Every second week we bring you the latest player transfers from the world of esports. Team Liquid restructures, FaZe loses JasonR, and more. Find out what else happened.
Team Liquid's CS:GO roster is going really hot right now. In Dota 2 several players leave their teams. At Valorant they continue to recruit while Beckhams Guild Esports gets FIFA approval.
CS:GO: Nitro Leaves Liquid, Bubzkji Goes to Astralis, and Kjaerbye Moves to FaZe
Team Liquid: Nitro Goes, Grim, Moses and PashaBiceps Come
There is a lot going on at Team Liquid right now. Let's start with the most important one, Nick "nitr0" Canella, the last remaining founding member of the CS:GO roster, is leaving the organization.
From prospect to champion. From underdog to leader. So few can say they've achieved what you have, and no words will ever be enough to describe how proud we are of how far you've come. Thank you for five amazing years, Captain.https://t.co/thy6SznTba pic.twitter.com/3hP4bCKxJQ
— Team Liquid (@TeamLiquid) August 1, 2020
After more than five years with Team Liquid and three of them as captain of the team, nitr0 now leaves the organization. He was replaced earlier by Jacky "Stewie2K" Yipas as captain, which may have been the first indication of nitr0's exit.
- READ MORE: Official: nitr0 is Leaving Team Liquid
After he left, nitr0 joined Prodigy Agency, an agency that has many CS:GO and Valorant professionals under contract.
Finally announcing the expansion of the #ProdigyFamily in the US & we're excited to welcome and support the one and only 'Captain America' @nitr0 USNew challenges are coming and sky's the limit#nitr0 is a #Prodigy#PlayersFirst #ProdigyAgency@richlockphoto/@TeamLiquid pic.twitter.com/ToribNOala
— Prodigy Agency (@ProdigyAgencyGG) August 10, 2020
So it is quite possible that we will see nitr0 as a Valorant professional in the near future.
His replacement at Team Liquid is also already known - Michael "Grim" Wince. Once the latter joined, nitr0 was benched.
Up-and-coming player no longer. You made it, Mike.Thank you for everything @1grimcs and best of luck on @TeamLiquid.https://t.co/ZMZuCG5qaY#TogetherWeTriumph | @CuddlemeWoW pic.twitter.com/s07QFdgKHQ
— Triumph (@TriumphGamingGG) August 4, 2020
Grim comes from Triumph to Team Liquid, where he was an exceptional player. Let's see how he gets along in his new team, which is even more popular.
- READ MORE: Team Liquid Confirm nitr0 Replacement
With Jason "Moses" O'Toole Liquid gets a new head coach.
Our journey towards reclaiming first place begins today. Welcome, @MosesGG pic.twitter.com/PwBGkSJo1S
— Team Liquid (@TeamLiquid) August 9, 2020
Moses is one of the most famous CS:GO casters, who has been at pretty much every event since 2015. As a player and caster he has been active in Counter-Strike for over 20 years and is definitely one of the most experienced people in the scene. Liquid made a good choice by signing him on their side.
- READ MORE: Team Liquid Bring Moses as Coach
To complete the transfers of Team Liquid, a powerhouse is still missing - Jarosław "pashaBiceps" Jarząbkowski.
We're getting a buff Please welcome our new friend @paszaBicepshttps://t.co/E1Qp9diMUs pic.twitter.com/WU5SpOBiRY
— Team Liquid (@TeamLiquid) August 5, 2020
The Polish superstar and former Virtus.pro player will join the organization as a streamer. However, he has already hinted in his welcome video that he would be willing to join the CS:GO roster at any time.
- READ MORE: Pasha's Biceps Flexing for Team Liquid Now
That's about all the recent new surrounding Team Liquid and we are looking forward to seeing the new roster in action.
Astralis: Bubzkji is Coming
Astralis takes Lucas "Bubzkji" Andersen under contract and dismisses Jacob "JUGi" Hansen.
Welcome @Bubzkji to the Astralis roster. We're looking forward to play with you.Thank you for everything @JUGiOfficial #ToTheStars
— Astralis Counter-Strike (@AstralisCS) July 31, 2020
Bubzkji joins Astralis from the MAD Lions, who have since increased to a seven-man roster. The MAD Lions player was the absolute top performer of the team, but was benched due to disagreements within the team. Now he is with Astralis and together with Patrick "es3tag" Hansenone of the substitutes for the currently inactive gla1ve and Xyp9x.
- READ MORE: Astralis Sign Bubzkji From MAD Lions
FaZe Clan: Kjaerbye Completes the Roster
Markus "Kjaerbye" Kjærbye will be competing for FaZe from now on.
