Image credit: LoL Esports (composite)
Evil Geniuses have signed their starting five for the 2021 League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) season after a tricky offseason nearly jeopardized their plans. In the end, Jeong "Impact" Eon-young and Matthew "Deftly" Chen have officially joined the starting lineup.
Impact's move to Evil Geniuses was rumored to happen as soon as the free agency period opened on Nov. 17, 2020 as investigative journalist Jacob Wolf initially reported his signing as a free agent. His entry allows EG to fill the void left by Heo "Huni" Seung-hoon's transfer to TSM.
However, the other part of the deal involving Lawrence "Lost" Hui fell through as TSM promoted the player to the LCS roster, a necessary move as veteran AD carry Yiliang "Doublelift" Peng retired. Instead, EG promoted Deftly to the starting lineup.
The move would not have been possible had FlyQuest missed out on the Johnson "Johnsun" Nguyen sweepstakes, as they would have signed Deftly instead as previously reported. Instead, their signing of Johnsun provided EG with a great insurance policy in the bottom lane in case they failed to sign an AD carry from another team. With that scenario materializing, they announced the promotion of a steady performer to the starting lineup.
Evil Geniuses have the makings of a perennial playoff contender with Peter Dun leading their coaching staff, as they boast a strong weakside top laner to pair with a playmaking mid laner and a flexible bot lane duo — one which features IgNar, another strong playmaker to pair with Jiizuke and Svenskeren. Should they fall short of winning the title, the explosiveness of the lineup should prove entertaining to watch at the very least.
