CS:GO Roster Round-Up

The Counter-Strike: Global Offensive esports circuit picked up the pace at the DreamHack Masters Malmö 2019 with Fnatic emerging as the winners.

However, many teams have not announced their CS:GO rosters after the Berlin Major. Amidst talks of a closed-circuit CS:GO league in works and the abundance of free players on the market, it is the perfect time for organizations to enter the game.

This past week saw notable roster changes, including an addition to the DreamHack Masters Malmö Grand Finalists, Team Vitality.

Vitality add Shox

Team Vitality reached the Grand Finals of DreamHack Masters Malmö 2019. Image via DreamHackCS.

Vitality is adding Richard ‘shox’ Papillon to their roster to fill the void left behind by NBK’s departure. When asked if Shox would assume a leadership role within the team, the Vitality coach dismissed the idea and stressed on Alex having complete control over the team’s strategies.

Actions speak louder than words. pic.twitter.com/Xn4o6tgGJl

— Team Vitality (@TeamVitality) September 28, 2019

Following their latest addition, the French team reached the Grand Finals of the DreamHack Masters Malmö 2019. Despite their loss in the Grand Finals, Mathieu ‘Zyw0o’ Herbaut won the MVP for the $250 thousand tournament. The French team had mere days to practice for the event and their Grand Finals appearance raises hopes for the success of the French Counter-Strike scene.

Team Vitality CS:GO roster:

• Dan ‘apEX’ Madesclaire
• Cédric ‘RpK’ Guipouy
• Mathieu ‘Zyw0o’ Herbaut
• Alex ‘ALEX’ McMeekin
• Richard ‘shox’ Papillon
• Rémy ‘XTQZZZ’ Quoniam (coach)

OG to pick up a CS:GO roster

OG is the only organization to win two Dota 2 TIs. Image via OG.

The best Dota 2 organization, OG is interested in entering the Counter-Strike scene according to a report by 1pv’s neLendirekt.

OG won two unprecedented back-to-back International events for Dota 2 in 2018 and 2019. The organization played a crucial role in its success because of the help provided by support staff.

OG plans a roster comprising of following players:

• Nathan ‘NBK’ Schmitt
• Aleksi ‘Aleksib’ Virolainen
• Elias ‘Jamppi’ Olkkonen
• Valdemar ‘Valde’ Bjørn Vangså
• Issa ‘ISSAA’ Murad

This roster consists of multiple In-Game Leaders, but have just enough firepower and skill to pose a challenge to the top CS:GO teams. Aleksib, in fact, recently rejected a million-dollar offer playing for Complexity to avoid moving to the USA.

OG has not officially announced the CS:GO team. However, with multiple organizations expressing interest in entering CS:GO, OG does not come as a surprise.

G2 add Nexa and huNter-

That will never work…

This will though. Right, cousin?#G2GoesGlobal #CSGO pic.twitter.com/870RjtkERj

— G2 Esports (@G2esports) September 30, 2019

G2 esports have announced the addition of Serbian duo Nemanja ‘nexa’ Isaković and Nemanja ‘huNter-‘ Kovač. The announcement comes after weeks of negotiations between the two teams and the CR4ZY CEO revealing poaching allegations against G2 owner, Carlos Rodríguez.

The new G2 roster:

• Kenny ‘kennyS’ Schrub
• Audric ‘JaCkz’ Jug
• François ‘AmaNEk’ Delaunay
• Nemanja ‘nexa’ Isaković
• Nemanja ‘huNter-‘ Kovač
• Damien ‘maLeK’ Marcel (coach)

The new G2 roster’s debut at DreamHack Masters Malmö was underwhelming with a 9-12th place for the French team.

KioShiMa joins Heretics

KioShiMa joins Team Heretics for two years. Image via Turtle Entertainment.

Bienvenue @kiocsgoo!

Con 2 Majors ganados y 11 disputados llega a Heretics para luchar por todo.

La leyenda francesa defenderá nuestros colores durante los próximos 2 años.#HeretiCSGO pic.twitter.com/z3Wafm1jyr

— Team Heretics (@TeamHeretics) October 6, 2019

Fabien “kioShiMa” Fiey joins Team Heretics for two years. kioShiMa is one of the top French CS:GO players. However, personal issues with some French superstars proved to be obstacles to his career growth.

