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Evil Geniuses won’t be able to count on Peter “stanislaw” Jarguz and Vincent “Brehze” Cayonte for BLAST Premier: Fall Groups. The North American esports organization announced the news on Wednesday, September 15.
Stanislaw and Brehze Out!
Evil Geniuses will attend the CS:GO BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2021 without two of their key members. As revealed, stanislaw and Brehze have decided to take a break from competing to “focus on their mental health”.
Although the change got announced just a day before the tournament begins, EG didn’t need long to find replacements.
EG have enlisted Teodor “SPELLAN” Nikolov from MAD Lions as a replacement for Brehze. Meanwhile, the team coach, Damian “daps” Steele, will continue to stand in for Stanislaw, who has already missed ESL Pro League Season 14.
The sudden roster change comes as a massive blow for the team, who weren’t expected to shine at the tournament, to begin with. And it certainly doesn’t help that they will have to fight through a challenging field without two key members.
Still, the team is hopeful that they can be competitive with the addition of SPELLAN. The 23-year-old will join EG on their quest for the BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2021 title as a replacement for Brehze.
SPELLAN was last seen competing with MAD Lions, who he joined in April 2021, but got benched in August. SPELLAN was previously a member of SKADE and Epsilon Esports, having made a name for himself with Windigo Gaming.
Regardless of the addition of SPELLAN, not many people are hopeful about EG’s chances to deliver.
The esports bookmakers have had Evil Geniuses priced as the weakest team of their group before the roster change. Their odds are now as high as +2000, suggesting that EG’s chances to win the group are slim to none.
A Dire Situation
The announcement of stanislaw’s and Brehze’s absence from BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2021 extends’ stanislaw’s temporary leave from the team. The 27-year-old CS:GO veteran has already missed the ESL Pro League earlier this month.
Stanislaw stated that he wasn’t mentally ready for more international travel and competition. Although he was expected to return to action for BLAST Premier, it seems like stanislaw intends to extend his break.
With stanislaw out of the picture, Evil Geniuses decided to continue with their coach, daps, as a stand-in. Unfortunately, the team failed to achieve much with their coach in the lineup.
Evil Geniuses ended the ESL Pro League Season 14 with a 0-5 record in their group. Their only notable achievement of the tournament was a single map win against FaZe Clan and have thus ended the competition with one of the worst performances of the tournament.
BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2021 Kicks Off on Thursday
The BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2021 is slated to kick off on Thursday, September 16. The tournament will feature 12 teams, divided into three groups of four.
Evil Geniuses have been seeded into Group A, alongside Astralis, Team Vitality, and Team Liquid. Their opening match of the tournament is slated for Thursday when they’ll meet with Astralis.
It’s no surprise that Evil Geniuses are expected to struggle. Not only are they the second-lowest rated team at the event (no.35), but they are also with a weakened roster.
Evil Geniuses are priced as high as +2000 on BetOnline sportsbook to win Group A, suggesting that they likely won’t make it far. What’s more, they’re priced as +311 underdogs to win their tournament opener against Astralis.
BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2021 Group A Betting Odds
Odds courtesy of BetOnline Sportsbook:
- Team Vitality + 130
- Team Liquid + 170
- Astralis + 240
- Evil Geniuses + 2000