pho enters restricted free agency

Mike "pho" Panza revealed today that he is able to explore his options away from Evil Geniuses. The American stated that he will still remain under contract as a restricted free agent.

The American in-game leader started off his professional VALORANT career with Built By Gamers, where he played for almost a year until April 2021. He joined EG soon after in June prior to the start of VCT 2021 - Stage 3 - North America - Challengers 1 - Open Qualifier, but failed to make an impact as the team went out in 17th-32nd. The squad spent the rest of the year playing VCT qualifiers and tier-2 tournaments.

Evil Genius took big strides forward at the start of the VCT 2022 season, with the additions of Jeffrey "Reformed" Lu, Diondre "YaBoiDre" Bond, and Alexander "jawgemo" Mor, as pho led them to VCT 2022 - North America - Stage 1 - Main Event qualification. However, their first top tier event did not go well, as the team bombed out in last place without even winning a single group stage match. That would be one of the last few tournaments pho played with the roster, as they look to take the team in a different direction with a new in-game leader.

pho has leaned toward playing controllers, primarily Astra and Omen, but is also very experienced with Sova. He holds a 1.02 rating and 196 ACS throughout his time in professional VALORANT.

Evil Geniuses missed out on Masters Reykjavik qualification and as a result have some time to replace their long-time in-game leader. Noah "jcStani" Smith has reportedly been seen trialing with the team, having recently spent a short time with 100 Thieves at the VCT NA Stage 1 Challengers.

Evil Geniuses are now:

Mike "pho" Panza (benched)

Christine "Potter" Chi (Head Coach) Jimmy "LiN" Lin (Assistant Coach)