Sources - VALORANT: Evil Geniuses to part ways with yay and NaturE ahead of 2026 rebuild

World champion organization Evil Geniuses has struggled to return to the top since their surprise title run in 2023. After a complicated year in VCT (VALORANT Champions Tour) Americas, the club is expected to part ways with Nicholas "NaturE" Garrison and Jaccob "yay" Whiteaker ahead of the 2026 season, according to sources close to Sheep Esports.

These two departures come as Derrek "Derrek" Ha has announced his intention to explore new opportunities, although he hasn’t been fully ruled out of the EG project yet. As for Jacob "icy" Lange and Phat "supamen" Le, both players are reportedly in discussions to remain with the North American organization, though EG is currently running trials across all five positions, meaning nothing is set in stone for 2026. It’s worth noting that supamen is the only player whose contract expires in 2025, while the other four are signed through 2026.

Evil Geniuses kicked off their season with a Top 7-8 finish, falling to MIBR in the lower bracket, a team that would later qualify for Champions Paris. It was a disappointing result, though the North American side managed to redeem itself somewhat during the following competitive segment, Stage 1, where they came just short of a podium finish, ending in fourth place. Their run was cut short by a loss to G2 Esports, the dominant force of the VCT Americas season, ending EG’s hopes of reaching Masters Toronto.

However, despite being close to success once, the organization completely missed the mark during the Esports World Cup qualifier, and later wrapped up its season with another Top 7-8 finish in Stage 2. Far from the level they showed earlier in the year, EG finished fourth in Group Alpha before falling 0-2 to 100 Thieves in the opening playoff round. After such a disappointing 2025 campaign, Evil Geniuses is now once again entering a phase of near-total reconstruction.

For more roster changes, check out our Transfers Hub. You can also follow every confirmed move and leak throughout the offseason with our Offseason Tracker.