Every Tuesday evening we bring you the latest player transfers from the world of esports. Envy present their Valorant roster while Liquid are still in talks, and River Plate joins CS:GO. Find out what else has happened.
A football club invests in CS:GO and es3tag completes his transfer to Astralis. In Dota 2, OG Seed disintegrates, the Valorant esports scene gets more and more popular and League of Legends is back in action.
CS:GO: River Plate With Its Own Roster and es3tag Finally at Astralis
Astralis: Es3tag Completes His Transfer
Patrick "es3tag" Hansen finally completes the seven-man roster of Astralis.
First day in his new home Welcome to the team, @es3tag.#ToTheStars pic.twitter.com/VD4WR0jJEi
— Astralis Counter-Strike (@AstralisCS) July 1, 2020
The change from es3tag to Astralis was already decided at the end of March, but he had to wait until early July for his contract with Heroic to expire. After JUGi, he is now the seventh player in the roster of Astralis, who had some problems lately after Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander and Andreas "Xyp9x" Højsleth took a break for health reasons. Since es3tag could only change the team on July 1st, they got Snappi as a stand-in, but from now on they should be prepared for everything with seven players.
We will keep our fingers crossed for Astralis and hope that they can integrate both newcomers - es3tag and JUGi - well.
- READ MORE: Es3tag is Officially an Astralis Player
C0ntact: LETN1 Must Be Transferred to the Bank
Nestor "LETN1" Tanić was put on the bench and is open to offers from other teams.
My current situation in team c0ntact! RT appreciated!Read: https://t.co/imh2WXCZat
— Nestor Tanic (@LETN1CSGO) July 6, 2020
After Snappi came to c0ntact from Astralis last month to lead them in cs_summit 6 Europe, LETN1 was already removed from the starting grid. That's why it is no big surprise that he is now sitting on the bench. He thanks his team for everything he has achieved with them and makes it clear that this is the right decision for him and for c0ntact. Both need some kind of new start and he is open to offers.
- READ MORE: Snappi's Astralis venture comes to an end
North: Kjaerbye Leaves the Team
North announced that Markus "Kjaerbye" Kjærbye will leave the organization.
Update on @KjaerbyeCS:Today Markus and North have decided to part ways. A true legend in and out of the game. We wish you nothing but the best!Read the full story here: https://t.co/jZN4GNwLZu*Disclaimer: No Kjaerbyes were harmed in the making of this fictional piece. pic.twitter.com/rY6TSS1ixI
— North (@TheNorthIsHere) July 10, 2020
Kjaerbye already retired at the beginning of May due to health reasons in order to recover. Although he was almost fit again, the break had made him think. As he himself said, he is far from finished with CS:GO and is looking forward to the next big adventure. Nothing more is known about his plans for the future yet, but we will, of course, keep you informed as soon as there is anything new.
River Plate: Now Also Active in CS:GO
The Argentinean football club River Plate expands its involvement in the esports sector and founds its own CS:GO team.
!RIVER PLATE CS:GO!Seguimos haciendo historia en los esports, les presentamos a nuestro equipo de Counter Strike: Global Offensive. Ellos nos estaran representando en los torneos que se vienen y llevaran nuestra camiseta a lo mas alto. https://t.co/OgAMLQVrsY
— River Plate Gaming (@RiverPlateGames) July 9, 2020
River Plate is one of the most popular football clubs worldwide and has been active in esports since 2016. They have teams in FIFA, Pro Evolution Soccer, and League of Legends. Now they announced their own CS:GO team.
The roster looks like this:
- Ariel "arieldidi" Ramirez,
- Thomas "christopher" Navales
- Guido "guidimon" Romano
- Ezequiel "KUN" Palmero
- Mariano "MRN1" Santa María
- Hugo "rew4z" Cáceres – Coach
We would be very surprised if this team causes a lot of commotion in the international CS:GO scene, but it's nice to see that the scene is gaining more and more popularity and not all players and teams are migrating to Valorant.
- READ MORE: River Plate Start CS:GO Project
Dota 2: OG Seed Dissolve and RNG and SAG Swap Players
OG Seed: The Players Go Their Separate Ways
The former academy team of OG has officially disbanded and players are looking for new challenges.
1/2 Some sad news. We have decided to part ways with OG.Seed roster, we were just planning to come from our break and get back into dota, but some of our players got offers, we had a talk as team and decided its better to part ways.
— Peksu (@Peksudota) July 6, 2020
Sad to say OG.seed will be parting ways. No hard feelings involved just the natural end of things, but personally I blame covid. I wish my (now ex) teammates luck in their future endeavors. 1/2
— Zakari Freedman (@coL_Zfreek) July 6, 2020
The players from OG.Seed are no longer going to continue playing together. We end our run on great terms with no regrets of the past 8 months. Big thanks to @OGesports for the good times. Simply put, we got screwed over really hard with the COVID situation in combination /1
— Rasmus Blomdin (@ChessieDota) July 6, 2020
OG Seed was already released by OG over a month ago but was allowed to remain in the organization as a gesture of goodwill. As the members announced on Twitter, they parted for the better and most of the players probably already have concrete plans or offers for the future.
