Vorborg: "Pure firepower wouldn't fix our core issues; [it] might be a bandaid"

The Evil Geniuses head coach shared insight into the team's latest change with fans on Twitter.

Daniel "⁠Vorborg⁠" Vorborg, head coach of Evil Geniuses, took to Twitter on Wednesday to offer transparency and insight on the organization's process and train of thought regarding their decisions, opening himself up to questions from the public.

The Dane started by acknowledging that "most of the criticism, skepticism surrounding our EG Blue team is warranted," and added that the point of him sharing was not to make excuses or tell people they shouldn't be skeptical.

"We've earned that skepticism, and we need to live with it," he continued. "It's on us to prove we are worth believing in, but I want to provide as much perspective as possible."

Many questions were asked about the team's recent addition of Ismail "⁠refrezh⁠" Ali, who was first linked with a move to the lineup nearly one month ago and has now arrived to take the place of Jadan "⁠HexT⁠" Postma.

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refrezh joins Evil Geniuses

Specifically, Vorborg was questioned on why Evil Geniuses looked towards European talent rather than at North America, or even at their own EG Black players. It was a point that even Mohan "⁠launders⁠" Govindasamy raised in a series of tweets, with Vorborg directly answering the inquiry both in that thread and in replies to similar questions he received directly.

The 30-year-old Dane explained that the skillset that EG was looking for was not something available to them in North America, stating that the roster's "core issue has always been initiative/leadership, and we didn't expect bringing up another blueprint player would fix that."

He added that while Vincent "⁠Brehze⁠" Cayonte and Timothy "⁠autimatic⁠" Ta have experience, they lack the specific sort of leadership that the team requires. He later clarified that this didn't mean that Sanzhar "⁠neaLaN⁠" Iskhakov would no longer be the in-game leader, but that his style of calling works better with more opinionated players who can take the initiative.

"The way neaLaN likes to call gives a lot of responsibility to the players around him, so he works the best with players around him that are comfortable making tough decisions," Vorborg explained. "He doesn't like to spawn call/micro[manage] as much as others." He also added that his belief was that teams "preferably need ~3 leaders" and that since neaLaN came from outside of tier one, the team had needed an adjustment period.

In touching further upon refrezh's addition, Vorborg stated that the Danish rifler was "the best teammate I've ever worked with," and that he was a leader both in the game and an emotional leader "when the going gets tough."

In other tweets, Vorborg explained that refrezh, like neaLaN, would not move to North America but would travel and bootcamp frequently with the team. He also explained that the team's travel schedule and tournament obligations made it difficult to play tier 2-3 opposition and smaller events in Europe to get experience, but that their focus at the moment was on playing as many officials at the moment no matter the results.

Vorborg also said that it was hard to spent months building lineups due to the organization's status in the scene, and that was part of the reason they opted for someone more experienced. However, he also stated that team's goals are not oriented towards results, but rather day-to-day improvements and fixing mistakes as a whole.

He spoke on Jerric "⁠wiz⁠" Jiang's performances and the potential of adding Paytyn "⁠junior⁠" Johnson as well, saying the latter player had only just joined the EG Black roster, while the former hadn't had enough time to prove himself yet.

"He didn't have much time, and we're now spending a good amount of resources on him - the RMR was a marked improvement for him, and I expect he continues in that direction." In a different tweet, Vorborg didn't rule out future changes either: "If we don't perform, don't improve we're in a business where our jobs aren't safe - mine included."