Evil Geniuses announce the new additions to their Dota roster, former TI champion JerAx, coming out of retirement, and former VP carry Nightfall.
As the post-TI roster shuffle continues, Evil Geniuses reveals some of the biggest additions to the team we've seen. Two-time International winner Jesse "JerAx" Vainikka will come out of retirement to play support for EG. In addition, the former Virtus pro carry prodigy Egor "Nightfall" Grigorenko will be playing offlane for the squad.
JerAx and Nightfall round out new-look Evil Geniuses
However you may have found out the news, these roster changes are exciting to many in the Dota community. JerAx is a legendary player, making a name for himself as part of the OG roster to win back-to-back TI's.
His return has sent shockwaves, even prompting OG Ceo JMR Luna to put out a tweet noting that JerAx talked to the rest of OG regarding his return to competitive Dota.
The announcement comes shortly after earlier this week that VP was putting Nightfall and position 4 player Vitalie "Save-" Melnic on their inactive roster. It also followed the announcement of EG's current offlaner Daryl Koh "iceiceice" Pei Xiang leaving the team for Team Secret as well as the departure of team captain Tal "Fly" Aizik to join SEA esports newcomers Talon Esports.
Though this is the official roster announcement, these two particular additions were rumored for quite some time. A Reddit post circulated some time ago showing that iceiceice and Syed Sumail "SumaiL" Hassan would be moving to Team Secret in addition to showing this move by JerAx and Nightfall to EG. Once Secret announced the roster change, it looked ever more likely. In addition, Kim "Gabbi" Villafuerte, current Talon Esports carry player, seemingly confirmed the truth of the post on his stream.
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"I always had this impression that he was this guy that lived in the chaos... he is not at all what I thought he was, he likes the structure" - Arteezy
In the video announcing the roster, several EG players gave their thoughts about JerAx joining the roster. Position 4 player Andreas Franck "Cr1t-" Nielsen noted that "for me, he's one of the only players that I would consider my superior... I always looked up to him..."
He's one of the only players that I woudl consider my superior. I always look up to him.
Carry player Artour "Arteezy" Babaev added that "I always had this impression that he was this guy that lived in the chaos... he is not at all what I thought he was, he likes the structure, which I like the structure as well."
Coach Kanishka 'Sam' "BuLba" Sosale added, "he's probably considered one of the best support players to play the game."
JerAx himself stated that he was "very grateful for the opportunity to play for EG".
"I wouldn't be competing in Dota if I didn't expect the team to be one of the best.
Nightfall switching roles to join EG
Joining JerAx on the squad is Nightfall, a former Virtus.Pro player. Known for his performance as a position 1 player, 19-year-old Nightfall brings a unique perspective to the squad. He will be changing positions to join Evil Geniuses, so his transition into a new role will be crucial to EG's performance this DPC season.
As for Nightfall, the team is excited to play with the young gun from EEU. Cr1t- stated that "it was also quite a process because he's switching from a different role as well but when we talked I think he'd be a perfect for us." Arteezy continued "after we spoke for him a long time it did seem like he really wanted to play the role."
Indeed, BuLba looked to quell any doubters of young addition: "we all believe in him, he's a great player with a lot of potential, and more importantly than that, he's a hard worker.
What is EG's Dota 2 Roster?
As it stands, the team seems really excited to play together. With an incredible offseason of roster shuffles, rumors, and confirmations, the upcoming DPC is sure to be one for the books. For more roster shuffle news and coverage of the upcoming DPC, stick with us here at esports.gg!
