SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – December 4, 2013. - Evil Geniuses, one of the world’s leading professional gaming teams, is thrilled to announce that Lee Jae Dong, better known internationally as “Jaedong,” has officially renewed his contract with Evil Geniuses and will remain on EG’s roster as a professional player in 2014.
The popular South Korean StarCraft II player enjoyed tremendous success while representing the Evil Geniuses brand since joining EG one year ago.
Shortly after joining Evil Geniuses, Jaedong won the HyperX 10-Year Anniversary Tournament, and followed it with a year of top three finishes at events including DreamHack Summer, DreamHack Valencia, WCS Season 2, and the WCS Season 3 Global Finals, among others.
Notably, following his second place finish at the WCS Season 3 Global Finals, it was made public that Jaedong became the highest earner in total prize money for a player in e-sports history, collecting nearly half a million dollars over the course of his career.
Alex Garfield “I started working with professional players when I was 19, and over the years, our team has been fortunate enough to have had a number of high-profile players on our roster. Jaedong is, simply put, the most impressive individual player we’ve ever had on the team. I never thought we’d be in the position to sign a player like JD - let alone sign him and then re-sign him. It’s a privilege to have him on the team, and I can’t wait for him to achieve that first major tournament win that everyone knows is inevitable.”
Jaedong “I am thankful to be with EG for another year. EG allowed me to meet numerous foreign fans this year. I'm very happy to continue playing as a EG player and already excited about meeting passionate fans overseas. Please watch me!"
Both Evil Geniuses and Jaedong are very much looking forward to working together in 2014 and hope for another successful year. For the latest news about Jaedong be sure to follow him on Facebook and Twitter, and stay up to date on the latest happenings of Evil Geniuses on the web at http://www.evilgeniuses.gg.
On December 05 2013 03:28 DiMano wrote: Another year without Jaedong vs Flash
KT just needs to get their shit together and start sending flash to tournaments That or flash qualifies for global finals (assuming jd will get there this year, too)
On December 05 2013 03:28 DiMano wrote: Another year without Jaedong vs Flash
KT just needs to get their shit together and start sending flash to tournaments That or flash qualifies for global finals (assuming jd will get there this year, too)
I know we're all Flash fanboys here, but the man is really not looking that impressive in sc2. I don't think he has the same passion for the game, and while I don't think he's going to retire from pro gaming I kinda get this feeling that he and a number of other big name BW players will end up creating a pretty popular resurgence of BW in 2014. I know there are still tournaments being played, but I feel like it'll be even bigger and Flash will head on back there.
Jaedong on the other hand will stick with SC2, as he's proving to be either more skilled (at this game, before you lynch me, at sc2 chillax) or more passionate leading to better quality play. Of course this is baseless theory, but when you have the feels, you have to follow the feels.
That said, I think EG's signing of Jaedong did a lot for the scene originally, showing that the options for kespa players to look to the foreign scene exist, so his re-signing is equally a big deal. I'm pleased.
On December 05 2013 03:28 DiMano wrote: Another year without Jaedong vs Flash
KT just needs to get their shit together and start sending flash to tournaments That or flash qualifies for global finals (assuming jd will get there this year, too)
I know we're all Flash fanboys here, but the man is really not looking that impressive in sc2. I don't think he has the same passion for the game, and while I don't think he's going to retire from pro gaming I kinda get this feeling that he and a number of other big name BW players will end up creating a pretty popular resurgence of BW in 2014. I know there are still tournaments being played, but I feel like it'll be even bigger and Flash will head on back there.
Jaedong on the other hand will stick with SC2, as he's proving to be either more skilled (at this game, before you lynch me, at sc2 chillax) or more passionate leading to better quality play. Of course this is baseless theory, but when you have the feels, you have to follow the feels.
That said, I think EG's signing of Jaedong did a lot for the scene originally, showing that the options for kespa players to look to the foreign scene exist, so his re-signing is equally a big deal. I'm pleased.
No offense but you say this needs to be viewed while not being a flash fanboy yet you are obviously a bw fanboy. I don't believe your resurgence will happen, I'd love to see it, but I don't think sospa will grow past what it is atm and kespa/ogn won't be going back to star 1imho. But all we can say about that is pure speculation anyways. I'd just like to add that trying to make mech work in a game where everyone agrees on bio being the best option sure shows passion to me. If he didn't care he'd just go bio like everyone else.
And tbh where flash hasn't looked impressive to you to me he is just a man slowly completing a puzzle and imho he is getting closer everytime I watch him play so I'd say he will be a beast once he got the game and his perfect style figured out.
Glad to see. Man, I remember tons of people were convinced that Jaedong was not happy with EG shortly after he first signed, I'm glad that idea has been proven wrong.
On December 05 2013 03:28 DiMano wrote: Another year without Jaedong vs Flash
flash still plays?
Yeah and he is the best SPL player btw.
Not much competition this time around, when both Innovation and Jaedong aren't there. Unless someone like Fantasy found his groove.
They both were in SPL and Flash still took Top 1. Man if Flash was in JD place he would also make it to the finals in WCS and other events it is just about choice to play in the best place where you have to do your absolute best to win Code A Ro48 match or in the place where you have good opponents only from Ro8. And let's stop discussing Flash here it's my bad that I have started it
Not too surprising now, but who would have thought back in 2010 or 2011 that EG would one day have Jaedong as their top player. The scene has really changed
On December 05 2013 03:28 DiMano wrote: Another year without Jaedong vs Flash
KT just needs to get their shit together and start sending flash to tournaments That or flash qualifies for global finals (assuming jd will get there this year, too)
I know we're all Flash fanboys here, but the man is really not looking that impressive in sc2. I don't think he has the same passion for the game, and while I don't think he's going to retire from pro gaming I kinda get this feeling that he and a number of other big name BW players will end up creating a pretty popular resurgence of BW in 2014. I know there are still tournaments being played, but I feel like it'll be even bigger and Flash will head on back there.
Jaedong on the other hand will stick with SC2, as he's proving to be either more skilled (at this game, before you lynch me, at sc2 chillax) or more passionate leading to better quality play. Of course this is baseless theory, but when you have the feels, you have to follow the feels.
That said, I think EG's signing of Jaedong did a lot for the scene originally, showing that the options for kespa players to look to the foreign scene exist, so his re-signing is equally a big deal. I'm pleased.
No offense but you say this needs to be viewed while not being a flash fanboy yet you are obviously a bw fanboy. I don't believe your resurgence will happen, I'd love to see it, but I don't think sospa will grow past what it is atm and kespa/ogn won't be going back to star 1imho. But all we can say about that is pure speculation anyways. I'd just like to add that trying to make mech work in a game where everyone agrees on bio being the best option sure shows passion to me. If he didn't care he'd just go bio like everyone else.
And tbh where flash hasn't looked impressive to you to me he is just a man slowly completing a puzzle and imho he is getting closer everytime I watch him play so I'd say he will be a beast once he got the game and his perfect style figured out.
Actually I detest BW. I think it's incredibly overhyped and I don't enjoy playing it. Your "No offense" is not accepted.
Congratulations to Jaedong and EG. He is doing so well on the team and the team gets a lot of positive exposure from him, it's a very good match for both. Incontrol made me respect EG as a team, the removal of Idra made me like EG and then the signing of JD made me love EG
On December 05 2013 04:22 Darkhoarse wrote: And no one was surprised.
Very cool
Except that one guy who thought he'd retire.
Has anyone ever voluntarily left EG for another team? I think it would be too hard to start a sentence with "I know you're offering me huge piles of money, but..."
On December 05 2013 04:22 Darkhoarse wrote: And no one was surprised.
Very cool
Except that one guy who thought he'd retire.
Has anyone ever voluntarily left EG for another team? I think it would be too hard to start a sentence with "I know you're offering me huge piles of money, but..."
On December 05 2013 04:22 Darkhoarse wrote: And no one was surprised.
Very cool
Except that one guy who thought he'd retire.
Has anyone ever voluntarily left EG for another team? I think it would be too hard to start a sentence with "I know you're offering me huge piles of money, but..."
On December 05 2013 04:22 Darkhoarse wrote: And no one was surprised.
Very cool
Except that one guy who thought he'd retire.
Has anyone ever voluntarily left EG for another team? I think it would be too hard to start a sentence with "I know you're offering me huge piles of money, but..."
On December 05 2013 04:22 Darkhoarse wrote: And no one was surprised.
Very cool
Except that one guy who thought he'd retire.
Has anyone ever voluntarily left EG for another team? I think it would be too hard to start a sentence with "I know you're offering me huge piles of money, but..."
On December 05 2013 04:22 Darkhoarse wrote: And no one was surprised.
Very cool
Except that one guy who thought he'd retire.
Has anyone ever voluntarily left EG for another team? I think it would be too hard to start a sentence with "I know you're offering me huge piles of money, but..."
On December 05 2013 03:17 Crownlol wrote: Really gotta stop forgetting the dash people, this has happened like three times before.
