“[CS:GO] about the future of the sport. And welcome (back), @nekizcs! Pleasure to count on you! The goal hasn’t changed, family! LET’S CLIMB TO CONQUER THE WORLD #GOpaiN,” the team tweeted.
momentos como esse exigem toda aten??o e cuidado necess��rios! Seguimos juntos, capita
#GOpaiN pic.twitter.com/4tNBdI1i1U
— paiN Gaming (@paiNGamingBR) February 6, 2023
NEKIZ will be filling in for paiN’s in-game leader, Vinicios “?PKL?” Coelho, who has now been moved to the inactive roster on his own terms. The player stated that he will be taking a break from the competitive scene due to family and health reasons.
NEKIZ started his journey with paiN Gaming in November 2019. He has represented several teams since making his pro debut in 2015, including rampageKillers, Hardknocks, g3nerationX, TEAMMATE, Cyclone, Innova e-Sports, Black Dragons e-Sports, and Luminosity Gaming.
The entry fragger has won the 2017 World Cyber Arena: North America Finals, 2021 DreamHack Open January: North America, 2022 BLAST Premier Spring American Showdown, and 2022 ESL Challenger League Season 41: North America.
While he was benched, NEKIZ played for O Plano on loan at the IEM Road to Rio Americas RMR. He stayed with the squad from August 2022 to October 2022, when he returned to paiN Gaming��s inactive roster.
PaiN Gaming��s complete roster now consists of:
- Rodrigo “biguzera” Bittencourt
- Wesley “?hardzao?” Lopes
- Felipe “?skullz?” Medeiros
- Romeu “zevy” Rocco
- Gabriel “NEKIZ” Schenato
- Henrique “rikz” Waku (coach)
- Vinicios “?PKL?” Coelho (inactive)
On March 8, PaiN Gaming ($3.56) will face off against Ninjas in Pyjamas ($1.27) in ESL Pro League Season 17.
]]>MajorManiak declared himself an unrestricted free agent leading into Stage 3 of the 2023 Call of Duty League season. However, the North American team is yet make any statements about the player��s exit.
The 24-year-old player, who has racked up a total of $427,903 in earnings, has been in the Call of Duty competitive scene since 2019, when he was signed to Gen.G Esports. Over the years, he has also played for Atlanta FaZe, Minnesota ROKKR, WhateverItTakes, Shady Kings, and the Mutineers, who he joined just in time for the 2022 Call of Duty Challengers: Toronto Open last June.
MajorManiak has made appearances in quite a number of the Call of Duty variations, which include Black Ops 4, Black Ops: Cold War, Modern Warfare, Modern Warfare II, Vanguard, and WWII.
He has won several tournaments over the years, such as the 2020 Call of Duty League: Week 3 in Atlanta, 2020 Call of Duty League: Week 7 in Florida, 2021 Call of Duty League Stage 5 Major, and 2022 Call of Duty Challengers: Toronto Open. He has also reached the final at the 2019 CWL Anaheim, 2019 CWL Pro League Finals, and 2020 Call of Duty League Playoffs.
From all indications, the player has not formed any ties yet with a new team. The Mutineers, on the other hand, have a place to fill on their roster. If it was their decision to release the player, then it is highly probable that they already have a replacement on the radar.
With MajorManiak’s departure, the players left on Florida’s Call of Duty roster are:
- Colt “Havok” McLendon
- Javier “Vikul” Milagro
- David “Davpadie” Maslowski
- Carson “Brack” Newberry (substitute)
The CDL returns on February 17 with the Stage 3 Major online qualifiers. The Mutineers will be playing against FaZe in their first series on Saturday, February 18, at 3:30pm CST.
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According to reports, BlackHeart will be joining the North American squad as its seventh player, serving as a substitute. The Canadian��s contract is said to run until the year 2026.
BlackHeart has been making waves on the domestic scene since he started his career in 2021. Since then, he has played for Built By Gamers Academy and The Silk Road.
