BIGGEST CS NEWS FROM WEEK 30

Get an overview of the biggest counter-strike news from the previous week including more roster changes, the retirement of a well-known player and a dissapointing situation for the upcoming Cloud9 team.

INATION WITHDRAW FROM the CS:GO scene

Serbian esports organization iNation has announced its withdrawal from CS:GO. The organization has released players Nikola “Dragon” Boskovic and Vladan “Kind0” Mandic from their contracts. Despite their recent participation in the Blast Paris Major Europe RMR, iNation stated that the momentum and readiness for an esports industry in Serbia were lacking. However, they expressed hope for a temporary exit and a potential return in the future. iNation’s history in CS:GO dates back to 2013, with several well-known players, coaches, and talents having been part of the organization. The team had recently risen to No. 34 in the world rankings before their exit.

XSEVEN RETIRES FROM COMPETITIVE CS

The Finnish rifler Sami “xseveN” Laasanen has announced his retirement from competitive Counter-Strike, citing a lack of motivation after an 11-year career. The 28-year-old will continue to play for HAVU in the upcoming two tournaments, officially retiring after Elisa Esports eSM 2023. xseveN has been a constant presence in the Finnish scene. His career peaked with ENCE, where he won trophies at StarSeries i-League Season 6 and DreamHack Open Winter 2018, and made an iconic Major performance at IEM Katowice 2019. His last trophy was at BLAST Pro Series Madrid 2019.

AX1LE MISSES GROUP STAGE OF IEM COLOGNE

Cloud9’s much-anticipated debut at IEM Cologne 2023 will be without star player Sergey “Ax1Le” Rykhtorov due to visa issues. The team will instead field benched rifler Timur “buster” Tulepov. Cloud9 hopes that Ax1Le’s visa will be accepted by the playoff stage of the tournament. Ax1Le, the fourth-best player of 2022, has been a consistent performer for Cloud9 and his absence could impact the team’s performance in their opening matches. However, if the team can survive the initial rounds, Ax1Le might still get to participate in the tournament. If not, fans will have to wait until Gamers8 2023 in August to see the full lineup in action.

torzsi drops a 50-bomb at IEM Cologne Play-in

MOUZ’s AWPer, Ádám “torzsi” Torzsás drops an impressive 50-kill performance at the IEM Cologne 2023 play-in. The Hungarian player led his team to a 22-19 victory over TheMongolz in the tournament’s opening match. Torzsi’s performance was particularly notable in the second set, where he secured two quad-kills, a triple, and a double, preventing an upset in a double-overtime game on Nuke. The match marked the debut of two new players for both MOUZ and TheMongolz, with MOUZ fans hopeful that the reunion of Kamil “siuhy” Szkaradek and torzsi would reignite the latter’s form. torzsi echoed this sentiment, stating that siuhy had previously brought out the best in him.

TSM Returns to Counter-Strike Scene with New European Roster

After a six-year, TSM is making a return to Counter-Strike with a new roster. The team, set to debut at the CCT Online Finals on August 2nd, comprises players from five different European countries. The lineup includes former ENCE player Valdemar “valde” Bjørn Vangså, Romanian AWPer Mădălin-Andrei “MoDo” Mirea, Timofey “interz” Yakushin, Audric “JACKZ” Jug, and Cai “CYPHER” Watson. The team will be coached by former G2 and Vitality coach Rémy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam.