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While other Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams are competing in the 2022 PGL Antwerp Major, Evil Geniuses are undergoing a roster reconstruction.
The North American team took to the social media platform Twitter to announce some of the changes they are making to their roster. With the publication, the team revealed that they have relieved two of their coaching staff of their duties, while the head coach Damien “maLeK” Marcel has been relegated to a non-active role.
According to the release, the French man has been granted permission to discuss his options with other teams, if he so chooses.
“It’s no secret that performances have not met expectations since the start of the year. Because of that, we’ve made the tough decision to move CS: GO Head Coach Damien “maLeK” Marcel to a non-active role and have permitted him to begin exploring new options for his career. We have also parted ways with assistant coach Paolo “EVY” Berbudeau and analyst Juan “Hepa” Borges and thank them for their hard work during their time with Evil Geniuses.”
Based on the promised update in the memo, more movement is expected from the newly-constructed roster. Every member of this roster was acquired at the start of the year, with the head coach being the first to join the team.
Marcel left G2 Esports in November 2021 after spending three years with the organization. His greatest achievement with the team was a Grand Final appearance in the 2021 PGL Stockholm. Unfortunately, they got swept by Natus Vincere after what was a hard-fought final.
Evil Geniuses finished 15 in the Legends Stage of the 2021 PGL Stockholm, and the plan was to improve coming into the new year. Sadly, that did not turn out as expected despite the big-name signings they made at the beginning of 2022.
They signed Jacky “Stewie2k” Yip, who was then with team Liquid. Through the course of his playing career, the 24-year-old American won the ELEAGUE Boston Major in 2018 and season 2 of the IEM Grand Slam.
RUSH was another champion the team brought in to bolster their ranks. He was a member of the Complexity Gaming team that reached the 2020 BLAST Premier Global Final.
EG failed to qualify for the 2022 Antwerp Major, which was the catalyst for the impending change. After a 3-2 finish in the Swiss Stage of the America Regional Major Ranking, they had a chance to qualify for the Antwerp Major as contenders but blew it. They lost 2-1 to 9z Team in the eighth-place match with a 16-14 loss on Overpass being the decider.
Nonetheless, there is no telling how far the team would have gone in the Antwerp Major because they did not look formidable throughout the regional rankings.
As things stand, the chances of EG participating in the 2022 World Final are ridiculously slim. However, if they manage to win either the Fall Finals or ESL Pro League Season 16, they will get direct seeding to the event.
The esports organization has hinted that there will be updates in the coming weeks, which suggests that they could announce the departure of more team members. However, they will surely make announcements regarding their roster as they will be looking to fill the roles that are currently vacant.
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