Even though Evil Geniuses may no longer exist, the team’s former Dota 2 roster has now stated that, with the exception of one player, all members would remain together and compete in North America for the 2023 Dota Pro Circuit. However, the stack’s name is a little dubious.
Following the team being dropped for EG’s eventual move to South America, Fly noted that he retained control over the NA Division I slot and that the roster will look fairly similar to what it was before. With that, Arteezy, Abed, Cr1t, and Fly have all remained along with BuLba as their coach.
The only player to depart the squad is Nightfall, who returned to Eastern Europe after a year in NA—joining BetBoom’s stacked new lineup.
Fly announced the returning players and BuLba all at once, while also teasing big news still to come. This includes the yet-unknown fifth player who will take over for Nightfall in the offlane for the upcoming season, with fans already clamoring for the return of Universe or IceIceIce.
As a whole, the roster doesn’t pop off the page since it is about as solid of a tier-one lineup as you can get and also has a proven track record that likely makes them the early favorite to dominate NA amidst other changes and top talent leaving the region. But the name that the team has chosen to start under will draw eyes due to its potential connection to an ongoing financial controversy.
The stack’s new name is Alameda 2018, which potentially ties it to a company founded by former FTX founder and CEO Samuel Bankman-Fried—who is currently at the center of a massive scandal involving FTX’s bankruptcy. Despite that unsavory link, it does appear that if this is their intended meaning, Fly and his crew are trying to go more for the messaging of “high returns with no risk” that Alameda promised in a 2018 pitch to investors.
Yet there is another meaning that has been brought up and is more likely: it could simply be a reference to the “Alameda House” training facility that the EG Dota division used for several years before its closure in May 2019 when the org moved to Seattle. This would give it a more sentimental meaning for Arteezy, Cr1t, Fly, and BuLba—who would have used it for multiple long seasons—and gives off a closer vibe to that of Quincy Crew’s naming conventions.
Regardless of which meaning ends up being true, or if a little bit of both bleeds into the identity, Alameda 2018 will be a name to watch as the former EG lineup (plus one) get to work with eyes on The International 12.