Dota 2 – Will Evil Geniuses Play Better with JerAx and Nightfall?

Evil Geniuses had a formidable roster last season and won the Dota Pro Circuit with 1700 points. The team played in both Majors, finishing 2^nd each time. But for some reason, EG ended up finishing 9^th – 12^th at The International 10, a disappointing result to say the least. After the disaster, Fly couldn’t cope with the situation and left the organization. So did iceiceice. Their replacements are legendary players, but can they do better than the ones that came before?

About JerAx

JerAx is known to be an absolute beast in the position 4/5 role. Throughout his entire career, he made himself known for his Earth Spirit, IO, Tusk, and Rubik prowess. And the teams he played for certainly benefited immensely from his talent. As a former member of OG, JerAx is a two-time TI winner. He’s also won several Majors with this organization.

The only problem with this player is that he retired at the start of 2020. And in Dota 2, 2 years is a very long time. This is not football or tennis. This is esports and the rules always change. In just 2 years, almost all of the heroes have been transformed in staggering ways, new items have been added, old ones have been removed, and the current meta is totally different from the one that allowed JerAx to win The International in 2019.

You might ask: why did JerAx return at the age of almost 30? Most esports players retire at that age and some of them much sooner. Just look at ana, JerAx’s former teammate from OG. At just 22, he’s retired. He won two TIs and multiple Majors with OG. After that, his interest in the game simply… died.

JerAx started playing again as a streamer some months ago. So he’s had a bit of training before joining EG. But is he fit to play? We’ll find out pretty soon.

About Nightfall

Nightfall is the exact opposite of JerAx, at least in terms of his current situation. His career took off in 2019, when he started playing for Virtus.pro. Initially, he was part of the academy team. But it quickly became obvious that this team was even stronger than the main one. So Nightfall ended up playing at the highest level at just 18 years old.

This player’s best results are quite decent: 1^st place at EPIC League Season 2 Division 1 and 5^th – 6^th place at The International 2021.

EG’s Chances in DPC 2021 – 2022

The biggest problem with this EG lineup is that it lacks a strong captain. Fly, despite his troubled past, is exceptional at this role and will be very hard to replace. His assessment of any situation tends to be on point and it’s a rare event when he gets outsmarted by an opponent. Unfortunately for him, he had several such moments at TI10, which is why EG got eliminated much sooner than everyone expected.

Without Fly, either JerAx or Cr1t will need to become the new captain. These two players are very knowledgeable about the game, but their ability to lead world-class rosters has not yet been confirmed.

EG’s biggest rivals in North America are Team Undying and Quincy Crew. The skill difference between EG and these rivals is much smaller than it was last season. And keep in mind that North America only has 2 spots available for the Majors. This means that in a worst-case scenario, EG might miss all 3 Majors this season. Hopefully they won’t, but it’s going to be very difficult to finish 1^st or 2^nd in the region.

In Team Undying’s case, the entire roster was confident enough in its ability to succeed in 2022 to stick together. Quincy Crew, on the other hand, has decided to make a few changes. SVG, the team’s captain, decided to leave. So did Leslao, the team’s offlaner. Their positions are now occupied by ponlo, a complete unknown from Singapore, and KheZu, a player of German origins who has already been battle-tested at world-class orgs such as Team Secret. He will be the new captain and he might just lead Quincy Crew to great results.

EG will need to stay focused and find a winning formula fast if they are to succeed in this region. In a way, you’d expect North America to be one of the easiest regions to thrive in. But because of the limited number of Major spots, it’s actually quite crowded in here.

 

Photo credit: Valve