Evil Geniuses: Teams, streamers, achievements, financials and more

Evil Geniuses was first founded as a Quake clan in Victoria, British Columbia in 1999 but later expanded after acquiring rosters in other titles, including Counter-Strike and World of Warcraft (WoW).

After competing in several tournaments, Evil Geniuses fast-tracked their presence as a dominant force in esports, with notable accolades including third placement at Blizzcon in 2007 and later winning the Intel Extreme Masters IV World Champion in WoW in 2010.

The organization later went on to acquire teams in Dota 2, League of Legends, and Valorant, in addition to fielding players in FGC titles like Super Smash Bros and Tekken.

The organization claims that its success is “rooted in the freedom to choose [its] own path” with a commitment to excellence and “continued dominance across elite gaming”. Evil Geniuses certainly sticks by their mantra and has attracted some of the greatest esports talent to ever live.

Easily considered one of the oldest and most trusted names in esports, Evil Geniuses is a premier gaming organization with a long track record of success.

Evil Geniuses: Teams

Evil Geniuses currently fields teams in the following esports titles: Dota 2, League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), and Valorant. They also compete in fighting game titles, like Tekken and Super Smash Bros. by fielding players Ricki Ortiz, Jon "Dekillsage" Coello, and notorious FGC players, Dominique "SonicFox" McLean.

In addition, Evil Geniuses also staffs streamers: Justin “Fearitself” Kats, Tarik “Tarik” Ceilk, and Sean “Swim” Huguenard. We have expanded details of some of these divisions in the sections below.

Dota 2 

Evil Geniuses first announced the acquisition of a Dota 2 team in April 2008 which comprised players from the now deprecated team “EMG”. This roster soon disbanded but was later revived after the Dota 2 International 2011 and included the acquisition of Clinton "Fear" Loomis, Rasmus "MiSeRy" Filipsen, Jimmy "DeMoN" Ho, Amel "PlaymatE' Barudzija, and Pers Anders Olsson "Pajkatt" Lille to the team.

After a roster swap, Evil Geniuses later acquired Cloud9 player, Kurtis “Aui_2000” Ling and Syed “SumaiL” Hassan at the end of 2014. The two subsequently went on to win The International 2015 along with USD 6.6 million the following year after their teammate landed the glamorized "USD 6,000,000 Echo Slam Dunk" during the Finals game (watch below).

This was a huge achievement and was considered the largest tournament winning in esports history, at the time. Evil Geniuses went through several roster shuffles since then and will now compete at The International 10 (TI10) with their active roster, indicated below.

Current Roster

• Artour “Arteezy” Babaev
• Abed “Abed” Yusop
• Daryl Koh Pei “iceiceice” Xiang
• Andreas “Cr1t-” Nielsen
• Tal “Fly” Aizik

Achievements

Since its inception, the Evil Geniuses Dota 2 division has earned a total of USD 20.2 million and is backed by several notable brands. Their most recent match was a major upset, however, after they lost 3-0 against PSG.LGD in the WePlay Dota 2 AniMajor Grand Finals. Evil Geniuses did not compete in the ESL One Summer 2021 Playoffs in order to practice for the upcoming TI10 games.

Previous notable achievements include:

• 5-6th place at The International 2019
• 3rd place at The International 2019
• 1st place at The Manila Masters
• 1st place at Mars Dota 2 League 2016
• 3rd place at The International 2016
• 1st place at The International 2015

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Evil Geniuses entered the CS:GO scene early in esports around the year 2000 and proceeded to compete in various events until 2011. Their most successful roster during this time was in 2009 after they signed the former roster of pro team Complexity Gaming. 

The team ended up winning the IEM IV American Championship against the new Complexity Gaming roster and later took down Fnatic at Beat It the following year. The organization subsequently departed from the Counter-Strike title in 2012, only to return in September 2019 following the acquisition of the NRG roster.

Current Roster

• Vincent “Brehze” Cayonte
• Tsvetelin “CeRq” Dimitrov
• Peter “stanislaw” Jarguz
• Owen “oBo” Schlatter
• Michał “MICHU” Müller
• Damian “daps” Steele (Coach)

Achievements

Evil Geniuses run in the Counter-Strike scene has proven favourable with total earnings exceeding USD 1.1 million. Since their entry in 2009, Evil Geniuses have won several S- and A-tier tournaments including:

• Game Gune Mexico 2009
• IEM IV American Championship 2009
• MSI BEAT IT Finals 2010
• ESL One: New York 2019
• StarSeries & i-League Season 8 2019
• BLAST Premier: Spring 2020 Finals 
• ESL One: Cologne 2020 Online

Following the benching of their player Tarik “tarik” Celik and the departure of coach Chet "ImAPet" Singh and Ethan "Ethan" Arnold to the 100 Thieves Valorant team, Evil Geniuses have had a rocky year. They are currently playing in the IEM Cologne 2021 and will later play in the ESL Pro League and BLAST Premier Groups tournaments later this year, so we only hope that the current roster will find their footing.

League of Legends

Evil Geniuses began looking for a roster in League of Legends (LoL) earlier in 2013. After acquiring the former Counter Login Gaming European lineup, the Evil Geniuses LoL team was born.

Shortly after returning from two splits in the European LoL Championship Series (LCS), the team disbanded amid internal difficulties. The LoL division was later rebirthed in 2019, following the acquisition of the Echo Fox franchise slot, which threw the brand back into the public eye, after its 5-year absence from the scene.

The current League of Legends roster hosts storied veterans, including Jeong “Impact” Eon-young and Lee “IgNar” Dong-geun. Many of its players have played for other notable organizations and have earned several awards. The top laner, Impact, for example, is regarded as one of the top players in the LCS.

Current Roster

• Jeong “Impact” Eon-young
• Dennis “Svenskeren” Johnsen
• Daniele “Jiizuke” di Mauro
• Kyle “Danny” Sakamaki
• Lee “IgNar” Dong-geun

Achievements

The League of Legends division has earned approximately USD 61,000 since its inception. Whilst this does not nearly rival the astronomical earnings of their Dota 2 division, they too have a list of notable accolades.

• 5-6th place in LCS Spring 2021 (Premier)
• 3-4th place in LCS Lock in 2021 (Major)
• 5-6th place in LCS Summer 2020 (Premier)
• 3rd place in LCS Spring 2020 (Premier)

Evil Geniuses: Partners

Evil Geniuses is a mammoth organization backed by several notable brands, ranging from drinks companies like “Monster Energy” and "Elysian Brewing" to the cryptocurrency exchange “Coinbase”.

The full list of brand partners is indicated below.

• Twitch
• Secretlab
• Monster Energy
• LG UltraGear
• Coinbase
• Absolut vodka
• Budlight
• Elysian Brewing
• PEAK6
• Point3

Evil Geniuses are here to stay

Evil Geniuses have a firm history that is deep-rooted in esports. Defined by their legacy of excellence, Evil Geniuses prides themselves as leaders in the scene.

“At Evil Geniuses, we aren’t afraid to make bold strategic moves because we believe that winning is in the preparation, not just in lifting a cup", they indicate on their website, which couldn't be any more true.

"From the very first day we were founded, we’ve made moves that went against the grain, whether it’s in our choice of sponsors or our competitive strategy when we enter a new game. We know the risks to take to increase our chances for the win—no safety net required”, they further added.

It’s clear that Evil Geniuses are here to stay and we look forward to watching them grow from strength to strength, dominating every path that they decide to take.

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Header image via Evil Geniuses.