Evil Geniuses has removed in-game leader Mike “pho” Panza from its starting Valorant roster, after a disappointing finish to its VCT NA Stage 1 Challengers campaign.
The team failed to find a single win during the group stage, and most recently suffered a loss to FaZe Clan in the BoomTV Proving Grounds tournaments.
Pho will be allowed to explore his options as a restricted free agent, even while he is still officially under contract with the North American organization.
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Evil Geniuses is rumored to be trialing former 100 Thieves player jcStani
The 28-year-old IGL has every intention to keep competing. “My most comfortable roles are initiator (Sova especially), controller, and sentinel. I am also a primary IGL and have been for both Built By Gamers and EG,” he wrote on Twitter.
“As a note I am also open to learning any role. I love flexing onto new agents,” he added.
Evil Geniuses is currently on the hunt for a new IGL and is rumored to be trialing former 100 Thieves controller Noah “jcStani” Smith, after Matthew “Wardell” Yu leaked a scrim lobby between EG and TSM on stream.
While jcStani did not take on shot-calling duties on 100 Thieves, he has experience leading his old Pioneers squad on a deep run in the VCT NA Stage 1 Challengers open qualifiers.
The team has just over a month to find its fifth player before the open qualifiers for VCT NA Stage 2 start in early May.
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