Dota 2 mid laner Sumail "SumaiL" Hassan announced his departure from North America's Evil Geniuses Monday. Additionaly, Roman "Ramzes" Kushnarev has departed Virtus.pro to join Evil Geniuses, replacing Gustav "s4" Magnusson.
SumaiL is considered one of the best Dota 2 mid laners in the world. He joined Evil Geniuses when he was 16, and in the same year, won The International 6.
.@Sumaaaail's journey to a superstar of the mid lane has been a storied one.
As he leaves our Dota 2 roster, we put together a package of some of his strongest moments. Thank you, King. 👑🙏 pic.twitter.com/bOrpM9Thfg
— Evil Geniuses (@EvilGeniuses) September 16, 2019
"It was a wild ride for almost 5 years on @EvilGeniuses," SumaiL tweeted. "The team I started my career and was planning to end it on. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be. Goodluck to EG, and yeah, LOVE YOU ALL for mad support. I'm not taking a break/retiring that goes without, doesn't it?
EG said SumaiL remains under contract while being open to transfer talks, while Abed "Abed" Azel L. Yusop will replace him on the roster. The mid-laner was recently released by Fnatic.
"Previously having competed for Fnatic, Digital Chaos and Execration, Abed's skill is undeniable, being the first player worldwide to reach 10,000 MMR," EG said. "He also brings a much different hero pool to the mid lane than most people are used to - EG officially has a Meepo player!"
As for Ramzes, EG stated: "Familiar with the role from his earlier Dota 2 career, Roman comes from one of the monster teams of the last DPC season, winning The Kuala Lumpur Major and reaching the grand finals of the next two majors, as well."
The 20-year-old Russian is the latest to exit Virtus.pro, joining Pavel "9pasha" Khvastunov to Natus Vincere earlier this month. Ramzes, who was 17 when he first joined VP, will now play for his first team outside of the CIS.
"Playing for Virtus.pro is a special period of my life, and I'm thankful to the (organization) for these three years of working together," Ramzes said in a statement. "Looking back at my team's many moments of flashy victories, I see that the friendships we've made will stand the test of playing against each other on LANs. I want to extend my thanks to Virtus.pro fans for their support in times of victory and defeat.
"As for me, I can't wait to face the new challenges together with my teammates in a new region."
EG's current lineup consists of: Abed, Ramzes, Artour "Arteezy" Babaev, Andreas "Cr1t-" Nielsen, Tal "Fly" Aizik and coach Sam "BuLba" Sosale.
"After a long and eventful 2018-2019 DPC season, Evil Geniuses as an organization took some time to consider our options for the coming year," the team said. "Our Dota 2 fanbase is made up of some of the loudest and most passionate fans in the game, and for the 2019-2020 season, we have elected to make some changes that we believe will put us in a great position for success.
"In finding two new players to fill the spots on our roster, we've elected to pursue players that have established themselves as some of the best that the world has to offer.
"Dota is increasingly proving to be a game that values its creativity and fresh outlook when it comes to discovering strong strategies and putting them into practice. We believe that this fresh look at our roster will help us do just that."
The new lineup will make its debut Oct. 5 in the qualifier for the first major of the 2019-20 Dota Pro Circuit, and is also scheduled to compete at the Dota 2 World Pro Invitational Singapore in December.
--Field Level Media