It's official. Meet the new 5th member of FaZe Clan's professional CS:GO Roster:@KjaerbyeCS #FaZeUp pic.twitter.com/mtcMc1qKYd
— FaZe Clan (@FaZeClan) August 11, 2020
The 22-year-old former Astralis player was a free agent looking for a new team after leaving North. In the future he will replace Aurimas "Bymas" Pipiras in the FaZe clan roster, who had played as a stand-in since May. Bymas will switch to mousesports as the sixth man.
We hope that he can find back to his old strength at FaZe.
Dota 2: B8 Dismisses Founding Members, ALOHADANCE Leaves His Team and Also T1 Loses a Player
B8: Ghostik and KingR Go
Two of the B8 founding members Andrey "Ghostik" Kadyk and Rinat "KingR" Abdullin leave the team.
@Ghostikdota and @R1nater leave B8 We are grateful to them for the time spent together and wish them to reach new heights in the future! GL #b8d pic.twitter.com/aoAx2pjqlx
— B8 (@B8esportsGG) August 3, 2020
Ghostik and KingR were the only remaining founding members of B8 besides Dendi, but have not been part of the active roster since June. Both are now free agents. The current roster consists of:
- Arets "Crystallis" Remco
- Danil "Dendi" Ishutin
- Oleg "LastHero" Demidovich
- Enis "5up" Elfki
- Dmitriy "Fishman" Polishchuk
FlyToMoon: ALOHADANCE Out, RodjER In
Ilya "ALOHADANCE" Korobkin leaves FlyToMoon after five months and is replaced by Vladimir "RodjER" Nikigosyan.
After 5 months of mutual work and training,Ilya "ALOHADANCE"Korobkin part ways with FlyToMoon .It was our mutual decision.We want to thank Ilya for time which he was in team and his contribution to our wins and results!We wish him new beginings and best of luck in future! pic.twitter.com/PPJ18w6MRB
— FlyToMoon (@FTM_dota2) August 3, 2020
Vladimir Nikigosyan aka RodjER will help us as a stand-in for Omega League. Welcome on board @rodjerdota ! pic.twitter.com/LEkVrhHpQ8
— FlyToMoon (@FTM_dota2) August 3, 2020
ALOHADANCE came to FTM in February together with V-Tune from HellRaisers. The decision that ALOHA leaves the team was amicable, but a statement of the player is still pending. RodjER will stand in for the upcoming OMEGA League. He is also a former HellRaisers player.
We are curious to see how the team will perform in the big event.
T1: Forev Leaves the Roster
Lee "Forev" Sang-don leaves the T1 Dota 2 team
geumilburo T1 DOTA2eseo hwaldonghan Forev isangdon seonsuwa sanghohyeobyihae gyeyageul jongryohage doeeossseubnida. isangdon seonsuyi saeroun dojeoneul eungweonhabnida.Today we part ways with Forev. We highly appreciate his contribution to the team and wish him all the best.#T1WIN #T1Fighting pic.twitter.com/heiTyjDYvK
— T1 (@T1) July 30, 2020
T1 is one of the largest and most successful esports organizations and is especially known for its LoL team and Starcraft 2 players. They only joined Dota 2 in 2019 and Forev was their first player. A successor has not yet been confirmed, so the roster remains with four players for the time being:
- Galvin "Meracle" Kang Jian Wen
- Muhammad "inYourdreaM" Rizky
- Tri "Jhocam" Kuncoro
- Wilson "Poloson" Koh Chin Wei
Valorant: JasonR Gone Again, T1 Goes to Korea and ScreaM Leaves CS:GO
FaZe Clan: JasonR Leaves the Team Without Playing a Match
The former CS:GO professional Jason "JasonR" Ruchelski leaves the Valorant roster without having played even one game.
FaZe Clan and @JasonRuchelski have decided to part ways - he's looking to build a Valorant roster & seek opportunities elsewhere.We had a great working experience with Jason, and hope our paths cross again in the future! #FaZeUp
— #FaZeUp (@FaZeUpdate) August 3, 2020
The whole thing is quite ironic in that JasonR was the first player signed up for Faze's Valorant roster and was the captain of the team. Apparently, JasonR was not very happy about the fact that he had no say in finding new players for his squad. If the organization's farewell tweet can be trusted, he will probably start his own Valorant team.
- READ MORE: JasonR Leaves FaZe Clan’s Valorant Team
T1 Korea: RESET Roster Now Plays for T1
With the takeover of the RESET roster, T1 now has a Valorant team for the Asia region.
