A report revealed that jL was already on his way out of the Norwegian esports organization in favor of Natus Vincere. In his place, Apeks will field ?CacaNito? after the player break.

While the transfer is yet to be announced by the organization, multiple sources have confirmed the news.

Prior to the recent announcement, CacaNito played with the BLUEJAYS, where he was signed from 2021 till February this year. The player averaged a 1.16 overall rating during his stint with the organization and was crucial to their efforts in tier-two CS:GO competitions in the European region.

With CacaNito on the lineup, BLUEJAYS also managed to reach No.30 in the world rankings. He parted ways with the organization earlier this year and has been without a team since.

The player was previously rumored to be in talks with other top teams like ENCE and Endpoint; however, the discussions never progressed. Instead, they signed players like Guy “?NertZ?” Iluz and Lotan “?Spinx?” Giladi.

CacaNito was also a member of APK, helping the team get through Elisa Invitational Winter 2023 and ESL Pro League Season 17. The relationship ended up being short-term and concluded not long after the conclusion of the tournaments.

The move will see CacaNito reunite with his former teammate and current in-game leader of Apeks, Damjan “?kyxsan?” Stoilkovski.

Kyxsan was instrumental in the team’s semi-final finish in the BLAST.tv Major in Paris. He also recently extended his contract with Apeks until the end of 2024.

Other players on Apeks include Martin “?STYKO?” Styk, Tim “?nawwk?” Jonasson, and Joakim “?jkaem?” Myrbostad.

JL joined Apeks in August 2022. The player’s transfer to Natus Vincere comes after the Ukrainian esports organization announced its intention to shift to an international roster.

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The 22-year old will also lead the team in their 2023 championship campaign as its in-game leader, with the European franchise making the announcement on their official website as they gear up for the upcoming season.

“Stoilkovski just signed a deal with us throughout 2023 and will be our new in-game leader and captain,” the franchise announced.

“He��s coming straight from BLUEJAYS �C who just won IESF World Championship. BLUEJAYS is currently ranked #39 in the world and have been delivering solid results in 2022. Now it��s time for Stoilkovski to bring Apeks to new heights.”

Kyxsan has joined the international roster after representing the Danish-German franchise, BLUEJAYS for just over a year. During this time, the Macedonian player became one of the top performers on the roster, with an average rating of 1.07 over 378 maps �C the second-highest showing on the team.

During his year with the BLUEJAYS, kyxsan’s impressive in-game performance translated into back-to-back IESF World Championship titles in 2021 and 2022, a victory in ESEA Advanced Season 41, and a 5-6th place finish at his final event with the team, ESL Challenger League Season 43.

Apeks is hoping to use its newest player as a launching pad to continue its upward momentum. Since returning to competition in late November, the team has consistently performed well, including a 3-2 win against Monte in the ESEA Advanced Season 43 with substitute player Micha? “?MICHU?” M��ller, and a 3-4th place finish in the CCT Central Europe Series 4, where they were eliminated by Astralis in the semifinals.

“I am very happy to be joining a team such as Apeks. I can��t wait to meet my teammates and to start preparing for the challenges ahead of us in 2023,” kyxsan said.

“It was not an easy decision to leave my friends and ex-teammates in BLUEJAYS, but when I heard Apeks�� plans and ambitions the decision was much easier. I feel like we have a super good line-up with excellent coaches, and we have everything that we need to achieve our goals.”

The Norwegian franchise has been in the process of rebuilding its CS:GO roster after a string of disappointing performances in recent tournaments. The addition of kyxsan is seen as a major coup for Apeks, as he brings with him a wealth of experience and a proven track record of success in the competitive CS:GO scene.

The Head of Esports at Apeks, Anders Kj?r said the completion of the team’s roster and the addition of kyxsan would be the right fit for the team, describing his selection as an easy choice.

“This has most certainly been the most in-depth recruitment process we have ever concluded. We did a great scouting job, followed by an intense month of trials. We have done what we can to make sure that the player we brought in would fit our needs,” he said.

