As usual, we will bring you the latest player transfers from the world of esports every two weeks in 2021. After a lot of activity on the transfer market at the turn of the year, it is now much quieter.
In CS:GO, FalleN is changing teams, while MIBR is fielding a new roster. Also in Dota 2, two new teams were announced and the Valorant scene loses a pro player. League of Legends transfers are closed for now, so nothing is happening with that game at the moment.
CS:GO: New MIBR Roster and FalleN Changes Teams
Made in Brazil: Acquires the BOOM Roster
MIBR have introduced their new roster consisting of four former BOOM players Gustavo "yel" Knittel, Ricardo "boltz" Prass, Marcelo "chelo" Cespedes and Bruno "shz" Martinelli. The roster is rounded out by Daniel "danoco" Morgado.
2021.Contra todos.@oficialduzz x MIBR.https://t.co/UxYGZdhUqJ#SomosMIBR pic.twitter.com/PuzrgxKnmU
— MIBR (@mibr) January 15, 2021
After some controversy within the old MIBR roster and many players leaving the team or asking to be benched, MIBR has now formed a new roster. Shortly after BOOM announced the release of their roster, MIBR swooped in and scooped up the exiting players. The only player left at BOOM is João "felps" Vasconcellos, who is counting on dead's new Brazilian project. Dead's roster includes TACO, latto, b4rtiN, and dumau.
Team Liquid: FalleN Confirmed
The transfer of Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo from MIBR to Team Liquid is complete.
A man who needs no intro. Welcome to Liquid, @FalleNCS! pic.twitter.com/BBwhpcIwzC
— Team Liquid CSGO (@TeamLiquidCS) January 9, 2021
FalleN will take the place of Twistzz on Liquid's squad, Twistzz left the team after the IEM Global Challenge. Apparently, he will be the new AWPer. FalleN chose to join Liquid, saying that he has played against the team many times and therefore knows how good they are. With his skills to pay the bills, he could help the team become even better.
Fnatic's Roster Is Complete
Jack "Jackinho" Ström Mattson completes the roster.
Vi ar redo att aterga till dar vi hor hemma, ses i toppen.@Jackinhocs joins Fnatic CS:GO.The 21-year old comes in as our fifth member ahead of 2021. pic.twitter.com/uM46sksn8T
— FNATIC (@FNATIC) January 12, 2021
Flusha left the team and Jackinho filled the gap that was created. Although it was suspected that he would take over the role of AWPer, JW will retain that role for now. The newcomer will try his hand at new roles and stated that they had worked out a plan with IGL and the coach to accomplish this goal.
Dota 2: New Rosters and Old Rosters
Virtus.pro: VP.Prodigy to Be Introduced
VP.Prodigy is Virtus.pro's second Dota 2 roster and consists of ESL One CIS Online Season 1 Open Qualifier winners Team Generation.
It's time for new VP.Prodigy in Dota 2 "By qualifying to the Lower DIvision of ESL One CIS Online S1 they proved to be ready for the public attention and worthy of representing the VP.Prodigy brand." (C) @SergeyGlamazdaLearn more about VP.P here https://t.co/ed9O7wIJek pic.twitter.com/2izY68NTxs
— Virtus.pro (@virtuspro) January 18, 2021
Sergey Glamazada, CEO of Virtus.pro, said Team Generation had caught the organization's interest a while ago. They were already supported by a coach and a Bootcamp, he said, so they decided to adopt them as the new VP.Prodigy roster. Just recently, former VP.Prodigy players were transferred to the main roster.
The roster consists of:
- Evgeniy "Noticed" Ignatenko
- Denis "Larl" Sigitov
- Ilyas "celebrity" Gainullin
- Maksim "forcemajor" Meretskii
- Vladislav "dSa" Shuvaev
- Daniil "Shelk" Shelkunov
Team Unique: New Roster Taken Over
Team Unique returns to the Dota 2 scene and takes over the NoPangolier roster. It's always a sad day when the team loses the funny name for the professional one.
