Key roster changes and signings during CS:GO summer break

Given the fact that there are no top-tier CS:GO tournaments for the next two weeks days, teams that did not perform that well are trying to find a way to improve their results by making roster changes. In this piece, we will cover the most important roster changes so far during the break.

BIG ends Speculation and extends contracts until 2027

There has been a lot of speculation that BIG will look to fresh things up and sign a couple of youngsters in order to achieve better results. However, Daniel Finkler (BIG CEO), announced that the organization extended contracts with the coach Fatih “gob b” Dayik, and Johannes “tabseN” Wodarz until 2027.

The German-based franchise acquired solid results so far in 2022. However, poor showing during IEM Cologne Play-In raised a lot of eyebrows. It is going to be interesting to see whether the team will bounce back from their poor showing or will they remain in the slump.

G2 replaces two players, HooXi and jks become Gamers 2

It has finally happened. G2 is nowhere to be found in 2022 and they looked very bad. After bringing in Aleksi “⁠Aleksib⁠” Virolainen, we were expecting a lot from G2. Sadly, awful showing at PGL Major Antwerp 2022, IEM Dallas, and IEM Cologne 2022 Play-In forced the hand and two players had to go.

Alongside their IGL, Audric “⁠JACKZ⁠” Jug is also on the chopping block. G2 has potentially found a new in-game leader in Copenhagen Flames, a roster that surprised everyone in recent months. Alongside Rasmus “⁠HooXi⁠” Nielsen, another player that put a pen to paper is Justin “⁠jks⁠” Savage.

The main question here is whether Rasmus and Justin will have the time that is needed to work on the team cohesion and synergy as BLAST Fall Groups is just around the corner.

Complexity replaced Junior with Hallzerk

Fact is, Complexity fielded a very bad roster for 2022. For us, it was logical that Paytyn “⁠junior⁠” Johnson will be the one to go, and here is why.

In the last 3 months, he is one of the worst-rated CS:GO pros on the scene with an abysmal rating of 0.80. Even though we saw flashes of brilliance from him during his spell with FURIA, Complexity simply can’t wait for him to step up any longer, and brought in Håkon “⁠hallzerk⁠” Fjærli. The future will tell whether Paytyn was the real problem or Complexity needs to look for complete revamps.

Stewie2K announced his retirement from competitive CS:GO

Even though he is still very young, Jake “⁠Stewie2K⁠” Yip announced on Twitter that his time competing in professional Counter-Strike has come to an end. He was a part of Cloud9 and he won a Major trophy with them. He also represented both SK and MIBR but did not achieve much with them. However, in 2019 he joined Team Liquid. During his three-year spell with the North American franchise, Jake helped them win 9 trophies. After leaving Liquid, he joined Evil Geniuses as an IGL.

To be honest, he never found his footing, went through several mini “scandals” and was bamboozled by Richard Lewis content bi-weekly. After a couple of months, he decided that his time professionally competing has come to an end.