The Evil Genius organization has just announced that Finnish superstar, Tomi “Lurppis” Kovanen will be moving to the United States to play with EG.usa, replacing Corey Hanes. In a move similar to when coL brought Zet over from Sweden, all eyes are on Lurrpis to see how he will perform in his new setting and team. This brings the EG.usa roster to:
Tyler “Storm” Wood
Matt “Warden” Dickens
Danny “fRoD” Montaner
Jordan “n0thing” Gilbert
Tomi “lurppis” Kovanen
Below is the official release from EG:
Team EG, North America’s premier professional gaming organization, is proud to announce the addition of long-time European star Tomi “Lurppis” Kovanen to the team’s USA Counter-Strike division. With his acquisition, the organization will be releasing Corey “hanes” Hanes from his contract at the conclusion of the ESEA-I online playoffs.
Hanes has been with the organization since the Counter-Strike USA division was first announced five months ago, and from that time he has proven to be a very talented player. With him, the team managed to make the playoffs for ESEA’s Invite league. On top of that, the team also qualified for the KODE5 USA Finals and the Extreme Masters III Global Finals, finishing with decent placements at both events. Still, the team decided that a change was needed and has reached out to Kovanen to bring his unique talent and play style to the division. “I would just like to thank Corey for all the time and effort he has put into this team,” said EG player Danny “fRoD” Montaner. “Unfortunately, things just didn’t work out, and we certainly wish him the best of luck.”
A native of Finland, Kovanen will be coming over to the United States to practice and compete with his American teammates. Their preparation as a team will begin immediately after his arrival on Tuesday. “The addition of Tomi will definitely give us a great new style, and a better understanding of our own game play, as well as giving a little bit of European flavor to our team,” said new teammate Jordan “n0thing” Gilbert. “His great teamwork and dedication will help us solidify a lot of things that we need to work on and fine tune if we want to compete up to our full potential.”
After recently announcing his retirement in April, Kovanen has since then decided to come back to active status to join Team EG. Especially coming all the way from Scandinavia, he brings a very unique background to the team’s lineup. “I thought I was already done with CS but after I got into talks with EG it became clear it just wasn’t time yet. I can honestly say I’ve never been this excited in my CS career and I can’t wait to arrive in Dallas and start practicing with my new teammates,” said new EG player Kovanen. “I’ve always wanted to try living abroad, so for me it really is a dream come true, being able to move out there and compete in all the tournaments with EG. I think it would be normal to have some concerns but honestly right now I’m just too excited to even think about that, I just want to get there asap!”
The significance of bringing such a well-known player over from Europe to the United States is certainly not lost from the perspective of EG’s upper management. “We’re very excited to be able to bring such a well-tenured international player into the EG family,” said Alex Garfield, Executive Director of Team EG. “Tomi has been the driving force behind most of the best Finnish lineups in the past several years, and has accumulated an impressive international resume over that period. We think he’ll be a great contributer to the team, not only because of his skill and work ethic, but also because of his expansive knowledge of international teams and play styles.”
Team EG’s new USA Counter-Strike lineup will debut, with Kovanen in uniform, online in the upcoming CEVO-P Professional playoffs, and on LAN at ESWC Korea (May 2-5) and the KODE5 Grand Finals (May 9-10). For more information about Evil Geniuses, EG.usa, and Kovanen’s weekly blog, visit the EG website at www.myEG.net.