BlackHeart has won domestic trophies such as the 2021 Valorant Premier Season 2, 2021 Valorant Sunday Showdown Week 74, 2021 NSG Winter Championship Open 11, 2022 NSG Winter Championship Open 15, 2022 Valorant Sunday Showdown Week 82, and 2022 Knight Gauntlet Circuit Monthly: May.
Cloud9 were amongst the 30 teams that were fortunate enough to secure a Valorant partnership with Riot Games. As part of that deal, they have up to 10 roster spaces to fill for the 2023 Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) season.
It is understood that BlackHeart will not travel with Cloud9 for the 2023 VCT Lock-In tournament, which commences on February 13 in S?o Paulo, Brazil. C9 will kick off their campaign on February 15 as $1.54 favorites against Paper Rex ($2.40).
With BlackHeart’s arrival, the Cloud9 Valorant squad now consists of:
- Nathan “leaf” Orf
- Erick “Xeppaa” Bach
- Anthony “vanity” Malaspina (captain)
- Jordan “Zellsis” Montemurro
- Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker
- Mateja “qpert” Mijovi?
- Hasan “BlackHeart” Hammad
- Matthew “mCe” Elmore (coach)
��After 10+ years of competing, I��m retiring from professional Call of Duty. Thank you for changing my life,�� he tweeted.
The 25-year-old has represented some of the biggest esports outfits since he began his professional career in 2013. The teams he has played for include FaZe Clan, G2 Esports, Toronto Ultra, Astra Infinite, WestR, Rise Nation, the Fantastic Four, UT Crew, and most recently, Boston Breach.
The veteran has made game appearances in Advanced Warfare, Black Ops II, Black Ops III, Black Ops 4, Black Ops Cold War, Ghosts, Infinite Warfare, Modern Warfare, Modern Warfare 3, Modern Warfare II, Vanguard, WWII, and Warzone. His trophy cabinet includes the 2018 Call of Duty World League: Atlanta Open, 2020 Call of Duty League Week 13: Toronto, and 2021 TST PROSIM Invitational.
READ: Best bookies for Call of Duty League betting
In his farewell speech, Methodz expressed his gratitude to the Breach for giving him a platform to display his prowess, and also believing in his capabilities.
“Before I walk off I want to thank the Boston Breach for giving me an opportunity, when no one really believed in me�� these guys here are family and I will always be a part of the Boston Breach, at least in spirit. The future is green, I love you guys,” he said.
The American also recounted his journey thus far and acknowledged the support he has received from his family, supporters and the entire Call of Duty community.
“This game changed my life. I was an overweight 15-year-old kid who felt like he had no purpose, then this game and community literally changed my life and gave me confidence and made me feel like someone. I have my family here, so I can��t think of a better way to say goodbye,” he said.
“I’ve been competing for over a decade – I was the youngest pro in the world at the time – and I can’t think of a better way to go out than in the home crowd with you guys in front of me. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much. It was the honour of a lifetime.”
Methodz also disclosed that he will be returning to streaming. Meanwhile, Boston Breach now have a space to fill up before the Major 3 online qualifiers kick off on February 17.
The Breach roster now consists of:
- Dylan “Nero” Koch
- Reece “Vivid” Drost
- Joseph “Owakening” Conley
- Ben “Beans” McMellon (substitute)
- Zach “Zed” Denyer (coach)
The 24-year-old will be coming in to take the place of Bobby “?stamina?” Eitrem, who parted ways with the team on February 1 having joined in December of last year.
Nouns Esports took to their Twitter account to announce the personnel change.
“With the Major on the horizon over here at @nounsesports we’ve made the difficult decision to replace @stamjna with @MarkeCSGO before the RMR,” the team wrote.
“I’d like to thank Bobby for all the work he’s put in with the team and anyone looking for a solid IGL will benefit from his addition.”
