Evil Geniuses announce the departure of yay

Evil Geniuses have officially parted ways with flex player Jaccob "yay" Whiteaker ahead of the VCT 2026 season following the team’s inconsistent showing throughout the 2025 season.

Evil Geniuses will be looking to make several changes to their VCT 2025 roster following another disappointing season. Now, the team has officially revealed that former VCT 2022 - Stage 1 - Masters Reykjavík champion and 2022 Esports Player of the Year winner yay will not be on the roster going into the VCT 2026 season.

Yay joined Evil Geniuses ahead of the 2025 season following a disappointing tenure with Cloud9 and Disguised in 2023, followed by a stint with BLEED Esports in 2024. While he was able to make his return as a formidable Sentinel player in the VCT Americas, his efforts weren’t enough for him to make it back to international play.

The team was unable to capitalize on their magical VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Americas Stage 1 finish, taking a step back in VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Americas Stage 2. Evil Geniuses struggled throughout the regular season of Stage 2 and barely made the playoffs with a 2-4 record. That was followed by an underwhelming playoff performance, in which 100 Thieves immediately eliminated the team in the first round of the lower bracket.

Evil Geniuses looking to return to international play

Evil Geniuses have experienced both highs and lows throughout their tenure as a franchised VCT Americas team. Despite initial expectations, Evil Geniuses clawed their way to an impressive second-place finish at VCT 2023 - Masters Tokyo before winning it all at VCT 2023 - Champions. Unfortunately, the past two years have been middling, as the team finished in the middle of the pack in 2024 and 2025. Now, after a tough 2025 season, Evil Geniuses will be looking to make necessary changes to the lineup going into the new season as they set their sights on international play.

It will be interesting to see how Evil Geniuses builds out their VCT 2026 lineup and where yay ultimately lands for the coming season.

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*Cover Image: Tina Jo/Riot Games