Evil Geniuses have their eyes on Tox to replace Rizex45
Riccardo "Rizex45" Mazzotta is set to leave the German-Austrian squad of Evil Geniuses. Instead of Rizex45, Evil Geniuses want to bring in another German: Damian "Tox" Schäfer. For now, Tox is their primary target, but nothing is decided yet.
Rizex45 and Tox are exploring their options ahead of the first RLCS 2021-2022 trade window
What are Tox’s options?
Tox, as well as his current teammates Dylan "eekso" Pickering and Maurice "Yukeo" Weihs, are leaving SK Gaming, and they’re ready to explore their options. Although their time with the organisation hasn’t been the most successful, Tox’s individual performance showed he’s one of the best players from the German scene. As such, he’s been getting several offers.
FC Barcelona, Vodafone Giants, and Guild Esports were all looking to sign Tox, where he would replace Samuel "Zamué" Cortés, Raúl "DmentZa" Palazuelos, and Dan "bluey." Bluett respectively. Tox declined these offers but hasn’t decided on joining Evil Geniuses yet.
Another option for Tox is keeping his current teammate eekso by his side and trying out other players to complete the roster. At the moment, one of the candidates for that spot is Brice "ExoTiiK" Bigeard, who has played alongside Tox before on Solary.
Where is Rizex45 going?
Rizex45 showed his worth on German Amigos throughout the off-season, winning several smaller tournaments. Ahead of RLCS 2021-2022, the roster of Rizex45, Leonardo "Catalysm" Christ Ramos, and Ivan "ivn" Sabri was picked up by Evil Geniuses, and they started off well under that new banner. The team made it to the Playoffs in two out of the three Regional Events in the Fall Split. That earned them enough RLCS points for the sixth spot in the European Ranking. Not quite enough to punch their ticket to the Fall Major, but a respectable performance nonetheless.
Where Rizex45 will end up after leaving the Evil Geniuses roster, is still unclear. For the Monaco Gaming Show 2021, he qualified convincingly for the Finals, under the team name “for fun smiley face”. For this tournament, Rizex45 teamed up with Yukeo, who might be splitting from his team, and Nelson "virtuoso" Lasko, who departed from Solary earlier in November. While their team name suggests they’re not actually looking to stick together, it could still be a possibility if it turns out they have the right synergy. However, Rizex45 also has other options available to him.
Shift thinks: Evil Geniuses had quite the off-season, and a good season so far. Tox would be an interesting pickup for a team like EG, who are trying to go from good to great. Evil Geniuses making a roster move does not mean that Rizex45 isn’t good enough to be on a team of that calibre. He has all the qualities of a good RLCS player, and we hope he finds a new team that suits him.
