Report: Evil Genuises secure their 15-man roster

After a lengthy negotiating period, Evil Geniuses are expected to announce the signing of Carpe Diem and Party Astronauts to form their new 15-man roster imminently, Dust2.us knows. This move comes following the original report on May 2nd which stated that Evil Geniuses was interested in both ESL Challenger League rosters.

Dust2.us also understands that this project will not be the traditional academy system, with the 15 players performing under three distinct squads with the potential to rotate players should the need arise.

This decision comes after a hectic period for Evil Geniuses, whose main lineup has been rife with turmoil since they missed out on qualifying for the PGL Antwerp Major. Last month the team announced the transfer listing of head coach Damien "maLeK" Marcel, while also releasing assistant coach Paolo "EVY" Bebudeau and analyst Juan "Hepa" Borges from the organization.

This move further proves Evil Geniuses' dedication to investing in the North American scene. The organization displayed its commitment to the region at the beginning of the year with the signing of the storied 2018 Boston Major winning core of Jake "Stewie2K" Yip, Timothy "autimatic" Ta, and William "RUSH" Wierzba. As they are set to acquire two of the most promising teams at the ECL level in North America, it will further cement the Seattle organization's commitment to staying close to home.

Carpe Diem, a squad that formerly played under the banner of RBG, is a team with one of the longest-standing cores in tier-two North American Counter-Strike. Carpe Diem has showcased a lot of potential, most notably with their second-place finish in ECL Season 40. In their playoff run, the team moved past most other domestic competition with ease. Ultimately, Carpe Diem were also quite competitive against MIBR in the grand final, even snagging a map off the Brazilian squad who very nearly reached the Legends stage of the PGL Antwerp Major.

Since that strong showing in ECL Season 40, Carpe Diem has kept up the momentum in other events as well. The team reached the North American IEM Dallas Closed Qualifier, where they tussled with some of the region's best. Although the squad was unable to make much of a dent against Complexity, the side had an incredibly close series against Evil Geniuses, going all three maps before Stewie2K and co. prevailed. With the support of a large organization such as Evil Geniuses, there is no doubt that this team will continue their promising performances.

As for the other piece of the puzzle, Party Astronauts have been around for quite some time, with an original roster starting and disbanding in 2019, and the name brand re-emerging last year. Despite the occasional roster move, the core of the roster remained together and since adding Jonathan "Jonji" Carey in January, the team has been on an upwards trajectory.

They are currently one of the most promising free agent rosters in North America, which was put on full display at the Americas RMR for the Antwerp PGL Major. Despite a rough start to the RMR, PA found their rhythm but just fell short of making it to the Major and reaping the rewards that come with that honor. Ironically it was Evil Geniuses that stopped the side from progressing any further at the event as they faced each other in the 2-2 match.

With the imminent signing of a 15-man roster, the door would be open for the potential future replacement of players on the current main squad. Evil Geniuses CEO Nicole LaPointe Jameson hinted at the idea of changes to the lineup following a lackluster showing at the BLAST Premier Spring Showdown, and while the recent gutting of the coaching staff may abate such a move for a while, the possibility remains.

If the main Evil Geniuses lineup is unable to rebound after their unfortunate showings in the first half of the year, the organization would have a server full of promising players that are hungry to showcase their talents at big events. This decision will certainly leave poor-performing players on the main lineup on thin ice.

With their 15-man roster, Evil Genuises would be represented by the following players:

• Vincent "Brehze" Cayonte

• Tsvetelin "CeRq" Dimitrov

• Jake "Stewie2K" Yip

• Timothy "autimatic" Ta

• William "RUSH" Wierzba

• Ben "ben1337" Smith

• Josh "PwnAlone" Pigue

• Jonathan "djay" Dallal

• Jonathan "Jonji" Carey

• Wesley "viz" Harris

• Colby "Walco" Walsh

• Jerric "wiz" Jiang

• Jadan "HexT" Postma

• Connor "chop" Sullivan

• Anthony "CLASIA" Kearney