Fabien replaces Jérémy “jeyN” Nguyen, who will remain as a backup on the team as he continues his university studies.

Esports journalist @neLendirekt was quick to leak further changes coming to Team Heretics as the French team rebuilds its roster.

Was asked not to leak for 2 days because players were not aware… And they give no heads up?

Alright then I’ll say it all.

Lucky will also join, replacing Logan. jinkz could also be out for devoduvek. They played an event knowing all that and not telling players. https://t.co/1oDOgYvbJ4

— neL (@neLendirekt) October 6, 2019

If this report is accurate, former G2 player, Lucas “Lucky” Chastang will join kioShiMa on Team Heretics. The team is at Rank 39 in the HLTV rankings, but the organization hopes to improve its rankings with these roster changes.

CR4ZY sign SHiPZ from Windigo; change coach

CR4ZY added SHiPZ while Neil_M joins the team as a coach. Image via CR4ZY.

European Team CR4ZY was down to three players after G2 signed NEXA and huNter-. CR4ZY has now announced their full roster, which includes Georgi ‘SHiPZ’ Grigorov from Team Windigo, who has been out of action since September 2019.

What do you think about our new roster?

After the departure of our two reckless players, we filled the roster with @NeiL_Mcs as a coach, @SHiPZCSGO as a player and IGL, while the unmistakable @emiicsgo returnes to a player role.#gocr4zy

?@adelasznajder
?@DreamHackCSGO pic.twitter.com/ApMz2XuVyi

— CR4ZY (@gocr4zy) October 4, 2019

Luka ’emi’ Vuković will also transition from the team’s coach to a player. Replacing his role as the coach is former Grayhound Coach, Neil ‘NeiL_M’ Murphy.

The new CR4ZY roster is:

• Nestor ‘LETN1’ Tanić
• Rokas ‘EspiranTo’ Milasauskas
• Otto ‘ottoNd’ Sihvo
• Luka ’emi’ Vuković
• Georgi ‘SHiPZ’ Grigorov
• Neil ‘NeiL_M’ Murphy (coach)

CR4ZY will make their debut appearance with the new team at DreamHack Open Rotterdam from October 18-20.

GamerLegion bench ScreaM and HS

The Swedish organization’s decision to bench Adil “ScreaM” Benrlitom and Kevin “HS” Tarn is because of their decision to build an all-Swedish roster. Alfred “RuStY” Karlsson joins the starting roster while Daniel “djL” Narancic is the new coach for the team.

The new GamerLegion Roster is:

• Dennis ‘dennis’ Edman
• Hampus ‘hampus’ Poser
• Tim ‘nawwk’ Jonasson
• Alfred ‘RuStY’ Karlsson
• Daniel ‘djL’ Narancic (coach)

GamerLegion will announce their fifth player soon, even as the organization competes in ESEA MDL and the European Champions Cup.

Dimasick announces Free Agency

Dimasick announces free agency. Image via StarLadder.

Former Gambit Player, Dmitry “dimasick” Matvienko has announced his free agency post the expiry of his contract. The Kazakhstan player primarily plays the rifle.

Ex-Luminosity Roster Splits Up

My future

Read: https://t.co/DHrKQNXxUU

— steelega ? (@steelegabr) October 1, 2019

“Unfortunately, after a personal investment in playing ECS ​​without org and with a lot of help from Complexity – allowing us to train and play at a larger CS facility, we are splitting up and looking for individual opportunities.”

The Ex-Luminosity Roster will go their separate ways post the team’s loss to MIBR in ECS. The players still own a spot in ESL Pro League Season 10 Americas which starts on October 8.

DeadFox puts together in an All-Hungarian Lineup

Bence ‘DeadFox’ Böröcz returns to Counter-Strike after six months of inactivity with an All-Hungarian lineup.

Despite so much movement in the past week, we can expect more news in the future. Organizations like Splyce, Dignitas, Complexity, 100Thieves have expressed an interest in entering CS:GO.

EsportzNetwork will keep you updated with any roster move news in the next few weeks.

Written by Rohan Samal