Hi Everyone,
Today, we're announcing some major changes to our DotA 2 roster - ones that we've spent a lot of time carefully considering.
Believe it or not, it was less than a year ago that our roster was only a map away from winning DreamHack Winter. We defeated Na`Vi and Fnatic on our way to the finals, and we lost to a group of guys that would eventually be known as some team called "Alliance". And we were very, very proud of that lineup, both as players and people. Those five guys (Bdiz, DeMoN, Fear, Maelk, and Jeyo) are the kind of people you want representing your team, and toward the end of 2012, their collective level of play was also at the tier we would like to think the EG name is associated with.
And then, as often happens in eSports, things changed - and changed quickly. Several months into 2013, it was clear that our beloved captain, Maelk, wasn't the player he was before, and that our team, in terms of performance, wasn't the team it was before. We made a switch. We brought in fresh blood. And we entered the TI3 qualifiers with a healthy amount of swagger and confidence, which after the first day of the qualifiers seemed to be backed up by our play. Then, on the second day of the qualifiers, reality hit us in the face - hard.
That was the worst day of the year for our organization. It was a very quiet, somber day at the office. It was the most gut-wrenching loss we had experienced in a very long time, because we knew how well our team was capable of playing when they were playing well. But it brought to light one of the weaknesses of our now-former lineup: when we were on, we were really on, but when we were off - boy, were we off. And it's nice to know that you're great when you're playing at your best, but when your best and worst seem to fluctuate on their own, that's a problem.
Despite not qualifying for TI3, we were still very proud of our team. Let's not forget: we're talking about a lineup that subsequently bounced back to finish 3rd at DreamHack Summer, 2nd at EMS ONE, and 3rd in the TPL Season 5 finals. Our summer lineup was, objectively, a very good team. We were no scrubs. But, as most of you hopefully know, EG is not an organization that strives to be good, or even very good. Our goal is to be great, and to field a lineup that we believe has the potential to be the best. It is for this reason that we have made changes.
Jio "Jeyo" Madayag and Clinton "Fear" Loomis (our Captain) will remain on the team. Joining them will be Saahil "Universe" Arora and Ioannis "Fogged" Loucas, both formerly of Team Dignitas, who deserve thanks for agreeing to a very reasonable contract buyout settlement. Rounding out the lineup is Arif "MSS" Anwar, who at only 17 years of age will certainly be the lineup's up-and-comer.
We are very excited about this roster. They might not immediately be the world's best DotA 2 team, but they will be very, very good from the start, and most importantly, they collectively bring the right combination of skill, personality, and discipline to grow from a very good team into a great team. They'll be spending most of their time over the next year living and practicing from our training house in San Francisco, and we can't wait to see them get to work.
While we are optimistic about the future, this decision was very difficult because we had to say goodbye to some good friends. We'd like to thank Bobby "Bdiz" Tinnes and Alaan "Bamboe" Faraj for everything they contributed to our organization. And, in particular, we'd like to say a few words about one of our absolute favorite people: Jimmy "DeMoN" Ho.
Jimmy, as is the case with a lot of strong personalities, can be a bit of a polarizing figure: most people either really like him, or really don't like him.
We love him. We have known him for almost five years - since well before he made it onto our starting lineup. We have legitimately watched him grow up, and we are very proud of the accomplishments he has achieved and the fan base he has created for himself.
We're not worried about where Jimmy will go from here. We know that he'll be successful - he doesn't need us to do that. But we'll still miss him a lot. Jimmy is someone who believed in and supported our organization through and through. You could not find a player who appreciated, valued, and cared about being on Evil Geniuses more than he did, and we are very grateful to him for that. Thank you, Jimmy, for everything you have done for our team and our organization.
Our new DotA 2 lineup will compete publicly for the first time tomorrow (Friday 9/20) at 9AM PDT in the WePlay DotA 2 League. We hope you'll all join us in welcoming and cheering on Fear, Fogged, Jeyo, MSS, and Universe.
