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Evil Geniuses Add "JerAx" and "Nightfall" to Dota 2 Roster

JerAx and Nightfall round-up Evil Geniuses Dota 2 roster
by Tit Krajnik on November 23, 2021   

After weeks of rumours and speculations, Evil Geniuses rounded up its Dota 2 roster on Saturday, November 20, adding Egor "Nightfall" Grigorenko and Jesse "JerAx" Vainikka. The duo will take over the offlane and hard support positions respectively.

 

JerAx Returns to Pro Play

JerAx joins Evil Geniuses after a one-year hiatus from professional Dota 2. The 29-year-old Finn was last seen competing with OG before announcing his retirement in January 2020, when he cited a lack of passion for competing in Dota 2 and a desire to pursue another career.
 


However, it seems like the two-time TI champion has found his passion once again and will continue his esports journey with EG, hoping to lead the North American esports organization to new heights in the 2022 Dota Pro Circuit (DPC).

"I wouldn't be competing in Dota if I wouldn't set the expectation for the team to be one of the best," said JerAx in Evil Geniuses' roster announcement video.

"For myself, I don't see any other reason for me to approach playing this game."

Evil Geniuses will mark JerAx's ninth stop of his esports career. He began competing professionally in 2013 with an all-Finish roster Rat in the dark before moving to QPAD Red Pandas, 4Anchors, Team Tinker, MVP HOT6ix, and 5Jungz.

In November 2015, JerAx teamed up with Team Liquid, who he helped place second at two Major events in The Shanghai Major 2016 and The Manila Major 2016. Unfortunately, the team couldn't deliver at The International 2016, where they placed seventh-eighth.

During the post-TI roster shuffle, JerAx left Liquid to join OG, where he would spend the next 41 months leading the European squad to back-to-back TI titles in 2018 and 2019.

 

High Expectations For Nightfall

Nightfall joins Evil Geniuses as no.3, replacing Daryl Koh "iceiceice" Pei Xiang, who has left the team on Wednesday, November 17. The 19-year-old Russian Dota 2 pro spent his entire career as a member of Virtus.pro, jumping between the Russian organization's main and academy rosters.
 


In November 2020, Nightfall got promoted to the Virtus.pro main lineup, leading the team to back-to-back Eastern Europe DPC Upper Division titles. Adding to that, Virtus.pro placed second in ESL One Summer 2021 and claimed bronze in the ESL One Fall 2021 in August.

In October, Nightfall made his debut at The International, helping Virtus.pro finish in fifth-place before the team decided to freshen up its roster. As a result, Nightfall found himself benched from Virtus.pro last Wednesday but he did not need long to find a new home.

By joining Evil Geniuses, Nightfall will play for an organization other than Virtus.pro for the first time in his career. It will also mark the first time Nightfall will play outside of the European region.

Seeing Nightfall added to Evil Geniuses as an offlaner is slightly surprising since he was traditionally a carry player. Similarly, JerAx, who is known as a support player, will now take over the hard support role, where he will replace former EG captain Tal "Fly" Aizik.

 

Evil Geniuses Aim High

With the addition of JerAx and Nightfall, Evil Geniuses feel confident 2022 will be their year. As the top North American Dota 2 team, Evil Geniuses have consistently performed well domestically but underdelivered in international events.

They recently crashed out of TI10 in ninth-place, despite being one of the top teams during the DPC season. In previous iterations of TI, Evil Geniuses placed top-six (2019), third (2018, 2016, 2014), ninth-12th (2017, 2012), and won the coveted Aegis of Champions once, in 2015.

After failing to reclaim the title for six years, Evil Geniuses decided to try something new with a major roster change. We will get to see the new-look EG in action in the North American 2021/22 DPC Regional League, set to kick off on Tuesday, November 30. 

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