The time is here to take a look back at the last week’s CS:GO events: while there was less actual competition to report on, the eSports scene was kept buzzing by the multitude of roster moves made by the professional teams. It seems like last week was a sort of a cease-fire period, allowing the sides to regroup and to rethink their approach, which is exactly what they did, subtracting from and adding to their lineups in a variety of ways.
G2 eSports were the ones to open the roster-change salvo, quite surprisingly indeed, as no one really expected them to make any such moves. What they aimed for was obviously an infusion of fresh blood as they struck a deal with Team LDLC to trade their Ex6TenZ (Kevin Droolans) for Alexandre Pianaro (bodyy) one of the players with the best potential in the game these days. According to a statement released by G2, they viewed Pianaro’s acquisition as a major opportunity. Also, they made it clear that they thought Pianaro had that certain extra something that made players truly great in this genre.
kioShiMa’s departure from EnVyUs was a sort of desperate move on the part of the French team to rejuvenate their now-stale style and thus to rejoin the top ranks of the CS:GO world, a move which was – according to many experts – a rather misguided one. While it definitely did not solve EnVyUs’ problems, it may solve those of FaZe Clan: the organization picked up kioShiMa, to fill the spot left open by the departure of Mikail “Maikelele” Bill. Both FaZe and EnVyUs struggled at the MLG Columbus and both have since sought to shake things up. For the time being, at least officially, Maikelele remains a FaZe Clan member. Exactly what Maikelele’s fate will be in the future isn’t quite clear yet, but FaZe are looking to have a sit-down and talk about it.
Wrist pains seem to be a major problem for competitive gamers these days as many a top name has been lost to the ailment in recent months. The latest player forced to step aside by a wrist issue was Olof “olofmeister” Kajbjer of fnatic, who is now on a break. The team brought in Niclas “PlesseN” Plessen to fill his shoes. According to a statement released by the team, olofmeister’s temporary removal from the lineup is a gesture of caution, as the team is not willing to trade long-term competiveness for short-term success. It seems that Olof has been struggling with his injury for a while.
In other news: with the potential in e-Sports more and more clear to those with the means to invest in the vert, yet another major initiative has been announced a few days ago: Twitch and Faceit will apparently team up to create a new $3.5 million eSports league, which will cover several games, among them CS:GO too. The league will be among the first to feature team co-ownership.
In still other CS:GO news: Looking past the upcoming CS:GO major, the competitive calendar is shaping up nicely for the month of May. Valve have teamed up with Kespa and PGL to organize/host a minor at the Nexon eSports Arena in Seoul, an event which is slated to feature a $50k prize-pool. The minor will be the richest CS:GO event ever hosted in Korea.