-Evil Geniuses
Today, we're announcing some major changes to our DotA 2 roster - ones that we've spent a lot of time carefully considering.
Believe it or not, it was less than a year ago that our roster was only a map away from winning DreamHack Winter. We defeated Na`Vi and Fnatic on our way to the finals, and we lost to a group of guys that would eventually be known as some team called "Alliance". And we were very, very proud of that lineup, both as players and people. Those five guys (Bdiz, DeMoN, Fear, Maelk, and Jeyo) are the kind of people you want representing your team, and toward the end of 2012, their collective level of play was also at the tier we would like to think the EG name is associated with.
And then, as often happens in eSports, things changed - and changed quickly. Several months into 2013, it was clear that our beloved captain, Maelk, wasn't the player he was before, and that our team, in terms of performance, wasn't the team it was before. We made a switch. We brought in fresh blood. And we entered the TI3 qualifiers with a healthy amount of swagger and confidence, which after the first day of the qualifiers seemed to be backed up by our play. Then, on the second day of the qualifiers, reality hit us in the face - hard.
That was the worst day of the year for our organization. It was a very quiet, somber day at the office. It was the most gut-wrenching loss we had experienced in a very long time, because we knew how well our team was capable of playing when they were playing well. But it brought to light one of the weaknesses of our now-former lineup: when we were on, we were really on, but when we were off - boy, were we off. And it's nice to know that you're great when you're playing at your best, but when your best and worst seem to fluctuate on their own, that's a problem.
Despite not qualifying for TI3, we were still very proud of our team. Let's not forget: we're talking about a lineup that subsequently bounced back to finish 3rd at DreamHack Summer, 2nd at EMS ONE, and 3rd in the TPL Season 5 finals. Our summer lineup was, objectively, a very good team. We were no scrubs. But, as most of you hopefully know, EG is not an organization that strives to be good, or even very good. Our goal is to be great, and to field a lineup that we believe has the potential to be the best. It is for this reason that we have made changes.
Jio "Jeyo" Madayag and Clinton "Fear" Loomis (our Captain) will remain on the team. Joining them will be Saahil "Universe" Arora and Ioannis "Fogged" Loucas, both formerly of Team Dignitas, who deserve thanks for agreeing to a very reasonable contract buyout settlement. Rounding out the lineup is Arif "MSS" Anwar, who at only 17 years of age will certainly be the lineup's up-and-comer.
We are very excited about this roster. They might not immediately be the world's best DotA 2 team, but they will be very, very good from the start, and most importantly, they collectively bring the right combination of skill, personality, and discipline to grow from a very good team into a great team. They'll be spending most of their time over the next year living and practicing from our training house in San Francisco, and we can't wait to see them get to work.
While we are optimistic about the future, this decision was very difficult because we had to say goodbye to some good friends. We'd like to thank Bobby "Bdiz" Tinnes and Alaan "Bamboe" Faraj for everything they contributed to our organization. And, in particular, we'd like to say a few words about one of our absolute favorite people: Jimmy "DeMoN" Ho.
Jimmy, as is the case with a lot of strong personalities, can be a bit of a polarizing figure: most people either really like him, or really don't like him.
We love him. We have known him for almost five years - since well before he made it onto our starting lineup. We have legitimately watched him grow up, and we are very proud of the accomplishments he has achieved and the fan base he has created for himself.
We're not worried about where Jimmy will go from here. We know that he'll be successful - he doesn't need us to do that. But we'll still miss him a lot. Jimmy is someone who believed in and supported our organization through and through. You could not find a player who appreciated, valued, and cared about being on Evil Geniuses more than he did, and we are very grateful to him for that. Thank you, Jimmy, for everything you have done for our team and our organization.
Our new DotA 2 lineup will compete publicly for the first time tomorrow (Friday 9/20) at 9AM PDT in the WePlay DotA 2 League. We hope you'll all join us in welcoming and cheering on Fear, Fogged, Jeyo, MSS, and Universe.
-Evil Geniuses
