CS2: Three more transfers confirmed!

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The Counter-Strike season is coming to an end. Time for teams to rethink their rosters to best position themselves for the coming year. GlobalESportNews takes a look at the ever-changing transfer carousel

This article will be updated on an ongoing basis.

With the BLAST Premier: World Final in Abu Dhabi, the last really big S-Tier tournament of the Counter-Strike year is coming up in mid-December. In addition to the current No. 1 in the world – FaZe Clan – virtually the entire crème de la crème of Counter-Strike eSports will be taking part: Team Vitality (23) complete the field of participants.

The tournament will provide the first glimpse of what fans can expect in 2024. Even now, hardly any of the teams will be competing with the same roster as they did in the last tournament. Of the eight squads competing in Abu Dhabi alone, only FaZe Clan and MOUZ have not made any significant changes to the team structure in recent weeks.

Time to take a closer look at the transfers that have already taken place or are potentially imminent

frozen, Brollan & skullz confirmed

A farewell trailer is usually followed by a welcome trailer after a short time. The eternal circle of the Counter-Strike transfer market. David “frozen” Cernansky is now officially part of it.

After his departure from MOUZ was announced yesterday morning, the confirmation of his signing by his new team, the FaZe Clan, came a few hours later

frozen is not the only one who was officially introduced to his new team yesterday. Felipe “skullz” Medeiros’ move from paiN to Team Liquid is now also confirmed, as is MOUZ’s signing of Ludvig “Brollan” Brolin as a stand-in for the upcoming World Finals.

Swani resigns!

Jan “Swani” Müller surprisingly announces his resignation as coach of G2 Esports!

The German has only been part of the organization since October last year and has been extremely successful with his team in this short period of time. From last year’s BLAST Premier World Finals to the IEM in Katowice and the IEM in Cologne, the 28-year-old has won three of the most important titles in Counter-Strike eSports

In an emotional statement via X Swani now announced that this year’s CS year-end World Final will be his last major tournament as Head Coach of G2 for the time being.

In his post, the German gives a deep insight. Because unlike most resignations or changes, the reasons are apparently not of a monetary nature or the search for a new challenge. Apparently the year – despite the successes – was very mentally draining for the coach.

“Now is the time to take care of myself and my loved ones. I’ve felt worse and worse over the course of the year and it’s taken its toll on me. […] I was able to travel the world with my boys and pursue my hobby at the same time. But when the passion becomes a burden, it’s time to end it. “

A courageous decision that has been met with a lot of love in the community. How and whether things will continue for Swani after his break remains to be seen. Also who will be his successor at G2. But this question is probably the least important at the moment when it comes to mental health in general.

We also wish you all the best Swani!

MOUZ announces frozen farewell

In the end, everything happened very quickly: As soon as it became clear that Russel “Twistzz” van Dulken would be leaving the FaZe Clan and that he had chosen David “frozen” Cernansky as his preferred candidate for the now vacant Rifler position, it became official a day later. In a post on X, MOUZ bids farewell to their now ex-player

At FaZe Clan, the Slovenian meets Finn “karrigan” Andersen and Robin “ropz” Kool. He has already played with both of them at the German organization during his four and a half years at MOUZ. The settling-in period with his new team should be correspondingly short.

Ludvig “Brollan” Brolin is still being discussed as a replacement for frozen 

However, this is initially only planned as a temporary “stand-in” for the Counter-Strike season finale, the BLAST Premier: World Final in Abu Dhabi.

+++ 03.12.2023 +++

frozen as Twistzz replacement?

The official departure of Twistzz naturally raises the question of a replacement. Apparently, the FaZe Clan has put out feelers for David “frozen” Cernansky. And he can almost announce that he’s done

According to HLTV FaZe and frozen‘s previous team MOUZ have already agreed on a buyout. This is supported by the fact that the Slovenian has already been announced by his new team as part of the roster for the upcoming BLAST Premier World Final, which will take place in Abu Dhabi in mid-December. 

MOUZ, on the other hand, seems to have Ludvig “Brollan” Brolin in mind as a replacement for frozen . Whether the commitment of the former child prodigy, who is currently only on the bench with the Ninjas in pyjamas, could be of a long-term nature will become clear at the latest after the German team’s performance in the season finale in the United Emirates.

Twistzz leaves the FaZe Clan

Now it’s official: Russel “Twistzz” van Dulken is leaving the FaZe Clan. The 24-year-old star announced this last Friday on X.

The exact circumstances of why and why he is leaving the team are not stated Twistzz in his emotional statement. However, he writes that he knows that his decision to leave FaZe might come as a shock to some people, but that he will explain the background to his departure at a later date.

Trying to read between the lines, the Canadian seems to be longing for a new challenge. However, it cannot be ruled out that other reasons played a role in his decision, despite all the emotionality

What exactly will happen with Twistzz remains to be seen. According to rumors, however, the Rifler will return to Team Liquid. The team where he played from 2017 to 2020 and established himself as one of the top Counter-Strike players in the world.

+++ 29.11.2023 +++

Fnatic in upheaval

After William “mezii” Merrimann and Frederik “roeJ” Jorgensen recently left the team for Team Vitality and Preasy respectively, the org now decided to make a change in a third position and officially benched in-game leader Christopher “dexter” Nong. The 29-year-old Australian’s chapter at FNC should therefore be closed after just four months, having only moved from MOUZ to Fnatic last July.

The three vacant positions were replaced immediately. In addition to the eternal Freddy “KRIMZ” Johansson and Aurélien “afro” Drapier, Alexandre “bodyy” Pianaro (from Team Falcons) will now hold the reins as IGL. He will be joined by Matus “MATYS” Simko and the German-Iranian Can “kyuubii” Ali, although the latter will have to assert his place for the time being as he is still in “trial status”.

NRG back in Counter Strike

After a four-year absence, NRG is back in the Counter-Strike circus. Tonight, the North American org published a post via X officially confirming the return

The roster itself consists of an American-Canadian core. The names are sometimes more, sometimes less prominent. The team is led by Damian “daps” Steele, who until recently worked as head coach for Team Liquid, but is now back in action and is set to take on the role of in-game leader. The Rifler trio will consist of Justin “FaNg” Coakley, Jadan “HexT” Postma and Vincent “Brehze” Cayonte.  HexT and Brehze come from the Evil Geniuses, FaNg from Complexity. The quintet is completed by AWPer Josh “oSee” Ohm.

To what extent the roster can really compete in the big tournaments remains to be seen. Although the team is certainly competitive in terms of names alone, the truth is that apart from HexT none of the other four come from a team that had planned a future with this player.

+++ 28.11.2023 +++ 

Rumor: CadiaN & Twistzz to Liquid?

It has been clear since mid-October that Casper “CadiaN” Möller would be leaving Heroic after three and a half thoroughly successful years. Where the 28-year-old in-game leader would be heading, however, was not. Now it seems that Team Liquid could be a serious option for the Dane.

However CadiaN would not be the only big-name player who could apparently imagine playing for TL soon. None other than Russel “Twistzz” van Dulken also seems to be keen on the idea of returning to the org where he finally made his breakthrough, dominating the Counter-Strike scene for a time and winning the Grand Slam, among other things.

At the moment, only the veteran Keith “NAF” Markovic and Mareks “YEKINDAR” Galinskis are still under contract with Liquid. If the rumors surrounding CadiaN and Twistzz turn out to be true, four of the five roster spots would be taken. The org seems to have Felipe “skullz” Medeiros in mind for the fifth spot. The 21-year-old Brazilian last played for paiN, where he attracted attention with good performances.

Herioc double pack on the way to Astralis

Following the imminent departure of Captain CadiaN, two more crew members have now left the (sinking?) Heroic ship. Both Martin “stavn” Lund and Jakob “jabbi” Nygaard are moving to Danish rivals Astralis.

try it out +++

In fact, the signing of the two Danes is causing quite a bit of noise within the CS community 

In the end – as reported by several sources – both Rifler players are said to have initially agreed to a contract extension with Heroic, linked to the condition of demotion CadiaN to the bench. Heroic agrees, announces his intention to part ways with the longtime captain and…

..jabbi and stavn moved to their direct Danish rivals anyway. The two of them probably didn’t score any sympathy points outside the Astralis fan base with this move.

Johannes “b0RUP” Borup and Christian “Buzz” Andersen have to make way for the two new additions. The core around Nicolai “device” Reedtz and Benjamin “blameF” Bremer remains. Victor “Staehr” Staehr completes the squad.

Legend takes another run-up

Lukas “Gla1ve” Rossander was part of the golden Astralis generation. Between 2017 and 2019, the Danish in-game leader won together with Nicolai “device” Reedtz, Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen, Emil “Magisk” Reif and Andreas “Xyp9x” Hpojseth won four majors and their first ever Grand Slam title.

After that, things quietened down for the team, but also for gla1ve itself. Although the team was still competitive and among the world’s best, after the last title – the IEM Global Challenge 2020 – it was no longer enough to reach the very top. gla1ve itself then found itself on the bench in June 2023.

This time is now over. Since yesterday, the Dane has been part of ENCE.

He will replace Marco “Snappi” Pfeiffer, who has been repeatedly linked to Team Falcons in recent days.