Thomas ��birdfromsky�� Due-Frederiksen will lead the new line-up, which consists of Florian ��syrsoN�� Rische, Jon ��JDC�� de Castro, Nikolaj ��niko�� Kristensen and Tim ��susp�� Angstrom, with Faruk ��pita�� Pita as coach.
There's no question about it.
Introducing our new CS:GO lineup
pic.twitter.com/x8nh6TGMWW
— 00NATION DNB (@zerozeronation) August 15, 2023
The Norwegian organisation has followed the lead of Cloud9 and Team Liquid over the last year to move from a North or South American roster to a full European squad for their CS:GO teams.
According to a statement from 00NATION, the former Brazilian roster of Marcelo ��coldzera�� David, Eduardo ��dumau�� Wolkmer, Bruno ��latto�� Rebelatto, Lucas ��nqz�� Soares and Gabriel ��NEKIZ�� Schenato will be picked up and supported by a local investor.
“Building two separate companies, one in Brazil and the other in Europe, caused great pressure on the teams and resources,” the announcement stated.
“We came to the conclusion that it would make much more sense for Brazilian management and investors to take over Brazilian operations.”
The statement also said that ��the new project will be totally Brazilian, and all the lineups and staff will move into the new organisation��.
The new roster debuted under the 00NATION tag against Sampi in Pinnacle Cup V on Tuesday, where they dominated the all-Slovakian team 16-6 and 16-7.
]]>“After a fantastic reunion with OG and the boys. I am more than ready to get a new home winning trophies,” niko wrote on Twitter.
The CS:GO player also stated that he was open to new opportunities and encouraged interested teams to reach out to him.
niko was initially signed to OG in March 2021 but was relegated to the inactive roster following their poor performance. He joined OG once more as a substitute in February, eight months after he was benched.
niko took the place of OG’s former in-game leader Nemanja “nexa” Isakovi?, who took some away from active play due to personal reasons and is yet to return. niko filled in as OG’s captain during this period and led the squad during their BLAST.tv Paris Major cycle.
While OG was able to scale through the event’s qualifiers to join the $1.25 million CS:GO tournament, the team was eliminated from the actual event in 20th-22nd place. They finished with a 1-3 record after losing to GamerLegion in the tournament’s Challengers stage.
OG also failed to advance to the playoffs of other LAN tournaments like the Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2023, Electronic Sports League Pro League Season 17, and the IEM Dallas 2023, where they finished in 7th-8th place. niko led the team during the events despite only joining as a substitute for the BLAST.tv Paris Major.
niko’s departure from OG comes amid rumors of a major overhaul of the OG roster. This will likely kick off during the CSPPA’s player break set for June 12 to July 9.
Asides niko, Shahar “flameZ” Shushan might be on his way out of OG and is reportedly considering his options ahead of his contract expiration date. Sources also claimed that Abdul “degster” Gasanov had expressed his desire to leave OG.
]]>BLIX.GG revealed the departures could signal the beginning of a larger-scale roster overhaul for the organization. Any further changes to the lineup will reportedly depend on the off-season market options.
Sources also claimed that Adam “NEOFRAG” Zouhar could be leaving OG alongside the other two.
niko started playing with the organization in March 2021, a month ahead of flameZ. He was, however, benched for most of his stint and only returned to active play in early 2023 to replace OG’s in-game leader Nemanja “nexa” Isakovi?.
The squad performed dismally following niko’s return and recorded their best performance in the online Brazy Party event. They finished the competition in 3rd-4th place.
OG also performed poorly in the recently concluded BLAST.tv Paris. The team were eliminated in the Challengers Stage following losses to Ninjas in Pyjamas, ENC, and GamerLegion.
flameZ, on his end, joined OG during a general shuffle that placed founding members of the organization like Issa “ISSAA” Murad and Nathan “NBK-” Schmitt on the bench.
While niko is reportedly leaving OG due to the team’s poor results over the past months, flameZ’s departure is linked to his contract expiration.
Following the expiration, the player and OG failed to reach an agreement on an extension. Multiple teams have already shown interest in signing flameZ after his departure from OG’s lineup.
If the report proves true, OG will enter the offseason with the following lineup, Adam “NEOFRAG” Zouhar, Abdulkhalik “degster” Gasanov, and Maciej “F1KU” Miklas. Casper “ruggah” Due and Alexander “kakafu” Szymanczyk are currently still the organization’s coach and assistant coach, respectively.
OG will likely kick off some large-scale changes after finishing their final LAN competition, the Intel Extreme Masters Dallas 2023. The event is set to kick off on May 29.
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