Fly Re-Joins Evil Geniuses Dota 2 Roster

The legendary Dota 2 player Tal “Fly” Aizik was announced as the newest member of Evil Geniuses on Sunday, May 29. The 29-year-old re-joins his former team after a brief and rather-short lived stint in Asia.

Fly has officially returned to Evil Geniuses on Sunday when the North American esports organization announced the 29-year-old as the newest signing to its Dota 2 division. With that, Fly re-joins the team he was a part of between May 2018 and November 2021, as he returns to North America after a two-month stint in Asia.

The 29-year-old Israeli player is one of the most recognizable names in the Dota 2 scene and one of the most experienced still-active players. He started his career way back in March 2012 with Fnatic.EU and has been since a part of some of the best teams in Dota 2 history.

Over his 10-year-long career, Fly has competed with Fnatic.EU, Team Secret, MeePwn’d, Complexity Gaming, monkey Business, OG, Evil Geniuses, and most recently, Talon Esports. Over that stretch, Fly has won numerous high-profile tournaments, including The Frankfurt Major 2015, The Manila Major 2016, and The Boston Major 2016.

Moreover, along with Johan “N0tail” Sundstein, Fly is the first player to win four Valve sponsored events. But unfortunately, despite many attempts, Fly has never won The International.

Even though Fly is known for his success, he is also recognized for the controversy while he was a part of OG. The Israeli player controversially left OG in May 2018, ahead of The International 8, to play with Evil Geniuses, hoping the change of team will help him win the elusive trophy.

But he wasn’t able to achieve his goals, as Evil Geniuses finished TI8 in third place. Interestingly, the tournament was won by OG; a team Fly has left in pursuit of Aegis of Champions.

The abrupt departure from OG also sparked a rivalry between Fly and his former teammate N0tail that lasted until 2021, when N0tail retired from pro play.

Fly is the first and only signing Evil Geniuses have made this year, as the North American team looks to get ready for the final DPC Tour of the 2022 season. Fly’s arrival comes just days after Evil Geniuses split with Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka.

With Fly joining as the new no.5, Evil Geniuses now field a complete roster, Featuring some of the top Dota 2 players in the world. That includes Artour “Arteezy” Babaev, Abed Azel “Abed” L. Yusop, Egor “Nightfall” Grigorenko, and Andreas Franck “Cr1t-” Nielsen.

The new-look lineup is now set to make a splash in the final DPC Tour of 2022, continuing the strong performances Evil Geniuses have been producing. The North American side kicked off the season with a top-three finish in the first NA DPC, adding a silver medal from the Regional Finals.

EG did not stop then and added their first title in the second NA DPC, which they won by edging past TSM and Quincy Crew after the three teams found themselves in a three-way tie.

But despite their domestic success, Evil Geniuses fell flat at the Stockholm Major. In Sweden. Evil Geniuses struggled to show up as they finished 13th with a 0-2-4 record.

Their poor showing also explains why EG decided to part ways with JerAx, in a bid to find more success in the final stretch of the season and qualify for TI11. And while it remains to be seen whether Fly can help the team bounce back, there are good reasons to believe he can.

Fly joined EG as one of the most experienced players in the Dota 2 scene and was given the captain armband. He will lead a roster filled with familiar names, having played with every player on the team but Nightfall.