Syed Sumail Hassan

Syed Sumail Hassan was born in Pakistan on February 13, 1999 to Syed Tatheer Mumtaz and Syeda Zill-e-Huma. His family moved from Karachi to Rosemont, Illinois in 2012. He is a professional Dota 2 player who plays for Evil Geniuses known by his in-game name Suma1L. Suma1L was a member of the EG team that won The International 2015, alongside Clinton ‘Fear’ Loomis, Kurtis ‘AUI_2000’ Ling, Saahil ‘UNiVeRsE’ Arora, and Peter ‘ppd’ Dager. Due to his young age, he has been often considered a child prodigy.

In 2015, EG also won the Dota 2 Asian Championships in Shanghai. The Guinness Book of World Records recognized Sumail as the youngest gamer to surpass $1 million USD in tournament prize money winnings.

Establishing himself as one of the best upcoming talents in the North American scene, and currently the mid player for Evil Geniuses, Syed Sumail Hassan quickly became the highest rated player in the in-house league. Sumail first started playing Dota when he was eight years old. Upon his arrival to America he began playing in the North American Elite League.

His play was so impressive that UNiVeRsE pushed for EG to recruit him in January of 2015. Sumail's LAN debut was at the Dota 2 League Season 5 finals in Las Vegas on January 6th 2015. The team performed poorly at the event, in part to lack luster performance by Sumail. Critics began to question whether he deserved a roster spot on a team like Evil Geniuses.

In February, Sumail would get a chance to redeem himself as EG participated in the Dota 2 Asia Championships. In his first match of the tournament, Sumail introduced his Euls Scepter of Divinity Shadow Fiend build, which would quickly become part of the Meta for the tournament. EG's captain ppd entered the tournament with a focus on drafting around Sumail, in order to ensure he was comfortable in game. This proved to be quite successful as EG found themselves in the top 4, with an 11-4 record, after the group stage. EG stormed through the upper bracket beating Na'Vi and Big God, but were soundly defeated 2-0 by VG in the upper bracket finals.

After a 2-0 victory over the tournament favourite Team Secret in the lower bracket finals, EG had a rematch with VG in the finals. In the finals Sumail established himself as one of the best mid players in the world with his stellar play. Sumail's most notable performance of the tournament was in Game 3 of the finals, where he found himself with a 0-3-0 score on Storm Spirit before the three minute mark.

Undeterred by the poor start, Sumail quickly took control of the game and led his team to victory, while finishing with a score of 17-7-11. Sumail's breakout performance at DAC led to widespread recognition as a young prodigy in both the Chinese and Western Dota scenes, and secured a reputation as one of the best Storm Spirit players in the game. Sumail helped EG establish themselves as the best team in the beginning of 2015, along with securing $1,284,158 USD for the team.

EG entered The International 2015 as one of the two favorites along with Team Secret; EG had finished 2nd behind Secret at each of the previous two LAN tournaments, The Summit 3 and ESL One Frankfurt 2015. Team Secret finished in 8th place, leaving the way to the championship open for EG. However, EG experienced a setback of their own after losing the Upper Bracket Finals 0-2 to the surprise wildcard powerhouse CDEC Gaming. EG defeated LGD Gaming in the Lower Bracket Finals and prevailed 3-1 in a rematch with CDEC in the Grand Finals to claim the International 2015 championship.

Sumail's play was particularly noteworthy in both the Lower Bracket Finals and the Grand Finals - Game 1 of the Grand Finals was eerily reminiscent of Sumail's experience in DAC, as Sumail died 3 times on his signature Storm Spirit in the opening moments of the game, but proceeded to complete the fastest Orchid Malevolence on a Storm Spirit across the entire tournament. EG took home $6,634,661 for their first place finish, making Sumail the youngest player ever to surpass $1 million in eSports winnings.

Of the five players on his team, Sumail "Suma1L" Hassan Syed is the youngest. And that's saying something in a sport where people "age out" before 30. Syed is just 16 years old, yet he played a key role in winning the $7 million championship prize at this year's "The International," a gargantuan eSports tournament held annually by Valve for its game "DOTA 2."

Syed Sumail Hassan has six siblings, one of whom, Yawar ‘YawaR’ Hassan, is also a professional Dota player who currently plays for Digital Chaos.