“After thorough evaluations of the trials, we concluded that kyxsan was the right fit for us. In the end, it was an easy choice. The coaches wanted him, the players wanted him, and the club wanted him. That is the best-case scenario. Now it��s just one thing left �C to perform.”

Heading into the new season. Apeks complete roster will see the newly recruited in-game leader kyxsan joining Tim “nawwk” Jonasson, Martin “STYKO” Styk, Justinas “jL” Lekavicius and Joakim “jkaem” Myrbostad.

Jakub “kuben” Gurczynski is head coach and Pal “Polly” Kammen is his assistant, while the inactive roster consists of French rifler Richard “shox” Papillon.

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Team Finest last met with BLUEJAYS in June (2-1), but that was before they lost Guy “anarkez” Trachtman and replaced him with Aleksander “hades” Miskiewicz. On paper, hades does not look like a downgrade, but he has yet to impress, and Finest have been struggling since his arrival.

Since Team Finest attended the first European RMR on August 16, they’ve won just six out of 11 outings, which includes defeats against Forward Gaming, Esports Club Kyiv, ECSTATIC, EYEBALLERS, and flowstate. Even though Team Finest weren’t very good before, seeing them lose against such teams is concerning.

BLUEJAYS have won just as many games across their last 11 (6-5), and they’ve also struggled against some lesser teams in 1PIN, Monte, and Strive in Chaos. So form-wise, there isn’t much to separate them from Finest.

Team Finest field a more established lineup with a much higher ceiling, but that hasn’t earned them much success lately, so it hardly justifies their price. This should be a close match, so we’ll gladly take BLUEAYS with a +4.5 total round handicap.

HEET have recently finished their ESL Pro League Season 16 journey, where they landed in last place, showing that they’re not good enough to compete at the highest level. Still, the French squad had their moments, namely on Friday, when they stole a map from Heroic (1-2) and Sunday when they achieved the same against MOUZ (1-2).

Besides their relatively decent showing at ESL Pro League, HEET also played well in the final Intel Extreme Masters Road to Rio EU RMR in August, finishing third and claiming a spot in the European RMR B.

SINNERS Esports might belong in the same category of second-tier teams, but they’ve not achieved nearly as much as the French squad this year. By failing to make it past the second round in three RMR events and finishing FiReLEAGUE 2022: Europe in fifth-eighth, SINNERS proved that they’re not a team HEET should struggle against.

HEET might not be a top-tier team that will consistently roll over lesser squads, but at $2.62 with the top esport betting sites, they’re an excellent bet on the handicap market.

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EC Kyiv and BLUEJAYS will clash on Thursday for the first time since IESF World Championship 2021 when BLUEJAYS won 2-1. The rosters have not changed much since, which explains why esports betting sites have the two teams priced at the same betting odds.

Moreover, the teams are equally matched talent-wise and even if we compare their form, both have won four of their last five games and had to face opponents of similar quality.

However, the map pool favours the Macedonian squad, who hold a better win rate on five of seven maps in the rotation �C except for Nuke (which neither team plays) and Ancient (38% – 43%). Still, we wouldn��t say that the better maps win rate means BLUEJAYS are more likely to win.

Like many other games at this level of play, this is as close to a coinflip as it can get. Therefore, a bet on over 2.5 maps makes the most sense.

ForZe and Dynamo Eclot have never met before, mainly because forZe rarely participate in ESEA and other C-Tier events. And realistically, they don��t have to, since forZe are just too good to be playing in lesser tournaments like this one.

Dynamo Eclot, on the other side, have appeared in ten C-Tier events in 2022 and have done reasonably well �C particularly this month. They won Tipsport Online Cup 2022 a couple of weeks ago, claimed a top-four at Sazka eLEAGUE Spring 2022 and were runners-up in the ROG Masters East EMEA 2022.

Still, regardless of their success, Dynamo Eclot are not at forZe��s level. The latter might not have won a single event since Pinnacle Winter Series #2 in February, but they��ve played in top events for most of the year and even appeared in PGL Major Antwerp 2022 in May.

ForZe don��t need to play at 100% to win, and there is a world where won��t take this match too seriously. However, that��s not an angle we��re ready to follow.

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