In May of 2013, we released Greg "IdrA" Fields from our StarCraft 2 roster - a decision that, while not controversial, still came as a surprise to many of our fans. Greg was so intricately tied to our brand that the name "IdrA" without its long-tenured "EG." prefix was something none of us were used to.

It was a strange feeling for everyone, both those outside the organization and within. The office was very quiet on the day we parted ways with Greg, because he really was a member of our family, and most of us were pretty close friends with him outside of work. But while everyone was sad to see him go, we all knew it was something that had to be done.

While (in true, StarCraft-era IdrA fashion) public comments were the immediate catalyst for Greg's dismissal from the team, his mindset had been an issue of growing concern for us going back to the end of 2012, when things began to become more serious than the usual "ragequits" and "bad manner." The simple fact is that Greg was never as passionate about StarCraft 2 as he was about Brood War. Over the years, this took its toll, and shortly our announcement, Greg retired as a professional StarCraft 2 player.

When we initially decided to get into Heroes of the Storm, Greg's team wasn't the only one we scouted. Especially considering how his last run with our team ended, we were cautious and we wanted to be thorough, so we interviewed and researched a number of different prospective HotS squads. Greg handled the role of negotiating on behalf of his teammates, and after a couple of conversations, we could tell that something was different. He was calmer - more relaxed. He struck us as someone who had spent the last year and a half reflecting and improving himself.

We're not going to make any grandiose claims about the return of IdrA to EG, and Greg himself explains where he's coming from in the video above far better than we can in this announcement. But we do want to say that we've noticed a difference in him, and we're looking forward to see what he can do as a HotS player.

This news will undoubtedly get a lot of attention because of one player in particular (and, we know, we've spent a lot of time focusing on him even in this news post), but ultimately, this is an announcement about five players - not just one.

In addition to IdrA's return to the team, we're happy to welcome back Jake "LzGaMeR" Winstead, who was a long-time member of our StarCraft 2 team, and say hello to three newcomers: John "Chillatech" Peacock, Guillaume "Keylax" Ouellet, and Kayla "Faye" Murray. They'll all be representing Evil Geniuses at the BlizzCon Heroes of the Storm invitational, taking place in Anaheim in a few weeks. We're excited to support them at BlizzCon, and we're looking forward to seeing what they can do.

Please join us in welcoming the Evil Geniuses Heroes of the Storm team!