Is Evil Geniuses attending Fragadelphia 17 with two rosters fair?

Evil Geniuses have confirmed that they will be sending multiple CS:GO teams to participate in the upcoming Fragadelphia 17. In a recent Tweet, EG team manager shared that former Party Astronauts and Carpe Diem rosters will be attending the $100,000 event, with both representing the North American organization.

The post caused an uproar on Twitter as many CS:GO fans pointed out the potential conflict of interest that the Evil Geniuses’ situation could pose. ATK coach Daniel “sprayxd” Kogan echoed the words, pointing out that the organization could win a total of $60,000 if both teams were successful in the tournament. Another conflict of interest would occur if both OG rosters faced each other in one match.

Is it fair for both teams to participate?

Evil Geniuses coach Joeseph “Muenster” Lima responded to the tweet and defended the tournament organizers’ decision to allow two teams to participate. EG’s head coach assured CS:GO fans that there was “absolutely no chance of unfair play” between the teams. He added that there had been “extensive” discussions between teams and officials.

The announcement of the multi-team tournament also sparked outrage from others in the CS:GO scene. Michael “Swisher” Schmid, a professional Counter-Strike player from ATK, stated that he “absolutely disagrees with this move”.

The two North American Evil Geniuses teams have significantly more experience compared to other teams that will participate in the event. At the time of publication, Fragadelphia officials have not yet changed their stance on the matter.

Similar cases in the past

Historically, this type of incident is far from uncommon in the Counter-Strike scene. In recent years, there has been debate about the integrity of competition when Academy teams were allowed to compete in tournaments with non-Academy teams from the same organizations. In the past, ESL solved this problem by banning Counter-Strike Academy teams from participating in tournaments with their non-Academy opponents.

In 2018, former Brazil SK team caused controversy when they competed in a tournament with another Brazilian team, NTC. Both teams conducted a player swap, which caused a stir in the community. The teams were allowed to participate, but the “Academy Team Rule” was used in the decision-making process.

What is Fragadelphia?

Hosted by Nerd Street Gamers, Fragadelphia is North America’s largest open CS:GO event that features 24 aspiring CS:GO squads in a battle for a share of the $100,000 prize pool. The event is scheduled to take place from September 9-11 in Philadelphia, United States.

Header: Nerd Street Gamers