The Major League Gaming Call of Duty: Ghosts league season ended yesterday, but a new one has already begun: the offseason. And it’s already had its first casualty—the most dominant team in Call of Duty history has fallen apart.
Three players on Evil Geniuses took to Twitter to announce their free agent status, meaning the team that dominated the scene for over a year, winning the $1 million Call of Duty Championship, has completed its fall from grace.
Team captain Patrick “Aches” Price, superstar slaying talent Ian “Crimsix” Porter, and Ken Dedo, who the team acquired in exchange for loaning Damon “Karma” Barlow to FaZe, all revealed they are looking for new teams.
You have no idea how much watching that event motivated me to start destroying again. Everything does happen for a reason.
— Ian Porter (@Crimsix) October 27, 2014
With that being said, I will be looking for a new team in Advanced Warfare.
— Ian Porter (@Crimsix) October 27, 2014
For Price’s part, he got a little nostalgic after a succinct “Seriously though. F/A.”
Damn. Over 4 years I’ve been captain of the same team. Sure, diff organizations but one team mostly the same players.
— Patrick Price (@EGACHESpp) October 27, 2014
But all things must come to an end, it seems.
The organization itself is quiet about the status of the players, leaving their contract situations in question. Are they free agents in that they are released from their contracts and dropped from the team, or will potential suitors need to go through Evil Geniuses to acquire them? One player, Anthony “NameLeSs” Wheeler, implied other pros knew Price was being cut long before today.
Assuming those three players are gone, Evil Geniuses still has two members under contract—Tyler “TeePee” Polchow, who has teamed with Price since 2010, and Damon “Karma” Barlow. The team loaned Barlow to FaZe for the remainder of the MLG season after a public falling out two months ago, but still retains his rights heading into the release of Advanced Warfare.
Evil Geniuses acquired the dominant Complexity Call of Duty team for a record transfer fee in May of this year. At the time Complexity had won 11 of the last 12 major tournaments they competed in dating back to June of 2013 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 when they acquired James “Clayster” Eubanks. With Damon “Karma” Barlow in the lineup during Call of Duty: Ghosts, the team was undefeated.
But after joining Evil Geniuses, the team would win just one more tournament, MLG Anaheim in June of this year. Since then, the team suffered a massive decline, placing top 8 at Gfinity 3, top 16 at UMG Nashville, and failing to qualify for the MLG Season 3 playoffs as one of the top 8 teams in the league.
The roster moves put the team in an odd position—Price, Porter, Polchow, and Dedo are flying to Europe tomorrow to compete in the Electronic Sports World Cup, where they will try to defend Complexity’s 2012 title.
Watch us win Paris now that they all announced FA lol
— Tyler Polchow (@EGTeeP) October 27, 2014
It’d be ironic for Evil Geniuses to go out on top, after finally succumbing to their dismal second half of 2013. But a win would hardly be consolation for the team after a poor run of performances.
Team captain Price, a vocal personality unafraid to speak his mind, used next week’s release of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare as a crutch to absolve his team of their ever-declining performance, and with good reason. Since the 2010 release of Call of Duty: Black Ops, Price and long-time teammate Tyler “TeePee” Polchow have won the first major tournament for every new Call of Duty release.
It looks like Price won’t be winning the first tournament this time—at least with Polchow in tow.
“Rostermania,” as it’s called in Call of Duty circles, is in full force. Teams and players are looking to gear up for next week’s release of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, and potentially the next year of competition.
It’s the perfect time to position your team for success, when the playing field is levelled by the release. It’s also important due to MLG’s rules: the roster teams take into MLG Columbus on Nov. 28 will be the roster they use in next MLG league season, barring trades.
The former Evil Genius players are an appetizing addition to the free agent pool. While Price’s fiery attitude may make him hard to work with, and he’s burned quite a few bridges during his tenure at the top, he’s still a star talent player who always performs on new titles.
Porter is a superstar, perhaps the top slaying talent in all of Call of Duty. Players like him usually don’t hit the market—they’re the ones who get to dictate the rosters built around them.
I would like to thank the few but proud coL/EG fans that stuck with us through the highs and the lows. Love you guys <3
— Ian Porter (@Crimsix) October 27, 2014
All in all, it’s shaping up to be an exciting Call of Duty offseason.
One rumor points to a possible return of Barlow’s old team Impact, possibly under the Evil Geniuses tag. Barlow could potentially bring on OpTic Nation players Marcus “MiRx” Carter and Adam “KiLLa” Sloss. The trio won the 2013 Call of Duty Championship alongside Christopher “Parasite” Duarte, who is now a free agent after being cut by FaZe.
But that’s just one possible iteration among endless possibilities and speculation. The only thing for sure? It’s the end of an era. As one Call of Duty game makes way for a new one, the scene’s former best team is making giving way for the next.
Published: Oct 27, 2014 03:51 pm