n style=”font-weight: 400;”>Evil Geniuses will participate in the upcoming Mars Dota 2 League Macau without the team’s star mid laner.

For the second time, Quinn “CC&C” Callahan will replace Syed Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan in a tournament outside of the Dota Pro Circuit participated by Evil Geniuses. CC&C played as a stand-in for the team at ESL One Hamburg in October 2018, joining EG in a fifth place finish.

The North American powerhouse has shown consistency in delivering two third-place finishes at the first two majors of the Dota Pro Circuit. The squad is currently in the third spot in the DPC rankings and is closing in on guaranteed qualification to The International 2019.

Evil Geniuses emphasized that the team’s situation in MDL Macau differs from the ESL One Hamburg. At that time, Sumail experienced visa issues in Hamburg and was unable to play for his team.

In this case, the organization opted to tag  CC&C in for the upcoming MDL Macau to give Sumail a “much-needed” vacation. EG wants to maintain its star player’s health by providing him with a short break from the hectic tournament schedule.

“Evil Geniuses prioritizes our talent’s ability to pursue their goals in a healthy and productive way, and we believe this is the best course of action for our player’s well-being. We hope you can understand and support our decision,” the team said on Facebook..

PSG.LGD, who are also invited in the tournament, withdrew from participating due to Yang “Chalice”‘ Shenyi’s medical condition. TI7 runner-up Newbee was given the spot vacated by PSG.LGD.

MDL Macau 2019 will be held on February 20-24 with a prize pool of $300,000.  The tournament will be participated by such Dota stalwarts as Team Liquid and Virtus.pro.