You'd think I'd be used to it by now!
Guys, we should start using some other words, re-sign is so clunky. "Jaedong renews his contract with Evil Geniuses" or something. Anyway, not suprised but I'm glad, because I think having the foreign reach is great.
On December 05 2013 04:22 Darkhoarse wrote: And no one was surprised.
Very cool
Except that one guy who thought he'd retire.
Has anyone ever voluntarily left EG for another team? I think it would be too hard to start a sentence with "I know you're offering me huge piles of money, but..."
Grubby, Tasteless, Puma and LzGamer.
Though...I'd say Grubby is the only one that really qualifies as "leaving for another team". Tasteless was hired for a role that really never came to fruition (until a couple years after), and Puma and LzGamer were basically leaving-but-not-quite-leaving SC2.
Even if other teams could match EG's salary offers, there really aren't many that can match the travel expenses and PR opportunities.
News of the century. Never saw this one coming. I thought that he was going back to T8 and started playing with tenth of the salary with no exposure. Silly me.
ahhhhh no proleague for JD. That will kinda suck that he can't keep building on his stats there. Very happy about it otherwise. I like seeing him in foreign tournies
This cannot be true, since there is no announcement of a announcement involved. And no fancy youtube videos of the mysterious player? sigh. Jokes aside, i approve of this re-sign! Very nice to see JD all around the world playing foreign tournaments.
money , play your favorite game, meet people, young and have the energy to travel the world literally not just the internet.. come on man.. it's a no-brainer...
you can't do this shit years from now. Good for u jaedong
It's for the best, I'm happy for both parties. I used to be terrified about JD's future when he joined EG, but it actually worked out so well for him. I've said in the past that I consider Jaedong probably the most professional hardworking progamer I've seen. His dedication, will power and discipline are hard to rival with. And it seems the "EG curse" - of getting lazy and not making use of the good conditions and payment on EG - has not struck Jaedong. He can conduct his own schedule and still practice as hard as he has been doing it on Korean teams. I'm sure that helps other EG members as well, who get inspired by him. All the best, Jaedong, you deserve to be on a financially solid team like EG. Keep up the good work and the championships will come, for sure.
JD has certainly grown in the past year, I remember when EG first signed him right before proleague, thinking he would be a failure, clearly i was mistaken
Not surprised. He always says he is being treated really well in interviews, and they are probably paying him a lot to stay on. Even though their partnership with Team8 ended, I figure he will still stay in Korea though.
It is too bad we won't get to see what Jaedong can do now that he is comfortable with the game, but with the practice regime of a Kespa team. Oh well, I wish him the best of luck!
On December 05 2013 13:31 SoFrOsTy wrote: It is too bad we won't get to see what Jaedong can do now that he is comfortable with the game, but with the practice regime of a Kespa team. Oh well, I wish him the best of luck!
Some people thrive better in a more open and less structured environment. Can't say if Jaedong is one of them, but considering how happy he looked in the Hotbid interview when he talked about getting to travel and getting to manage his own schedule, it seems he prefers his current situation.
Plus he's outstripped almost every single other player in Kespa in terms of performance since he left.
On December 05 2013 13:31 SoFrOsTy wrote: It is too bad we won't get to see what Jaedong can do now that he is comfortable with the game, but with the practice regime of a Kespa team. Oh well, I wish him the best of luck!
Some people thrive better in a more open and less structured environment. Can't say if Jaedong is one of them, but considering how happy he looked in the Hotbid interview when he talked about getting to travel and getting to manage his own schedule, it seems he prefers his current situation.
Plus he's outstripped almost every single other player in Kespa in terms of performance since he left.
Hmmm, read the power rank. He definitely isn't doing better than every other Kespa player. He was in WCS America. And I do agree, if he is happy he should be happy and for that I am grateful. And yes some people do strive in a more relaxed environment, but if SC BW was any indication for Jaedong specifically, he did pretty well in a strict practice environment.
On December 05 2013 13:31 SoFrOsTy wrote: It is too bad we won't get to see what Jaedong can do now that he is comfortable with the game, but with the practice regime of a Kespa team. Oh well, I wish him the best of luck!
Some people thrive better in a more open and less structured environment. Can't say if Jaedong is one of them, but considering how happy he looked in the Hotbid interview when he talked about getting to travel and getting to manage his own schedule, it seems he prefers his current situation.
Plus he's outstripped almost every single other player in Kespa in terms of performance since he left.
