by in
Reports suggest that Evil Geniuses are on the cusp of releasing their entire Dota 2 roster ahead of the 2023 season and potentially relocating to South America.
According to independent journalist Kenny Utama, EG will allow their core of Artour “Arteezy” Babaev and Andreas “Cr1t-” Nielsen to transfer to South America for the 2023 Dota Pro Circuit season. The entire EG 2022 roster, including coach Kanishka “Bulba” Sosale, will be released.
The franchise will also take charge of the new Thunder Awaken roster following a two-player swap with Beastcoast in what is considered one of South America’s biggest trades in years. Beastcoast are expected to take on Herrera “Darkmago” Gonzalo and Rafael “Sacred” Yonatan, with Adrián “Wisper” Dobles and Jean “Chris Luck” Salazar joining TA’s roster.
If the reports are anything to go by and EG take hold of the entire TA roster, the South American franchise will be on the search for new talent. This will, in turn, give room for new faces to come on to the scene, thus growing the SA Dota 2 scene.
The International 2022 seems to have been the last trial that EG were ready to put into the lineup they had held since November 2016. While they found some stability going into the group stage thanks to the return of Tal “Fly” Aizik after a year off the scene, the team’s campaign ended with consecutive 0-2 defeats in the playoffs.
With EG leaving the NA Dota 2 scene, all five elite players will become available for other franchises to add to their roster. Abed “Abed” Yusop might relocate back to Southeast Asia, and Fly as a seasoned captain could help stabilize teams. Egor “Nightfall” Grigorenko is also speculated to be creating a new stack in Europe with Ivan “Pure” Moskalenko and Vitalie “Save-” Melni, while Arteezy and Ct1t- have been absent from the market since 2016.
According to Utama, roster changes for TA began almost instantly after the team’s run to fifth-sixth place at The International – a South American record. Despite TA’s offer to keep their main players and rumored proposals from Alliance, Nigma, and Cloud9, reports suggest that EG won the bid and secured a verbal agreement with the Peruvian team earlier today.
It is believed that EG desire to keep their incoming roster located in South America. But if they intend to immediately compete for a position at the season’s first Major, they must buy a position in the higher bracket of the SA DPC.
It is unclear whether the squad would be willing to compete in the lower bracket of the SA league or EG would transfer the team to North America if they are unable to purchase an upper-bracket position.
