On the Move at Last: Evil Geniuses attempt to acquire “Ethan” from NRG ahead of VCT 2023.

North American organization, Evil Geniuses (EG), have been in discussions to sign Ethan “Ethan” Arnold, according to a report by George Geddes. The NA giant had previously been eyeing Phat “supamen” Le however, according to latest reports, negotiations have stagnated.

“Ethan,” who is currently on NRG, transferred from 100 Thieves in April. On his current roster, they secured a top four finish at the NA Stage 2 Challengers, before falling in the NA Last Chance Qualifiers to Cloud 9.

During his time on both 100 Thieves and NRG, “Ethan” distinguished himself as a premier talent in NA, flexible on both the controller and initiator role as well as Sage. Coming from CS: GO as a Tier 1 player, he provided much needed relief to a beleaguered 100 Thieves at the time, who were lacking in fragging power at times.

“Ethan” would stabilize the roster through added experience, assisting star player Peter “Asuna” Mazuryk with secondary entries. He also brough with him a stellar record from CS:GO, having been ranked the 20th best player by HLTV in 2019.

     Image credit: Riot Games

Inaction Might Cost Them

On Sep 21st, Riot Games officially announced the 30 partnered VCT teams for the 2023 season. To the surprise of some, Evil Geniuses (EG), was among the names announced. The surprise would stem from the lack of substantial results obtained by the roster throughout 2022, and the surplus of more notable rosters and organizations such as Optic Gaming, Version1 and TSM who were rejected for partnership.

Whilst the choice for EG is understandable, given the following and size of the brand, EG have been silent on the home front, with both their twitter feed and website confined to announcements for their other teams in other games (Dota 2, League of Legends and Rocket League primarily).

Concern from the fans stem from the inaction as the last remaining partnered NA VCT team yet to make a roster move as the window closes on them.

Underwhelming Results

EG’s Valorant roster has largely proven underwhelming, with mid-tier results across the board. They finished in 5th-6th place in the NA Stage 2 Challengers after qualifying through the Open Qualifiers. They would play in the NA Last Chance Qualifier, however falling out in 7th to 8th place after only winning a single map across their 2 series played. Ironically, both their exits would be ushered out by NRG.

Historically, their roster has never made it higher than 5th to 6th placement at any A tier Valorant event and their players have never played internationally. The string of mediocre performances does incite raised eyebrows as other NA organizations look to their brethren for any signs of life with the VCT 2023 season coming up.

With so many talented NA players going into free agency, such as the likes of Jimmy “Marved” Nguyen, James “hazed” Cobb and the larger part of The Guard’s roster, EG should theoretically be spoiled for choice, even now, if they had plans to revamp their roster. With proven and tested upgrades available, it does beg some questions for EG’s next move.

As of now, EG’s roster looks as follows:

• Kelden “Boostio” Pupello
• Jeffrey “Reformed” Lu
• Alexander “jawgemo” Mor
• Corbin “C0M” Lee
• Vincent “Apotheon” Le

Image credit: VaKarM