VALORANT – Potter announced as Evil Geniuses head coach

North American giants Evil Geniuses has moved VALORANT team captain Christine “potter” Chi to the head coach position. In what is a one of a host of changes for the org, Jimmy “LiN” Lin will switch to the assistant coach position, with Kelden “Boostio” Pupello set to stand in for the upcoming Nerd Street Gamers Summer Championship.

Potter has vast experience in the North American and international CS:GO scene, with the veteran having returned to competing after VALORANT’s release. Having acted as a CS:GO analyst after competing at the FTW Summer Showdown last year, Potter was named as captain of the newly-formed Evil Geniuses mixed VALORANT lineup. The 34-year-old, who is of Korean descent, played for the likes of UBINITED, CLG Red, RES Gaming and Old Guys Club during her time in CS:GO.

Why Evil Geniuses made such changes

With the team having struggled to cut it at the highest level, missing out on qualifying for several upper tier North American events, it comes as no surprise that Evil Geniuses are making changes. They have failed to make a single Challengers appearance in the VALORANT Champions Tour, a couple of semi-final outings in NSG tournaments is all they have to show for their efforts.

From the original roster announced in January, it is only Nolan “Temperature” Pepper that is still an active part of the team. Temperature has been joined by Mike “pho” Panza, Brandon “BRANTED” Ballard and Daniel “roca” Gustaferri over recent months. Roca and Boostio spent six months together while competing under the banner of Spacestation Gaming, before the org decided to release its entire VALORANT roster back in April.

How Potter got her tenure in charge underway

Their roster changes could well give Evil Geniuses hope of making an impact at the Nerd Street Gamers Summer Championship and the near future. However, with the likes of NRG, Immortals, Pioneers and Cloud9 also competing, they will certainly not have things all their own way. Potter has already claimed her first win as head coach, overcoming Pioneers 2-0, a result which included a 13-2 success on Ascent.

Having then beaten Built By Gamers, Evil Geniuses were ultimately eliminated at the semi-final stage by Cloud9. Cloud9 went on to defeat NRG 3-1 in the Grand Final in order to take home $12,000 in prize money. Evil Geniuses walked away with $1,500 in prize money, however the confidence they earned will likely be more valuable in the future.