Nouns also noted how difficult it was to let go of the team��s in-game leader, but said it was a decision that needed to be made because they needed a powerhouse like MarKE ahead of the Regional Major Ranking (RMR) tournament.
“In the name of transparency this wasn’t an easy decision and it’s honestly nothing against Stamina, he was a great caller and put in a lot of work but with the RMR coming and the god of Mexico asking to join we felt like it was in our best interest to make this move work,” the North American team wrote.
MarKE launched a career in CS:GO in 2016 with the Mexican squad Team Quetzal. Since then, he has represented teams such as eUnited, Swole Patrol, No Tenemos Nada, Gale Force Esports, Miami Flamingo e-Sports, NRG Esports, Ze Pug Godz, Chaos Esports Club, ex-Torqued, and Extra Salt, who he left in January of last year.
Through his long career, the rifler has won a few tournaments. They include the 2020 Intel Extreme Masters XV Beijing Online: North America, the 2020 DreamHack Masters Winter: North America, the 2021 ESEA Cash Cup: North America (Winter #6), the 2021 ESEA Cash Cup: North America (Autumn #3), the 2021 ESEA Season 39 Premier Division: North America, and a host of others.
MarKE, who has been out of the competitive scene for a while now, explained how his return came to fruition. He stated that he was “bored” of streaming CS:GO and felt the need to begin competing again.
“Basically I was bored, every time I would play CS with friends I felt that fire to start grinding again and compete,” MarKE said in a comment.
“[I’ve] been out of the servers for a while so all I want right now is to grind and do some damage, qualify for everything possible, win everything we can and let’s see where life takes us.”
The Nouns Esports CS:GO roster now consists of:
- Brendan “?Bwills?” Williams
- David “?cynic?” Polster
- Carson “nosraC” O’Reilly
- Christopher “?cJ?” Jones
- Edgar “?MarKE?” Maldonado
- Kory “SEMPHIS” Friesen (coach)
- Dominick “JazzPimp” Dimpfel (inactive)
“Welcome @r3saltCSGO to Forze! Evgeny is a young and perspective talent who is ready to show himself on the highest level. You could see him playing for VP.Prodigy earlier and being our substitute in recent matches,” the team tweeted. Our main roster is finally complete and is ready to fight”
Welcome @r3saltCSGO to Forze!
Evgeny is a young and perspective talent who is ready to show himself on the highest level. You could see him playing for VP.Prodigy earlier and being our substitute in recent matches.
Our main roster is finally complete and is ready to fight
pic.twitter.com/HD50ZpIxZP
— forZe Esports (@forzegg) February 3, 2023
R3salt has been in the competitive scene for just about two years. The 17-year-old rifler got signed to VP.Prodigy in March 2021 and only left the team on February 3, 2023. In his time with VP.Prodigy, he played in countless domestic tournaments; however, he barely won any. R3salt competed in the 2022 WePlay Academy League Season 3 and came out in fifth-sixth place. He also played in the 2022 SCL Season 6 Challenger Division, where they emerged in third-fourth place.
After failing to qualify for the Intel Extreme Masters Rio Major, forZe decided to tweak their roster a bit, which led to the benching of Aleksandr “KENSI” Gurkin and Evgeny “Norwi” Ermolin. Prior to the signing of r3salt, ForZe also acquired the 24-year-old rifler Vladislav “Krad” Kravchenko on December 2 of last year. The team have said that with the recent adjustments, they are now ready to take on the scene by winning themselves trophies.
ForZe��s CS:GO roster now consists of:
�� Andrey “Jerry” Mekhryakov
�� Aleksandr “zorte” Zagodyrenko
�� Aleksandr “?shalfey?” Marenov
�� Vladislav “Krad” Kravchenko
�� Evgeny “r3salt” Frolov
�� Artem “Fierce” Ivanov (coach)
The CS:GO team will be making an appearance in the ESL Pro League Season 17, which is scheduled to take place on March 15. ForZe will be up against Natus Vincere with odds of $3.41, and the latter is placed at $1.29.