Hmmm, read the power rank. He definitely isn't doing better than every other Kespa player. He was in WCS America. And I do agree, if he is happy he should be happy and for that I am grateful. And yes some people do strive in a more relaxed environment, but if SC BW was any indication for Jaedong specifically, he did pretty well in a strict practice environment.
Lol even after his good accomplishments this year people still say he should go on a kespa team. Guess what we would never see him. Remember flash? I forget about him a lot because he never goes to tournaments and only plays in GSL and proleague.
Jaedong also beat some really good players, blizzcon being his probably prime of beating Maru (gsl winner) Dear (gsl + finals winner) in a row.
He's obviously playing a lot and dedicated which is why he's a boss, but just like people who said jaedong would never amount to anything (he got so much hate for leaving a kespa team and people said he would never become good going to EG) and now imagine that he had a very, very successful year and we got to see him play a lot, stream and tournaments.
That hyphen makes all the difference. I seem to remember there being another thread where someone forgot it and it led to mass confusion until it was fixed.
On December 05 2013 13:31 SoFrOsTy wrote: It is too bad we won't get to see what Jaedong can do now that he is comfortable with the game, but with the practice regime of a Kespa team. Oh well, I wish him the best of luck!
Some people thrive better in a more open and less structured environment. Can't say if Jaedong is one of them, but considering how happy he looked in the Hotbid interview when he talked about getting to travel and getting to manage his own schedule, it seems he prefers his current situation.
Plus he's outstripped almost every single other player in Kespa in terms of performance since he left.
Hmmm, read the power rank. He definitely isn't doing better than every other Kespa player. He was in WCS America. And I do agree, if he is happy he should be happy and for that I am grateful. And yes some people do strive in a more relaxed environment, but if SC BW was any indication for Jaedong specifically, he did pretty well in a strict practice environment.
SC BW is a terrible indication of any kind of practice regimen, considering that every player on Kespa had the same kind of grind. It's not a very meaningful statistic when everyone is in the same category.
If anything, 2013 showed that the Kespa regime is barely a factor when it comes to results...Jaedong, Parting and Innovation are prime examples of that.
On December 05 2013 13:31 SoFrOsTy wrote: It is too bad we won't get to see what Jaedong can do now that he is comfortable with the game, but with the practice regime of a Kespa team. Oh well, I wish him the best of luck!
Some people thrive better in a more open and less structured environment. Can't say if Jaedong is one of them, but considering how happy he looked in the Hotbid interview when he talked about getting to travel and getting to manage his own schedule, it seems he prefers his current situation.
Plus he's outstripped almost every single other player in Kespa in terms of performance since he left.
Hmmm, read the power rank. He definitely isn't doing better than every other Kespa player. He was in WCS America. And I do agree, if he is happy he should be happy and for that I am grateful. And yes some people do strive in a more relaxed environment, but if SC BW was any indication for Jaedong specifically, he did pretty well in a strict practice environment.
SC BW is a terrible indication of any kind of practice regimen, considering that every player on Kespa had the same kind of grind. It's not a very meaningful statistic when everyone is in the same category.
If anything, 2013 showed that the Kespa regime is barely a factor when it comes to results...Jaedong, Parting and Innovation are prime examples of that.
Innovation was only dominant for a short period, which was when he was on a Kespa team.
Grats to EG and the Dong. There is no other pro i'd rather sign then JD aswell. He's the full package not only for results but also for advertising your sponsors and representing the EG brand. Come on every one loves JD.
On December 06 2013 00:52 perfidiusrex wrote: in terms of money the korean scene is way below the na and eu one.jaedong knwos this and tries to milk it as much as he can.
JD made most of his money (90%) from WCS. He made it from WCS due to being in WCS AM, which was thanks to EG, but with the new WCS system, there is less money in WCS AM (for any given individual, not overall for all players), so potentially he could return to Korea and if he won GSL would make nearly the same as 3 seasons of WCS AM wins.
And for his winnings, he had something like $112k total winnings in 2013, of which $20~25k was from non-WCS events. He's still WCS reliant, and that was full of Koreans in WCS AM, and as mentioned, has less money than last year for one person to win.
On December 06 2013 00:52 perfidiusrex wrote: in terms of money the korean scene is way below the na and eu one.jaedong knwos this and tries to milk it as much as he can.
JD made most of his money (90%) from WCS. He made it from WCS due to being in WCS AM, which was thanks to EG, but with the new WCS system, there is less money in WCS AM (for any given individual, not overall for all players), so potentially he could return to Korea and if he won GSL would make nearly the same as 3 seasons of WCS AM wins.
