EVIL Geniuses officially announced their roster for the upcoming DPC season, headlined by the acquisition of two time TI champion, Jesse "JerAx" Vainikka and former Virtus Pro member, Egor "Nightfall" Grigorenko.
Filipino superstar midlaner Abed "Abed" Yusop has opted to remain at EG for their 2022 campaign. Both JerAx and Nightfall will replace Daryl Koh "iceiceice" Pei Xiang and Tal "Fly" Aizik.
With their arrival, EG's roster now consists of the following individuals: Artour "Arteezy" Babaev, Abed "Abed" Yusop, Egor "Nightfall" Grigorenko, Andreas "Cr1t-" Nielsen, amd Jesse "JerAx" Vainikka.
Coaching this team is North American Dota 2 legend, Sam "Bulba" Sosale.
Evil Geniuses new roster brimming with a lot of promise
Abed's performances in The International 2021 caught the attention of the Dota community as he was viewed as the team's primary option, following the footsteps of EG legend, Syed "SumaiL" Hassan.
Even outside the competitive scene, Abed was able to make his mark in Dota history as the first player to reach the 10,000 solo MMR mark in 2017 and 2019 under Valve's new medal system. He even accomplished another milestone by being the first player to reach the 11,000 solo MMR mark in 2020.
Amid his heroics and accomplishments, his run in TI10 met an early exit as his team ended up eliminated by Chinese powerhouse Vici Gaming, earning them a 9th-12th place finish.
With the arrival of JerAx and Nightfall, Abed may finally have the support that he needs. Bulba even expressed the contributions that JerAx might bring to the North American organization.
“Everyone is looking forward to playing with Jesse. He has a lot of great ideas about dota and how he approaches the game," mused EG's head coach. "The entire team is excited to have him join us and we cannot wait to get started and show the fans our potential," said Bulba.
For his part, Arteezy was excited about Nightfall's transition from a carry player in Virtus Pro to an offlaner for EG.
“This roster change to me is really exciting. I like the idea of a carry switching to the offlane as these two roles often interact the most, and both Jerax and Nightfall have a lot of fresh air and tactical strategy to bring to the team," reflected EG's position 1 player.
The team will play their first game on November 29 for the North American Pro Circuit Tour hosted by ESL.