Evil Geniuses has just revealed that former Quincy Crew player Arif "MSS" Anwar will replace Egor "Nightfall" Grigorenko in the NA Dota 2 team’s lineup for the rest of the DPC 2021-22 NA Season 1 due to ongoing travel and logistical challenges. EG is currently scheduled to compete against 4 Zoomers just hours after the announcement.

Evil Geniuses has also confirmed that the Russian player is expected to make his way back into the lineup following the conclusion of season 1.

Evil Geniuses forced to bring in MSS as a stand-in

MSS has been a free agent since the conclusion of his stint with Quincy Crew at TI10 and hence was available to temporarily step-in as a stand-in. The player brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience which is expected to benefit EG in the rest of the DPC season.

It’s the second time the North American Dota 2 team has faced difficulties in bringing a Russian offlaner to its bootcamp. Earlier in 2020, EG was unable to bring Roman "RAMZES666" Kushnarev to its bootcamp and hence had to play with stand-ins in multiple tournaments including the ESL One Birmingham, BTS Pro Series: Americas, and ESL One Los Angeles.The team would later part ways with the player heading into the 2021 DPC season.

MSS’ previous stint with Evil Geniuses came in 2014 where he competed alongside the likes of Clinton "Fear" Loomis and Ioannis "Fogged" Loucas. However, he was relatively not successful in this stint which only lasted roughly six months. He has since evolved and found success in multiple other lineups, most notably Quincy Crew. It will be interesting to see if his return proves to be successful.

Evil Geniuses’ stand-in decision could also be a blessing in disguise considering that the team hasn’t really found too much success in this season of the DPC. At the time of writing this article, the NA stalwarts are languishing in 4-5th place in the points table and only have an outside chance of qualifying for the first major. MSS’ addition, albeit forced, could prove to be the spark that the team needs to return to form.