Since the roster revamp at the start of 2022 that saw them bring in the likes of autimatic, RUSH and Stewie2k, Evil Geniuses have been somewhat of a laughing stock for fans and experts alike.
A roster that would last barely six months, the fallout will go down in history as one of North American Counter-Strike’s most iconic and controversial moments.
Around the same time as that whole controversy, Evil Geniuses did something rather unprecedented in North America, signing two academy teams from tier two and providing them with tier one facilities to aid their development. They called it their ‘blueprint project’.
A project that confused many due to the fact that those teams wouldn’t be able to play in many tournaments due to conflict of interest, eighteen months later, it’s one that has clearly had some positive results, as a few of those players attached to those blueprint will now be stepping up to their main team.
The blueprint project worked, despite what the naysayers may tell you, and here is why you should be excited.
For the majority of the last couple of years, EG have struggled to hold onto even a top 30 placing on the HLTV rankings. Bolstered by partner spots that allow them access to the biggest events, they faced the risk of falling into irrelevancy without them.
There has been bright spots, autimatic has managed to look like a rifler consistently capable of playing at tier one, while the arrival of neaLaN from K23 also gave the team a small boost in the short term. They also managed to beat Heroic, a feat very few teams at a similar level will ever come close to considering how strong the Danes are in group stages.
Unfortunately, those bright spots also come with weak points. Sadly, the organisation spent too much time giving players such as CeRq and Brehze the chance to recapture their old form, and seeing as they never did, they likely missed out on potential replacements that could have raised the profile of this team long ago.
Failing to find true impact from the AWP was also one of the rosters big sticking points, while the addition of refrezh came far too late and issues outside of the server and with practice prevented the team from ever truly becoming settled.
It would be unfair to say EG didn’t show ambition during the time with their former roster, it was a team they chopped and changed willingly in the search to get back to the summit of NACS, it just didn’t work out for them before now. But that might all be about to change.
While EG’s main roster struggled, their blueprint project team was quietly impressive in the tier two scene of North America. Jeorge and junior both arrived and displayed great potential, while Walco showed that he could potentially be the IGL to lead North America into the future. Even their coach, Axed, offers a promising outlook on the future of NA given his young age.
That roster, minus RUSH, has now been promoted, and after a year of hard work, will finally get their chance to play in tier one consistently. It's a huge step up, but it’s an equally huge show of faith from Evil Geniuses as an organisation.
One of the most exciting prospects on the team is junior. A player that tier one fans will be familiar with, he has previously had opportunities at the top with FURIA and Complexity. While neither of those moves worked out, his performances in tier two have long shown that there is a beast in there, and given the demolition job he did on FURIA at Spring Showdown, there’s a good chance that beast is now waiting to be unleashed.
HexT is another player worth drawing attention to. The only member of the promoted team to previously spend time on EG’s main squad, the youngster is already a step ahead thanks to the experience he gained from that period. While he may have struggled then, he will have learned a lot in the meantime, and with no pressure to instantly succeed this time around, he could become a key player in the years to come.
All of this is without mentioning autimatic, the shining light of the last eighteen months for EG. Having previously left CS:GO for VALORANT, no one really knew what to expect from the former Major upon his return. While he hasn’t set the world on fire, he has been a consistent figure, a player EG have been able to rely on, we might see a return to his best form with a more stable lineup.
One of EG’s biggest problems in the last year or so is that people have simply expected far too much from them. A team very obviously in a transitional era, it was unfair to expect them to become a consistent top ten roster while they were figuring their issues out.
That period of transition might now be over, but it would still be wrong to expect this roster to be an overnight success. Just look at the length of time it has taken Complexity to develop into a team capable of fighting EU squads - these things are not instant.
This team isn’t built to be instantly successful, it’s built to be the next stage of a long term plan, a blueprint project created to usher in a much needed new generation of North American stars. It may take months, it might even take a year, but the next generation is coming, and they’ll be flying the Evil Geniuses flag.
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