The roster consisted of:
- Omar "Madara" Dabachach
- Rasmus "Chessie" Blomdin
- Andreas "Xibbe" Ragnemalm
- Peetu-Elmeri "Peksu" Väätäinen
- Zakari "ZfreeK" Freedman
ZfreeK already announced he is going back to the NA region, Peksu wants to take a break, for Xibbe and Chessie Alliance would be the obvious choice, only with Madara we don't know anything yet. We will see what the future brings and wish the boys good luck on their way.
- READ MORE: OG Seed Split Up
RNG & SAG: The Two Orgs Swap Midlaner and Supports
In a somewhat surprising transfer, the two Chinese organizations Royal Never Give Up and Sparking Arrow Gaming swap their midlaners and supports. RNG gets the support Chong "FelixCiaoBa" Wei Lun and the Midlaner Liu "白学家" Yuhao. In return, SAG gets the Support Xue "September" Zhichuan and the midlaner Gao "Setsu" Zhenxiong.
In addition to this swap, RNG will also get a new experienced head coach in Wang "Banana" Jiao, who among other things won the TI 2014. Could it be the start of a new era for both teams?
Ninjas in Pyjamas: SoNNeikO Leaves Sweden
Akbar "SoNNeikO" Butaev announced that he will leave Ninjas in Pyjamas.
His Twitter post is quite scarce and doesn't give much information about why he is leaving the team. The ninjas must now find a new captain to replace SoNNeikO. He only played for NiP for a couple of months but it was clear the team was missing something. We are curious to see which team he will represent next.
Valorant: Team Liquid and Team Envy Get In
Team Liquid: The Next Big Player in Valorant?
Team Liquid will soon enter Valorant with a completely European roster. While nothing is still confirmed the rumors are pretty loud. Reportedly Team Liquid has taken over the Valorant roster from fish123, who already won several Valorant tournaments. Of the five players, four are allegedly already signed by Liquid - Adam "ec1s" Eccles, Dom "soulcas" Sulcas, James "Kryptix" Affleck and Travis "L1nk" Mendoza were signed by Liquid. The fifth man, Ardis "ardiis" Svarenieks, was hired by G2 Esports. To complete their roster, Belgian CS:GO professional Adil "ScreaM" Benrlitom will join the team. So far there's no official announcement by Team Liquid, but expect it to come very soon.
Will Liquid become the new big European team that will be able to challenge G2?
Team Envy: More CS:GO Players for Valorant
Team Envy takes over the CS:GO roster from We are Terrific for their debut in Valorant.
We bring one of the world's most legendary FPS legacies to @PlayVALORANT. We are Envy.Please welcome @aKisCSGO, @c4Lypso_, @FNS, @kabooseCS, @mummAyTV. pic.twitter.com/cx2InvvfPd
— Envy (@Envy) July 13, 2020
We are Terrific were considered one of the best teams in the region without organization and Team Envy will definitely continue to promote them. We are curious to see how the roster of Adam "aKis" Kisseberth, Abdo "C4Lypso" Agha, Pujan "FNS" Mehta, Anthony "mummAy" DiPaolo and Jake "kaboose" McDonald will perform in Riot Games' shooter because the competition is getting bigger and bigger.
- READ MORE: Team Envy Joins the Valorant Train
League of Legends: Origen Brings Sixth Man and Dignitas Unite a Trio
Origen: An LEC Veteran As the Sixth Man
Jakub "Jactroll" Skurzyński joins Origen as the sixth man and will already play his first match this week.
We are pleased to welcome @Jactroll as a 6th member of Origen Jactroll has joined the squad in Copenhagen and will compete vs G2 Esports on Friday!More: https://t.co/TmJ0GdNMrD#WeAreOrigen pic.twitter.com/yKErX2dejN
— Astralis (@Astralisgg) July 14, 2020
Origen has secured a strong sixth man with the LEC veteran from team Vitality. The goal for 2020 is to make it to the worlds and therefore Origen has decided to recruit a sixth player who will bring new power to the existing team. Jactroll is the perfect choice because he would improve communication and has good synergy with Upset.
Already this Friday he will be able to prove himself against G2 Esports. Who do you think will prevail?
Dignitas: The Liquid Trio Reunited
Kim "Fenix" Jae-hun changes to the main roster and Henrik "Froggen" Hansen joins the academy team.
In Week 4 of the #LCS, @Dardoch and @Midfenix stepped into the line-up, reuniting with @Lourlo. The famed trio reminisce about the past and talk about teaming up together again. ODYSSEY, powered by @RESPAWNbyRazer - Ep. 5 | Ambitionhttps://t.co/Y15t52VRq0 pic.twitter.com/MqtRFcM7Qa
— Dignitas (@dignitas) July 10, 2020
With Samson "Lourlo" Jackson, Joshua "Dardoch" Hartnett and Kim "Fenix" Jae-hun, the three players are reunited as they already played together for Team Liquid in 2016. Will success follow shortly?
That's it for this week. You can find everything from the world of gaming and esports on EarlyGame. Until then you can catch up on all previous transfers here.