The 2019 off-season is about to begin, which means absolute madness is bound to ensue. Today we have huge news as Dennis “Svenskeren” Johnsen and Tristan “Zeyzal” Stidam have supposedly signed for Evil Geniuses and will play for the perennial esports organization starting with the 2020 Spring Split.

Before we delve any deeper into the signings at hand, we need to highlight the fact that Evil Geniuses will be taking over Echo Fox’s LCS spot in mere weeks. The age-old esports organization decided to step back into competitive League of Legends, and by the looks of it, they’re wasting no time. By bringing over two experienced, highly talented individuals, you can bet that they’re looking to assert their dominance once the Spring Split begins.

Their deal with Cloud9 also includes two of their Academy players: Colin “Kumo” Zhao and Matthew “Deftly” Chen. It’s still unknown whether either of them will become starters, but there’s a good possibility of that being the case. Kumo has garnered a lot of attention when he subbed in for Eric “Licorice” Ritchie this year, and Deftly — while not exactly an S tier player in his role — is far from a pushover.

Svenskeren’s Success with Cloud9

The fact that Svenskeren decided to leave isn’t such a big surprise. After all, he’s once again valued as high as back in 2016 when he dominated on Team SoloMid, and after winning the 2019 Summer Split MVP award, it’s fair to say that he has the luxury to pick and choose which team he wants to compete for.

He worked for years to get to this point and now he’s finally reaping the rewards. Cloud9 is a premier North American organization, a team with years upon years of legendary rosters and accomplishments. Still, when it comes to League of Legends, it feels like they’re convicted to playing second fiddle to teams like Team Liquid and Team SoloMid. They’re strong, highly capable, and have hundreds of thousands of fans scattered across the globe, but they lack the strength which is necessary to take control of the LCS once again.

Svenskeren, to his credit, deserves better. He’s constantly striving towards not only winning the LCS trophy but also dominating regardless of whom he’s facing. Cloud9 is no longer an environment that can propel him to the level of greatness that he wants, so he might as well try out his luck with a different organization.

What Zeyzal Brings to the Table

Zeyzal, on the other hand, had many fantastic moments throughout his multi-year Cloud9 tenure. He was constantly one of the best supports in the region, although he didn’t exactly receive as much praise as he deserved. When put on an engage support, Zeyzal was often able to turn games on his own single-handedly. He’s also a shotcaller and has experience playing at the biggest of stages — as if Svenskeren by himself wasn’t enough.

Overall, he’s a fantastic signing and will bring a lot of leadership to his new team.

The off-season hasn’t even officially begun, and Evil Geniuses already made two incredible signings in Svenskeren and Zeyzal that tell a straightforward fact: they’re not taking things lightly and have every intention of dominating in the LCS. This might seem like a no-brainer, but many organizations in competitive League try to make ends meet. They’re all saying how they want to reach the very top of their regions. But, they’re unwilling to make the changes and necessary investments to realize such a goal.

We’re covering all League of Legends 2019 off-season changes, so make sure to tune in every couple of days for the latest updates!