Unique enters DPC season with the new roster:- CemaTheSlayeR- Bignum- Ghostik- Pikachu- Palantimos@ESL One DPC Season 1 will be the first event for our Dota 2 team!#BeUnique #Dota2 @c_slayerRR @Ghostikdota pic.twitter.com/F040EPnrFc
— Team Unique (@UNQ_team) January 17, 2021
Team Unique only withdrew in November 2020 due to the unstable Dota 2 scene, but is now looking to get back into the Dota Pro circuit in 2021. NoPangolier is one of eight teams invited to the CIS Closed Qualifiers and is fighting for a spot in the first major of the year. So far, they have beaten teams like HellRaisers and Winstrike, so they definitely have potential. Three of the players also played for Team Unique before November, so they have returned to their old team now. The team consists of:
- Yaroslav "Pikachu" Vasilenko
- Danil "Bignum" Shekhovtsov
- Nikita "Palantimos" Grinkevich
- Andrii "Ghostik" Kadyk
- Semion "CemaTheSlayer" Krivulya
T1: Two Stand-Ins Become Permanent
With Carlo "Kuku" Palad and Matthew "Whitemon" Filemon two former stand-ins become permanent members.
We are pleased to welcome Kuku & Whitemon to our DOTA 2 roster!T1 @DOTA2 time "Kuku" Carlo seonsuwa "Whitemon" Matthew seonsuga habryuhage doeeossseubnida. paen yeoreobundeulyi manheun gwansimgwa eungweon butagdeuribnida.#T1WIN #T1Fighting #T1DOTA2 pic.twitter.com/9N6sEm8KSF
— T1 (@T1) January 18, 2021
After the departure of Sam_H and Poloson in December, the two played as stand-ins in the BTS Pro Series S4. From now on they are a permanent part of the team and will support T1against their upcoming match against Fnatic.
B8 Esports: 5up Leaves
Enis "5up" Elfki leaves B8 after they qualified for the DPC.
5up leaves B8 rosterWe are grateful for the path we traveled together and wish you great success in your future career! #b8d pic.twitter.com/XzO0z78ylt
— B8 (@B8esportsGG) January 13, 2021
B8 recently made some roster changes that left only Dendi and 5up from the old roster. 5up, along with Dendi, is the player who has been a part of B8 the longest. In a statement, he explained that he would have liked to play in the DPC, but the team came to the decision that another player would be a better fit in the lineup. 5up wants to focus on streaming in the future but is still looking for a new team for this or the next season of the DPC.
Valorant: One Player Goes, One Roster Comes
C9 Blue: TenZ Quits
Tyson "TenZ" Ngo is taking a break from competitive Valorant to focus on streaming.
The original member of #C9BLUE @TenZ_CS has elected to step down from the team and competitive @PlayVALORANT to pursue content creationThank you for all you've contributed to Cloud9 competitively - time to watch you shine in content! pic.twitter.com/moppk8q8pW
— Cloud9 (@Cloud9) January 12, 2021
TenZ was one of the first pro players signed after Valorant launched last year. The former CS:GO pro has played for Cloud9 in the past, so it was no surprise when he launched the organization's Valorant roster. Retiring from the competitive scene was a personal decision, he said, but he wanted to focus more on his streaming and YouTube channel. He will remain under contract with Cloud9, but will be listed as a content creator going forward.
Vodafone Giants: Valorant Roster Revealed
The Spanish organization takes a broader stance and announces its Valorant roster.
LANZAMOS PROTOCOLO VLRT v2.00% 100%###############ACTIVADO #WeAreGiants #VodafoneGiants pic.twitter.com/cMAn8kBcU2
— Vodafone Giants (@GiantsGaming) January 16, 2021
Johan "Meddo" Renbjörk joins the team, a Valorant veteran who previously reached the semi-finals of the First Strike tournament with FunPlus Phoenix. The other players, Vincent "Happy" Cervoni, Aaro "hoody" Peltokangas, Ričardas "Boo" Lukaševičius and Daniil "pipsoN" Meshcheryakov come mainly from the CS:GO scene - so the team definitely has some shooter experience under their belts.
Fortnite: Two New Pros for Vitality
Team Vitality: New Fortnite Duo
With Karim "Airwaks" Benghalia and Nicolas "Nikof" Frejavise, Vitality signs two Fortnite pros.
Introducing a new era for Vitality Fortnite, we are extremely excited to welcome @Airwaks & @Nikof_FTN!!! #VforVictory pic.twitter.com/18m49bxnLB
— Team Vitality (@TeamVitality) February 15, 2020
Both players were previously under contract with the French Org Solary, where they qualified as a duo for the World Cup and finished 29th. Vitality probably had its eye on the players for some time now and made an offer the two professionals could not refuse. In the future, the well-known duo will continue to play together in France but wearing a new jersey.
That's it for this week. Everything you need to know about Esports is found on EarlyGame. So, check back in 14 days for the latest transfers in the Esports scene. Until then you can catch up on all past transfers here. If you wanna stay up to date on all gaming & esports topics, you really should be subscribed to our newsletter, signed in to MyEarlyGame, and be a part of our Discord server.