]]>The roster is made up of British rifler Thomas “Thomas” Utting, who will serve as the team��s captain; Cai “CYPHER” Watson; the Polish AWPer Karol “rallen” Radowicz, Sebastian “volt” Malos; the Danish AWPer Joey “CRUC1AL” Steusel; and Portuguese coach Gustavo “Juve” Alexandre.
“Our worst kept secret is finally out… ITB is back in CS:GO Introducing our new CS heroes…@ThomasCS__@cyphercsgo_ @voltcss @CRUC1ALcsgo @rallenHulk @Juve_csgo,” the team tweeted.
Our worst kept secret is finally out… ITB is back in CS:GO
Introducing our new CS heroes…@ThomasCS__ @cyphercsgo_ @voltcss @CRUC1ALcsgo @rallenHulk @Juve_csgo
Read more: https://t.co/nFGQ5cMr53#ITBCS #UpTheKnights pic.twitter.com/RIDFDtiIA9
— ITB SHUFFLE (@ITBesports) February 2, 2023
The European esports outfit parted ways with their previous lineup on December 10, 2023, and for over a month, they were out of the CS:GO competitive scene. The team��s decision to disband their roster was due to a disappointing run at the CCT North Europe Series 2, where they came in 9th�C16th, and the European Development Championship Season 6, which they finished with a 17th�C20th place finish.
The team��s released players include Adam “Adam9130” Ahmad, their former team captain, Alfred “RuStY” Karlsson, William “draken” Sundin, William “dobbo” Dobson, and then CYPHER and coach Juve, who were signed back to the roster again.
Since the team��s inception in 2020, they have been fortunate enough to win a few tournaments despite being an underdog team in Europe. These CS:GO events include the 2021 ESEA Cash Cup: Europe Autumn #5, the 2022 Hydra Cup #3, the 2022 Insomnia 68, the 2022 Beyond Invitational Spring, the 2022 ESEA Cash Cup: Europe Summer #2, and the 2022 Assembly Summer.
Thomas, who is the team’s new captain, has been in the CS:GO scene since 2016 and has played for top teams such as the Phoenix, Endpoint, Team Envy, and most recently the German squad cowana Gaming. Volt, who will serve as the team��s new anchor, is coming from Fnatic Rising, where he spent about seven months and was able to win the WePlay Academy League Season 5 trophy.
Rallen, on the other hand, will serve as the team��s rifler, and under his sleeves are trophies from the 2018 DreamHack Open Montreal, the 2021 ESEA Season 38: Premier Division��Europe, and a few others. CRUC1AL, who will play as their entry fragger, is coming from Endpoint after being benched for about five months. Before being transferred to the inactive roster, he won a couple trophies, such as the 2020 ESL Premiership: Autumn and the 2021 ALL IN Series.
Into the Breach’s CS:GO manager, Marvin “Punico” Matthes, said they are excited to be back in competitive play, although they had planned to be back way earlier than they did. Punico added that their goal for the 2023 season will be to win a handful of domestic tournaments and also try as much as they can to win international events too.
“We are more than happy to announce that we are finally back in the UK CS:GO Scene, even though it took a bit longer than expected, with a new but also experienced lineup,” commented Punico. “It is our goal to win as many domestic but also international tournaments as possible to bring UK CS:GO to the Top.”
]]>“We’re ready to reach new heights in CS:GO with our coach, @spyleaderCS leading the charge. Experience & success are a given. Welcome to Team TENSTAR. Let’s conquer 2023. #CSGO | #RISINGSTARS,” the team tweeted.
SpyleadeR will be bringing with him his lengthy years and experience as a player and a coach to the team. TENSTAR noted that with the 33-year-old training their players, they will be able to attain great feet in the 2023 season.