[T1 Valorant KR Roster Announcement]hangug balroranteueseo hwaldonghal T1yi ddo dareun @PlayVALORANT tim roseuteoreul gonggaehabnida. paen yeoreobundeulyi manheun gwansimgwa eungweon butagdeuribnida.[Coach] Locomotive[Players] Esperanza / 10X / FrosteN / ROK3T / Sunday#T1WIN #T1Fighting pic.twitter.com/YikZR61226
— T1 (@T1) August 10, 2020
The organization already has an American team and an Academy Team, but in the future will also compete in Asia. The roster consists of:
- Choi "10X" Jin-woo
- "Freeze"
- Ju-yeong "R0K3T" Kim
- Jeong "Esperanza" Jin-choel
- Kim "Sunday" Min-soo
- Yoo "Locomotive" Jeong-seon (Coach)
G2 Esports: Davidp Completes the Roster
David "Davidp" Prins completes G2's Valorant roster.
You didn't really think we'd sign someone else right?Welcome @G2Davidp_ to G2 VALORANT! pic.twitter.com/kAtyC3za6R
— G2 Esports (@G2esports) July 31, 2020
With Davidp the roster is now complete and consists entirely of former Counter-Strike professionals. With mixwell as captain we are curious what the successful organization will show. So far they've won every single event they attended.
Team Liquid: fish123 Are the New Valorant Roster
Team Liquid has taken over the Valorant team fish123 and added Adil "ScreaM" Benrlitom as their most prominent player.
New Team.New Game.New Home.Same Liquid.#RideOrDie pic.twitter.com/hhwab6wt8p
— Team Liquid Valorant (@LiquidValorant) August 7, 2020
ScreaM is one of the most famous names in the CS scene and has already made a name for himself in CS: Source as the world's most goal-oriented player. Just recently he announced that he will leave the CS:GO scene completely to continue his career in Valorant. Fish123 have been one of the most successful European Valorant teams to date and after one player, Ardis "ardiis" Svarenieks, moved to G2, the rest of the roster has now been taken over by TL.
The Valorant roster now consists of:
- Adam "Ec1s" Eccles
- Dom "Soulcas" Sulcas
- James "Kryptix" Affleck
- Travis "L1nk" Mendoza
- Adil "ScreaM" Benrlitom
- Connor "Sliggy" Blomfield (Coach)
They might be able to take down G2.
FIFA: Beckham's and Leno's Organizations Get a Boost
Guild Esports: NRaseck Goes to Beckham
Niklas "NRaseck" Raseck has signed with Guild Esports.
Guild is proud to enter @EAFIFAesports with @NRaseck7. Welcome to the team, champ. #WeAreGuild https://t.co/0N1Rr8ip8Y pic.twitter.com/jMi6HsW7TU
— GUILD (@guildesports) August 6, 2020
Guild Esports, where David Beckham is a partner, is less than six months old, but already has an active Rocket League roster and now also the best German player on the FIFA 20 World Ranking. Born in Recklinghausen, Germany, he was looking for a new organization for almost a year after Rogue retired from FIFA. As the first FIFA player to join Guild Esports, his goal is to be part of the organization from the very beginning and help shape its future.
We wish him all the best.
Leno Esports: Two New Players for Bernd Leno
Niklas "Nik-Lugi" Luginsland and Serhat "Serhatinho01" Öztürk sign with Leno Esports
!! Announcement !!Wir durfen unseren ersten Neuzugang fur die nachsten Saison begrussen! Herzlichen Willkommen im Team @nik_lugi! Wir freuen uns sehr dich im Team zu haben! #FIFA21 #LenoeSports pic.twitter.com/KmmEX4LHyL
— Leno Esports (@Leno_eSports) August 9, 2020
!! Announcement 2.0 !!Wir begrussen als nachstes Platz 45 der Welt ! @Serhatinho01 verstarkt das Team zur neuen Saison! Herzlich Willkommen im Team, auf eine gute Zusammenarbeit #FIFA21 #LenoeSports pic.twitter.com/z85Pk8dn8C
— Leno Esports (@Leno_eSports) August 9, 2020
Leno Esports was founded by Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno at the end of 2019 and aims to promote talent from Stuttgart and the surrounding area. Nik-Lugi previously played for VFB Stuttgart, but they have closed their esports department. Serhatinho01 comes from 1 FC Nürnberg and is currently 45th in the world rankings.
Rocket League: G2 Gets Reinforcement
G2 Esports: Mile Comes as a Substitute
David "Mile" Moreau joins G2's Rocket League Roster as a substitute player.
Our lineup just got a little more stacked Welcome @Mile1738 as our new sub for our Rocket League team! pic.twitter.com/5XZuG17SU9
— G2 Esports (@G2esports) August 6, 2020
The Rocket League roster of G2 has not changed since 2017. With Rizzo, JKnaps, Chicago and manager/moach Jahzo a new multi-year contract was recently signed. Mile has been on the roster before and has now been officially signed as a substitute player.
That was it for this week. You'll find more news from the world of gaming and esports on EarlyGame as well as the EarlyGame Youtube channel. Until then you can catch up on all your transfers here.