teamplay guaranteed. Hext use his energy on screaming and then gets rekt thinks is NA.

2023-03-20 21:31

Obviously he will be making more money and good for him but thats not everything, and everyone in EG is washed so I dont think adding another washed rifler is gonna improve anything

2023-03-20 22:28

RIP salaries for those guys but it'll be fun to watch them actually compete again

2023-03-20 19:29

I would love see autimatic move to Europe and play for a sick org like mouz

2023-03-20 19:30

is stanislaw really finished? i thought he can play on main EG

Keep the roster and call the team EG Academy for the losses to be less humiliating

2023-03-20 19:35

jonji is still only 23 wtf

2023-03-20 19:42

dare (awp) wiz (support) Jeorge autimatic refrezh (igl) not bad

2023-03-20 19:44

wiz is an awper. no point to keep him on rifle

2023-03-21 02:13

EG gave these kids some stability in the worst of times, the rest was up to them. They should be grateful for that. I reckon they just didnt live up to expectations. At some point you have to pull the plug, but im pretty sure these guys will form some new lineup.

2023-03-20 19:46

5 replies

They never had a chance. EG didn't let them playing anything except for some ESEA cash cups because TOs won't let multiple teams from the same org play in one tourney. They literally had fewer chances with EG than when they qualified for Pro League as an unsigned team

2023-03-21 05:47

iirc when these players were signed, it was EG's goal to play multiple events at the same time. it was never intended to have multiple EG teams in the same event. i reckon they were hoping to have the several teams play on different levels, unfortunately during the existence of the teams there never was much progress. They were all just kinda stuck on the same level. Nobody can say this was 'intentional' ofc, everyone in the EG org wouldve loved to see the players develop better faster and stronger.

2023-03-21 10:32

Eg org has no idea what they’re doing lol

2023-03-21 19:33

pls dont even bother to comment if this is the best you can type

2023-03-21 19:39

Because we’ve spent 3 years being disappointed by this trash org. Not even worth the effort anymore

2023-03-21 20:28

bro FINALLY the old party astronaut roster can compete for tier1 events

2023-03-20 19:48

main EG roster going to be in the trenches

The right decision

2023-03-20 20:00

pwnalone was the only good guy in the roster anyways

2023-03-20 20:22

Yeah, dunno why they didn't switch him to the main lineup in place of wiz... or at least give him a shot. pwnalone actually hasn't been bad whenever he's played against better teams, but the rest of the lineup lets him down

2023-03-21 01:43

rest in piss

2023-03-20 20:26

Good, now kick the like 15 other players and shut the shit down for good,

2023-03-20 20:28

Honestly this isn’t that bad for PA, they can actually attend big qualifiers again, remember when they made it to pro league and were like 1 game away from the major, they can actually strive for those goals again

2023-03-20 20:42

All they had to do was have one academy team of young players and one main team, but instead they chose to constantly change the rosters every month and signed a bunch of washed up 30 year olds.

2023-03-20 20:46

EG White didnt even change that much. they got rid of Djay after months and got momo and that's it

2023-03-21 02:15

"When I was talking to EG management… that was some of the worst management I think I have ever talked to" NAF is right :)

2023-03-20 21:11

Already forgot about this line. Checks out. At least rumours say refrezh will replace hext whoch is best thing they did in long time. Now they can sometime take 1 map from opponents or maybe even a game.

2023-03-20 21:26

L Jonji rip bozo

2023-03-20 21:17

If refrezh replace hext finally eg can win a map sometime maybe even a game. Hext scream most but is average in eu. Maybe he good in na but so was juniorm

2023-03-20 21:25

Average in eu? Dude literally posts top3 worst stats of any eu tournament he participates in lol

I see him play and was top fragging 2 maps so i went a bit ez on him didnt check whole te on eg stats xD but other maps i dod watch he was so bad

2023-03-20 21:52

0.85 vs top50 teams last 6 months speaks volumes ngl

2023-03-20 23:23

staaaaaaaaaaahp :D

2023-03-20 21:30

*insert gamer doc’s talent pipeline tweet here*

Stupid moves, should’ve gone like this: Evil Genius Nealan Jonji Brehze / Autimatic (keep one sell the other) Refrezh Wiz (although i would’ve replaced him too) EG Black (Academy) Walco Hext Jeorge Viz Junior

2023-03-20 21:50

keeping pwn for wiz or promoting Junior and having wiz on Academy would be better

2023-03-21 02:17

2023-03-20 22:14

All EG had to do was send the younger guys to play in WePlay last year instead of having them stuck in NA playing Cash Cups cause they can't play in tournaments with EG's main team. And they somehow messed that up

2023-03-20 22:20

Time for the boys to actually play some events now, LFG PA go next

2023-03-20 22:33

who asked?

2023-03-20 22:39

Party astronauts anyone? Just me?

2023-03-20 22:44

hoping they're back

i was waiting for Party Astronauts Valorant rooster for so long now

2023-03-20 22:51

nah they'll stay in CS. they can smurf every NA event and get free qualifiers

cant wait to see this roster play and beat the main EG roster lmao

2023-03-20 22:59

ofc they had to do it after quals ended, so they can look like less of an embarrassment

2023-03-20 23:05

thank god big mouth hext is leaving EG main roster...no more having to watch a match and see him yell and scream for no reason

2023-03-20 23:54

default every month

2023-03-21 00:37

why keep hext at all

2023-03-21 00:46

he's young and now has tier 1 experience + is pretty good in NA

2023-03-21 02:18

Blueprint my ass

2023-03-21 00:54

Jonji vaxer got kicked, cynic W

2023-03-21 01:01

Only reason why they got signed in the first place was so the main team could avoid them in quals, but I am guessing they realized thats pointless when the main roster loses literally to anybody and signing the whole na scene just so EG could qualify for a RMR is pricey.

2023-03-21 02:03

should've promoted EG White to the main roster. they wouldnt lose to yur and Team One

2023-03-21 02:19

very sadge

2023-03-21 03:17

pwnalone>wiz

2023-03-21 03:31

Get rekt Jonji

2023-03-21 04:20

I never felt like they have play any games but apparently they win some cash caps against some orgleas and falter against sa teams Kinda senseless for eg to keep this team

2023-03-21 07:45

EG BLACK > EG

2023-03-21 11:44

>"We just took down the #1 ranked team in the world and all the casters can think to say is Heroic didn't show up. We clawed our way back from 217th in the world by BUILDING a talent pipeline the whole scene memed on. Step out of the echo chamber and pay attention." >nice talent pipeline now

2023-03-21 11:55

took them long enough to figure out that a 15 person roster is not gonna work

2023-03-21 12:02

I wonder how this will be spun to make out it's the fault of middle aged white men. ;)

2023-03-21 13:04

Momo

2023-03-21 14:44

which one ?

2023-03-21 14:57

What was even the point of signing PA? The original plan was to bring up members from the two academy teams to the main roster, yet they never did that, even though there were surely players on PA that were better fits than HexT and wiz (if not by experience alone).

2023-03-21 15:03

I kinda feel like this team would be better than the main EG team if they would've played the same tournaments, really, but I like the fact they're closing this stupid blueprint, I wish they shut it down completely and just invest into a solid 5-man lineup.

2023-03-21 17:40