The star player started his CS:GO career as early as 2012 and has since played for countless teams such as the HEADSHOTBG, Team Orbit, The Imperial, Bpro Gaming, E-Frag.net Esports Club, and others. In his coaching capacity, the new coach has worked with players from teams like Crowns Esports.fe and Demise Female.
Amongst these teams, he spent the longest with the Orgless team Mortal Kombat, of which he was the captain and founder.
As a player, the Bulgarian veteran has won a few tournaments in his early days, such as the 2016 ESEA Season 22: Global Challenge, the 2016 Global Grand Masters, the 2017 Hellcase Cup #5, the 2017 Skinhub Championship (Season 1), and the 2018 CSGOFAST.COM Cup #4.
SpyleadeR will be reuniting with two of his former teammates from FATE Esports, Kaloyan “shaiK” Borisov and Mitko “hybrid” Kostov, which he briefly represented about two years ago.
The TENSTAR CS:GO roster now consists of:
�� Mitko “?hybrid?” Kostov
�� Kaloyan “?shaiK?” Borisov
�� Milen “?milky?” Iliev
�� Martin “?mar?” Kuyumdjiev
�� Dimitar “?Skrimo?” Yanulov
�� Emiliyan “?spyleadeR?” Dimitrov (coach)
TENSTAR was able to qualify for the CCT South Europe Series 2 through the closed qualifier. Unfortunately, their run came to a close when they were kicked out in the group stage. The team is hoping to put up a good fight this time with the help of their new coach.
The team’s manager, Jeremy Gray, said that spyleadeR has been one of the coaches he has always wanted to lead the team, but they had constraints in meeting up requirements at the time. He stated that they are delighted that they succeeded in finally bringing him on board.
“Being able to bring spyleadeR on board TENSTAR as head coach for our CS:GO division is a perfect fit. I have personally been wanting Emiliyan to be my team’s coach for a couple months, but didn’t have the resources needed until now,” Gray said.
“The experience he brings is much needed in a lineup that is primarily consisted of younger/lesser experienced players with the potential to do well in the scene with the right leadership and coaching. I am looking forward to seeing how much progress we can make over the next couple months and even longer with spyleader leading the charge.”
The team is scheduled to compete at ESEA Season 44: Advanced Division Europe against AllStar Gaming. TENSTAR will play with odds of $1.56, and AllStar Gaming is placed with odds of $2.3.
]]>The 19-year-old rifler announced his exit from the team on Friday, February 2, 2023. He also disclosed that things ended amicably with both parties and that he was now an unrestricted free agent.
“Two and a half years in MOUZ has come to an end. Due to a mutual agreement, I am no longer in contract with and I am able to explore new options for 2023,” he wrote.
Bymas has played for a few teams since launching his career in early 2020. He represented teams like the Demolition Crew and played for FaZe Clan as a stand-in in 2020 before he was signed to MOUZ in August 2020.
He has won tournaments such as the 2021 Snow Sweet Snow #3 and the 2021 Flashpoint Season 3 and has also come close to winning other tournaments by finishing in second place, some of which are the 2020 DreamHack Masters Winter: Europe and the 2020 Global Esports Tour Dubai.
Bymas shared the time he spent with the team, noting that it was the highlight of his career so far. He disclosed the struggles he encountered by joining the team when he was just in school. Despite the tough times, Bymas said he was grateful for the good times he spent with MOUZ, such as the first time he ever won a tournament and other significant milestones in his career.
“I signed my first ever CS contract with MOUZ in August of 2020 and time does fly man. I was still in school that year, practising instantly after school, feeling absolutely cooked at the end of the and fighting not only teachers in schools, but also teams in CS: D Even though there were many rough periods, I will never forget the good moments such as winning my first tournament, qualifying for my first major or my most memorable one�C beating Heroic, Vitality and NiP to play in front of the best crowd in Cologne. All of these were my goals ever since I joined MOUZ and even though I wish I achieved way more, I am still satisfied with my development,” he stated in a note he dropped on his Twitter page.
