Community reacts to refrezh move
Ismail "refrezh" Ali was officially announced as the newest member of Evil Geniuses' Counter-Strike division yesterday. Playing his first official game in the ESL Challenger Katowice qualifier, the 25-year-old did not get off to a dream start as EG was defeated by the ESEA Advanced team, WITHOUTWARNING. In the time since refrezh's announcement, there has been plenty of responses in the community about the move which was rumored for some time.
Replacing Jadan "HexT" Postma in the team, there is one thing that refrezh is absolutely guaranteed to bring into EG and that is experience. Making it to the playoffs of both PGL Stockholm and Antwerp with Heroic, the Danish rifler is not only experienced when it comes to playing on stage but also winning tournaments in front of crowds and online. During his time with Heroic, refrezh won ESL Pro League Season 13 online and Pinnacle Cup Championship on LAN in Lund, Sweden. Considering HexT's short tenure in tier one, it is clear why some in the community have pointed out the clear experience upgrade.
A central point for Evil Geniuses over the last year was their apparent commitment to the North American scene, hinging on their recently dropped "Blueprint" project. With HexT being removed for refrezh, the young NA rifler reverted to the EG Black squad after EG White was released last month. Canadian caster Mohan "launders" Govindasamy was less than enthused by the move for the Dane, pointing to the departure from EG's faith in the NA scene with the main team now possessing two Europeans despite having owned more than one full NA team previously and how refrezh "can't save EG".
Brazilian coach/analyst Luis "peacemaker" Tadeu had an interesting perspective when it came to the refrezh move. Much has been made of the level of practice in North America in recent years, becoming a common question asked of professional players in interviews. Following the announcement of refrezh, peacemaker commented that he hopes the Dane can stay in Europe in order to preserve the "good habits" that he has picked up from playing on the continent.
With the Major cycle in full swing and Evil Geniuses failing to make it to Paris, it might be a while before we get a chance to see exactly what refrezh can bring to his new team.
