Veteran StarCraft pro-gamer Greg 'IdrA' Fields released from team Evil Geniuses!

Always stone-cold and emotionless while competing, IdrA became one of the most infamous players in the StarCraft community for his skill and tendencies to lash out at players.

IdrA was known as one of the better Zerg players in North American StarCraft II, being perhaps the highest profile player on the Evil Geniuses team which famously pays some of its players six figures.

He was one of the few non-Koreans to live and compete in S. Korea (the home of StarCraft) during the golden Brood War days, even joining one of the top Korean teams and competing in televised matches - one of very few non-Koreans to do so.

To explain the significance of this; IdrA went against his parents' wishes to go to Korea and become a full-time pro-gamer instead of studying when he was 19. He was one of very few non-Koreans to have a Programming License and play for a Korean pro-gaming team, CJ Entus. He lived in its team house and practiced in a Korean only environment without knowing the Korean language, leaving him in isolation for 12 or more hours a day. He stuck through that for years to become the most successful American StarCraft pro-gamer at the time.

It takes a lot of dedication and guts to go against everything to achieve your dream like IdrA did. To explain the topic fully I would need to explain the training regimes and differences in culture further; I'll save that for another day.

He is notoriously the bad boy of StarCraft for not adopting the expected mannerisms (GL, HF, GG, Etc.), complaining about balance, insulting players during and after matches and for rage quitting games. Sometimes even rage quitting while he was ahead, making for some of the most memorable moments in StarCraft II. - as seen in the video above. 

'Bad-mannered (BM)' players in particular are shunned in the StarCraft community which has paved the way for professionalism in eSports; it is becoming much harder for players like IdrA to find a place in today's eSports.

But let's not forget, the Evil Geniuses StarCraft II brand was built on IdrA and the Gracken. The decision to invest in bringing IdrA over from Korean StarCraft led the way to success for them in StarCraft II, where they have undoubtedly become not only the largest StarCraft II team but also the biggest team in eSports outside of Korea.

During the first years of StarCraft II's release IdrA was among the top-tier of players, consistently placing highly in tournaments with his impressive macro-management (being able to keep on top of unit production, research and resource management, including other such tasks).

He has always been a vocal player who people love to hate. But over the last year things have deteriorated. Despite his team getting him a professional sports psychologist he has continued to eat away at his credibility until we are at a point now where the community has lost patience with him.

There has been widespread speculation about what is next for IdrA. He tweeted that he would still be involved in eSports, in what capacity we don't know. Some think he'll return to Korea and join a team there. Others think he could get a personal sponsorship, following the path of Naniwa, another rebellious but talented StarCraft player who was kicked from his team for similar reasons.

One way or another, he still has the largest following among North American StarCraft II players and Evil Geniuses is known for supporting its players better than any other team in eSports, it is not going to leave him in the cold with nowhere to turn.

Ultimately Evil Geniuses had to remove IdrA for its own credibility. In recent weeks the StarCraft community has been filled with only resentment for IdrA, whose name has been hot on the lips of the community, and for all the wrong reasons, including a fall-out with teammate DeMusliM who was a favorite in the community at the time. 

While there are many who wouldn't mind seeing IdrA never return to the StarCraft scene, some have been watching IdrA compete in StarCraft matches for years, being one of the few flag bearers for North America. Many others will remember times like when thousands of fans chanted his name as he took on Korean legend Boxer at MLG Orlando 2011.  

I personally think there are much, much worse sins to commit than being disrespectful to other players; while not very sportsmanlike and giving reason to remove him from such a prominent team, it is certainly not reason enough for him to disappear into the history books.

IdrA must now decide if he wants to change his attitude and continue playing StarCraft, which he has done his whole adult/working life. Or if, like others have said, he should retire from playing StarCraft II - which he has noted as a game he does not enjoy in itself, but does enjoy competing in, which surprisingly is not an uncommon statement.

I wish Evil Geniuses the best of luck in the future and look forward to seeing where IdrA goes next.

Read the full statement from Evil Geniuses.

UPDATE: IdrA has since done a "Real Talk" interview with prominent community personality Itmejp to discuss what happened and the future; he will not continue as a competitive player and will instead focus on creating content for the community and commentating.

 Chris Rainey, Columnist