The 19-year-old rifler expressed his gratitude to his teammates and coaches. He also thanked his fans for their unwavering support, noting that he would hold on to the good memories he shared with the team.
“Ever since then, I��ve progressed a lot as a player and a person which is thanks to everyone who was involved MOUZ especially my teammates//coaches and our psychologist Ole,” he said.
“It��s a long list of players that I have played with but I want to thank all of them for the time playing together. It��s been a wild ride and I won��t forget the memories. Lastly, I want to say a hug he thank you all the fans who supported me throughout my time in MOUZ, you helped me move forward.
Bymas announced that esports outfits can reach out to him for negotiation through his social media handles. He stated that he would also like to maintain the lurker capacity in which he was playing in MOUZ, and hope to improve his skills in that role.
“For my future team I’d really love to continue improving as a lurker. I’ve tried playing in many roles and positions since joining MOUZ, but this year I became a lurker and it has made me way more impactful in the game,” he touched on his future plans. “I am very motivated and hungry for my next opportunity, and open to any offers,” added Bymas.
“With that said, I am very motivated and hungry for my next opportunity. Open to any offers. Feel free to contact me via DM on Twitter or Instagram.”
The MOUZ CS:GO roster now consists of:
�� David “frozen” ?er��ansky
�� Christopher “dexter” Nong (captain)
�� ��d��m “torzsi” Torzs��s
�� Jon “JDC” de Castro
�� Dorian “xertioN” Berman
�� Dennis “sycrone” Nielsen (coach)
The team is scheduled to play in the 2023 Intel Extreme Masters Katowice on February 7 against OG with $1.78 odds and the latter with $2.06 odds.
]]>While revealing the names of players that were exiting the roster, the team thanked them for their contribution.
“Today CS:GO players @lemanCSGO, @snatchiecsgo, @sh3nanigan111 and @phrcsgo are leaving our organization. Thank you for your commitment and representing AGO esports and we wish you success in your future career. #AlwaysGoOn,” AGO Esports wrote on their official Twitter page.
Dzisiaj szeregi naszej organizacji opuszczaj? zawodnicy CS:GO: @lemanCSGO, @snatchiecsgo, @sh3nanigan111 i @phrcsgo.
Dzi?kujemy Wam za zaanga?owanie oraz reprezentowanie AGO esports i ?yczymy sukces��w w dalszej karierze.#AlwaysGoOn
pic.twitter.com/5gijwYuwV6
— AGO
In an interview, AGO told the general public that they ended things amicably with the players and that the team was overdue for a roster overhaul. They also said that they were looking to restructure their leadership.
“We have terminated the contracts of four players by mutual agreement. This is part of the process of a major reconstruction of the CS:GO division. This rebuilding will also affect the management structures, but we will keep you posted on this,�� AGO Esports said.
“Our organization has always achieved the best results working with talented young people hungry for success, and we believe in having such players available in Poland.”
Leman, who joined the team years before the other three players, won a handful of trophies with AGO, such as the 2019 Polska Liga Esportowa S7 Grupa Mistrzowska WarmUP, 2019 LOOT.BET/CS Season 5, 2020 OGA Counter PIT Season 5, 2021 Puchar Narodowej Dru?yny Esportu, and 2021 ESEA Season 38 Premier Division: Europe.
Last year, AGO struggled to make an impact on the CS:GO esports scene, only managing to finish in 13th-16th place at ESL Pro League Season 15.
The roster is now down to just two players. Entry fragger Damian “Furlan” Kislowski has been with the team since July 2017, making him the longest-tenured player on the team. The other is 24-year-old rifler Grzegorz “jedqr” J?dras, who only joined them in August last year.
This is not the only recent change AGO Esports have made lately. On January 24, the team parted ways with coach Miko?aj “miNIr0x” Micha?k��w, who had been with them since September 2017.
At the moment, it is unknown what plans AGO have for replacing the departing players.
]]>