Viperio��s new changes were prompted by their recent disappointing losing streak. So far, the team have lost 17 games that go back as far as March 10. These include multiple losses to several squads in the top 50 and three Academy sides.
Despite their losing streak, the team managed to qualify for the BLAST Paris Major Europe RMR as the lowest-ranked squad in both Major qualifying competitions. While they left the tournament with a 0-3 record in last place, Viperio gave Fnatic a tough fight in a best-of-one series and snagged a map win off Sprout during their series.
Ping makes his return to the main lineup after being moved to the substitute position in January. He was part of the original CS:GO team when they were announced in October 2022.
Ping is not the only player with some history with Viperio. Tadpole was part of the lineup late last year, helping the European squad win the UKIC Invitational Summer 2022. He also previously played with teams like Dripmen, Into the Breach, and BLVKHVND.
In a statement, Tadpole revealed that he was excited to return to the lineup and wanted to showcase his full playing potential.
��I am truly grateful to my teammates for giving me this opportunity to demonstrate my full potential as a player,�� Tadpole said.
��I am thrilled to be working with my ex-teammates once again, and I am confident that, with time and dedication, we will achieve even greater things. I am committed to making sure that��ll happen.��
The recent changes were made in preparation for the first ESL Premiership season of 2023 and the Champion of Champions Tour (CCT) competitions slated for May, June, and July.
Viperio��s revamped lineup consists of Tadpole, Ping, Tom “?arTisT?” Clarke Callum “?Girafffe?” Jones, and Matas “?Extinct?” Strumila.
The new players will make their debut on Viperio��s roster on Wednesday at 18:00 in the CCT Central Europe Series 6. The squad are set to face off against Copenhagen Flames in the second round of the tournament��s Swiss group stage.
Both teams currently hold a 0-1 record, so if either of them loses, they will have to compete in elimination matches to continue their tournament run.
]]>According to the announcement, Luckbox will be Viperio’s official sponsor while they compete against squads in the RMR to snag a place in the final CS:GO Major in Paris. In return, the esports team will display the sports betting and casino provider’s brand on their jerseys and social media pages. Both parties are also required to make digital content together.
Regarding the new partnership, Luckbox’s head of communication, David Souza, commended Viperio for qualifying for the RMR and referred to the collaboration as a “great opportunity.”
“I’m a big Viperio fan, and having them join forces with Luckbox to create hype around the RMR and make memories for fans around the world is a great opportunity. I looked forward to seeing their journey on the path to Paris,” Souza said.
Viperio, established in 2013, are one of England’s most popular esports organizations. Besides a CS:GO squad, they support Rainbow Six Siege and League of Legends teams. Viperio and Into the Breach are the only UK-based esports teams to snag a place in the upcoming Major RMR.
The esports organization’s Founder and Managing Director, Christopher Sword, said, “I’m happy to welcome Luckbox as an official sponsor ahead of our Counter-Strike team’s run in the upcoming Regional Major Ranking event in Copenhagen this April.”
“It’s great to have a market leader like Luckbox back our team as we hope to challenge some of the biggest names on the planet and try to qualify for the last ever Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major.”
Not much information was shared concerning the partnership besides announcing Luckbox as the official sponsor. It is also unknown if the collaboration will extend past the upcoming RMR, as the release only mentioned the qualifiers.
The BLAST Paris Major EU RMR A is set to kick off in early April and will see Viperio take on top teams like FaZe Clan, Natus Vincere, Fnatic, Virtus.pro, and Sprout. The first eight squads will earn places in the Contender and Legend stages of the BLAST Paris Major.
]]>Endpoint��s domination of the UK Counter-Strike scene has continued after winning their eighth ESL Premiership in a row.
They were the highest-ranked team participating in the event (no.52 in the world), so they were the favourites to take out the event from the very beginning.
The reign continues!
@TeamEndpoint are your #ESLPrem Season 18 Champions!
They take home a 10th championship win and a spot in the ESL Pro League Conference
— ESL UK (@ESLUK) December 4, 2022
Over 100 places in the world rankings separated the finalists, with Viperio ranked 181st in the world, but the outsiders showed up, taking the first map to the 29th round, eventually going down 16-13 on Nuke.
After the first map it looked as though the favourites would go on to take an easy 3-0 victory, but Viperio equalised the series at one-all after they took Endpoint��s map pick of Ancient 16-13.
The third map was Vertigo, Viperio��s second map pick, and we got another close game as the outsiders saluted 16-13 once again.
Endpoint may not have been at their best in this series, due to them having to play with a stand-in, Thomas ��Thomas�� Utting, but after the map three loss, the tournament favourites went to another level for maps four and five.
Endpoint won the last two maps, Mirage (16-11) and Inferno (16-9), quite comfortably to win their 10th ESL Premiership title and book their spot in the ESL Pro League Conference Season 17.
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