Evil Geniuses to return to LCS in 2020, acquire Echo Fox slot

Evil Geniuses is set to join the LCS in 2020 after completing the acquisition of Echo Fox’s slot franchise slot in the league.

According to a release by the team, Evil Geniuses successfully completed the acquisition of an LCS slot and will join the competition in 2020.

“After an extensive diligence process, we’re happy to report that our bid has been accepted by Riot Games for the open LCS spot left by Echo Fox — we’ll be building a team from the ground up in order to take on this new and exciting challenge,” wrote EG. 

Evil Geniuses will take over Echo Fox’s slot after the departing organization failed to find a deal that satisfied Riot Games’ requirements. Originally, it was reported that Kroenke Sports & Entertainment would acquire the slot for $30 million. The deal fell through due to multiple reasons, including internal conflicts.

Riot Games ultimately took over the sale and started taking applications from different interested parties. It’s now clear that Evil Geniuses won the bid and will get a team in the LCS. The acquisition marks the first return of Evil Geniuses to League of Legends since its departure from the game in 2014.

According to the announcement, the organization is looking to build a new roster from the ground up.

Evil Geniuses started its League of Legends division in the EU LCS, now known as the LEC, back in 2013. That roster included Golden Guardians’ mid laner Henrik “Froggen” Hansen. The team had a good run in Europe but ultimately missed the opportunity to take part in the Season 3 World Championship.

The organization then decided to take the League of Legends division across the ocean and established a gaming house in North America. The team proceeded to acquire a slot in the NA LCS and signed a new roster that included FlyQuest mid laner Eugene “Pobelter” Park.

In the NA LCS, Evil Geniuses went through a rough patch. The team faced relegation three times in a row.  In 2015, the team was forced to rebrand as Winterfox. Eventually, the team would be relegated to the challenger series and disbanded.

Evil Geniuses joins Immortals, and Team Dignitas as new franchises in the LCS going into 2020. These are popular names in the esports community with a long history in multiple games.

The organization is making big moves and getting back into some of the most popular games at the moment. Evil Geniuses have also acquired the former NRG Esports Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster.