K23’s active CS:GO lineup has been depleted to just three players after the organization moved AWPer Bogdan “xsepower” Chernikov and in-game leader Vladislav “FinigaN” Usov to the bench and placed both on the transfer list today.
The move comes after K23 did not qualify for IEM Rio Major following a 2-3 campaign at the Regional Major Ranking (RMR) B tournament earlier this month. The Russian team faced BIG in the decisive match and lost in the overtime of the third map. K23 had already missed the PGL Antwerp Major earlier this year and signed Konstantin “Raijin” Trubarov, Timur “clax” Sabirov, and FinigaN for the second part of the season.
FinigaN had been in-game leading for K23 since August following the departure of former captain Sanzhar “neaLaN” Iskhakov to Evil Geniuses, while xsepower was one of the longest-standing members of the roster alongside Daniil “X5G7V” Maryshev, having joined K23 in October 2021.
FinigaN didn’t stay long enough to be able to guide K23 to win any championships. Xsepower, on the other hand, helped K23 win some smaller CS:GO tournaments, such as Funspark ULTI European playoffs two in December 2021, Pinnacle Winter Series one in February 2022, and Thunderpick Bitcoin Series in March 2022.
It’s unclear what direction K23 will head in next, for example, if the organization will maintain an all-Russian lineup or try to mix it up with Kazakhstani players as it has done in the past. There’s a possibility that K23 will take part in a CIS shuffle, given that forZe and Entropiq have also benched players recently after missing the IEM Rio Major as well.
Published: Oct 17, 2022 12:03 pm