And for his winnings, he had something like $112k total winnings in 2013, of which $20~25k was from non-WCS events. He's still WCS reliant, and that was full of Koreans in WCS AM, and as mentioned, has less money than last year for one person to win.
you sort of forget that the only korean that makes money in the gsl is he guy in the first place.jaedong can't get first place in a foreign tournament let alone a gsl,the competition where flash can not pass ro16 and where some of the old legends barely get out of code a.the money in wcs am regardless how small it is would still be more than the money he would get in korea.plus foreign tournaments which are not that bad,plus what eg is giving him.if jaedong goes back to korea he goes into retirement.the same would go for taeja,hero,jyp,revival, polt, arthuro ,duckdeok,mvp,mc,mma and the rest...
On December 06 2013 00:52 perfidiusrex wrote: in terms of money the korean scene is way below the na and eu one.jaedong knwos this and tries to milk it as much as he can.
JD made most of his money (90%) from WCS. He made it from WCS due to being in WCS AM, which was thanks to EG, but with the new WCS system, there is less money in WCS AM (for any given individual, not overall for all players), so potentially he could return to Korea and if he won GSL would make nearly the same as 3 seasons of WCS AM wins.
And for his winnings, he had something like $112k total winnings in 2013, of which $20~25k was from non-WCS events. He's still WCS reliant, and that was full of Koreans in WCS AM, and as mentioned, has less money than last year for one person to win.
you sort of forget that the only korean that makes money in the gsl is he guy in the first place.jaedong can't get first place in a foreign tournament let alone a gsl,the competition where flash can not pass ro16 and where some of the old legends barely get out of code a.the money in wcs am regardless how small it is would still be more than the money he would get in korea.plus foreign tournaments which are not that bad,plus what eg is giving him.if jaedong goes back to korea he goes into retirement.the same would go for taeja,hero,jyp,revival, polt, arthuro ,duckdeok,mvp,mc,mma and the rest...
Yeah, my main point was that he isn't making all that much money from Euro/American competitions, it's mostly from WCS AM and the money from WCS AM will be lower next year as well.
On December 05 2013 04:22 Darkhoarse wrote: And no one was surprised.
Very cool
Except that one guy who thought he'd retire.
Has anyone ever voluntarily left EG for another team? I think it would be too hard to start a sentence with "I know you're offering me huge piles of money, but..."
When he played at the global finals vs sOs, the speed was simply out of space when they showed his 1st person camera. Man's a machine. Man cannot be human. That tournament victory will likely come!
it was made public that he is top earner in. esports? I recall i made a thread about it but at the same time it was already public and I don't recall too much fuzz about it
We believe in Jaedong!! I was soo afraid he would resign (without the dash :D) after getting all second places! Must be so frustrating to get so close everytime!
On December 06 2013 06:12 Anacreor wrote: We believe in Jaedong!! I was soo afraid he would resign (without the dash :D) after getting all second places! Must be so frustrating to get so close everytime!
It'd take a very foolish player to quit because he keeps getting second place.
On December 06 2013 06:12 Anacreor wrote: We believe in Jaedong!! I was soo afraid he would resign (without the dash :D) after getting all second places! Must be so frustrating to get so close everytime!
It'd take a very foolish player to quit because he keeps getting second place.
Ya so many people are acting like its a bad thing that JD got 2nd place 5 times this year. Sure he didn't win them but it's a hell of a lot better results than a lot of other sc2 pros and it also speaks volumes of his consistency.
On December 06 2013 06:12 Anacreor wrote: We believe in Jaedong!! I was soo afraid he would resign (without the dash :D) after getting all second places! Must be so frustrating to get so close everytime!
It'd take a very foolish player to quit because he keeps getting second place.
Ya so many people are acting like its a bad thing that JD got 2nd place 5 times this year. Sure he didn't win them but it's a hell of a lot better results than a lot of other sc2 pros and it also speaks volumes of his consistency.
The situation reminds me one Interview with Rafael Nadal - reporter asked him why does he think Roger Federer is bad clay court player and Rafa answered that in fact Roger Federer is excellent clay court player - he is getting to all clay court tournaments finals beating everyone but him so how can you ask about that (that was asked during Roger's Prime). Of course in Roger's case, the nemesis was Rafa himself, in Jaedong's case it used to be Flash (three freaking finals lost) but now it is finals itself.
EPT
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/05ZIh29.jpg)
Can't wait to see JD at more none Korean tournaments, guess we won't see him him GSL or Proleague though. 
