Evil Geniuses to develop 15-man roster with academy signings

One of the largest North American organizations have toyed with the idea of a Counter-Strike academy roster for over a year at this point. Initial discussions of such a project began during the pandemic as the organization looked to expand upon their current offerings. While talks with various teams and players were very much in the exploratory phase, sources have told Dust2.us that the team is now in the finalization stages and have begun contract talks with at least one ESL Challenger League team. As part of the signing, sources tell Dust2.us that the organization would like their academy team to join the WePlay Academy League.

The organization has been in talks with Carpe Diem, one of North America's most promising young amateur rosters for the past several weeks and look to bring them on full time. Sources tell Dust2.us that the team have yet to put pen to paper on any deal, with Evil Geniuses looking to bring the roster out to their headquarters in Seattle for a face-to-face meeting with the entire background staff.

Earlier this morning, Jaxon reported that Evil Geniuses was also looking to sign Party Astronauts, another amateur North American CS:GO team, however that report is premature. Dust2.us knows that talks between Party Astronauts and Evil Geniuses are in its infancy, with the team being hesitant to join an organization as an affiliate team. It is not likely that Party Astronauts and Evil Geniuses will come to an agreement anytime soon.

Sources have told Dust2.us that Evil Geniuses have been looking to develop a 15-man roster by signing two fully developed teams to their organization. The organization has come up against a number of issues concerning this plan due to the roster restrictions that will be placed on the players should they join Evil Geniuses. Only one team affiliated with the organization is allowed to play in ESL Pro League and ESL Challenger League, meaning five players as part of this 15-man roster will be left out in the cold. Additionally, other tournaments like ESEA Cash Cups do not allow for multiple teams from one organization to participate.

Dust2.us has reached out to Evil Geniuses for comment, but have not heard back by the time of publication.