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Evil Geniuses are on their way to reconquering NA Dota

At the end of The International 11, which took place back in October 2021, Evil Geniuses decided to part... Radu M. | 23. June 2022

At the end of The International 11, which took place back in October 2021, Evil Geniuses decided to part ways with Tal “Fly” Aizik and try something new. The decision came after the team finished 9th – 12th at the tournament, despite playing in the Grand Final of both Majors that season.

Immediately after Fly’s departure, EG started to struggle and his replacement, Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka, did not manage to do what he had done. He wasn’t a bad captain, but his skills were simply not good enough to help the North American team finish in the top three of a Dota 2 Major.

EG under JerAx

When EG brought in JerAx to replace Fly, the management of the team took a big risk. After all, the player had retired a few years earlier and his ability to play again at the highest competitive level was uncertain.

After a few defeats, JerAx’s reflexes came back and he went on to finish the regional finals of DPC’s Tour 1 in 2nd place. In Tour 2, their results were even better. EG won the race and qualified for the Major. But what followed was painful to watch.

At ESL One Stockholm 2022, the 14 participants were divided into two groups of seven, and only one team per group was going to be eliminated after the group stage. But despite this forgiving competitive format, EG did not win a single match and finished last in their group. Immediately after, JerAx was asked to leave and Fly was brought in.

EG under Fly

After he left EG in 2021, Fly went to Southeast Asia and was tasked with helping Talon Esports earn a spot in the region’s Division II and then promote to Division I.

While he was successful in the first task, he didn’t succeed in the second one and the management lost patience perhaps a bit too quickly. Or maybe he was the one who asked to leave, remorseful of this failure. What’s certain is that Talon was in good shape when Fly departed and managed to earn the promotion just several months later.

Fly spent more than four months wandering around and even served as talent for a few Dota 2 tournaments. But after EG’s disappointing finish at the latest Major, he rejoined the organization and is now on his way to winning Tour 3 of DPC 2021 – 2022.

rsz evil geniuses are on their way to reconquering na dota 2

Source: Liquipedia

EG’s current record is 3 W – 1 L and their most recent victory was against TSM, the team that played in the Grand Final of ESL One Stockholm 2022. It remains to be seen if Fly’s team can do the same against the other top regional rivals, Quincy Crew and nouns.

Header: Evil Geniuses|Twitter