The BIG CS:GO roster will be without their head coach for their match against ENCE today in the BLAST Premier Spring Finals. Fatih “gob b” Dayik has tested positive for COVID-19, according to an official announcement from the team.
Stepping into gob b’s place for today’s match will be Nils “k1to” Gruhne, a former member of the BIG starting lineup throughout 2020 and 2021 who was moved to the BIG Academy roster this past March.
Gob b has been a mainstay for the German-based BIG organization for over five years, filling a variety of roles even across multiple titles. The rifler was signed to the BIG roster at the start of 2017 and remained there through the summer of 2019 before transitioning to a manager role and a coach for the academy team. A year later, though, he switched over to VALORANT but remained with BIG, taking on the primary initiator role as Sova. Shortly after BIG VALORANT qualified for VCT 2022 via the relegation tournament, gob b returned to CS:GO to coach BIG’s main roster.
Gob b coached BIG through their PGL Antwerp Major run, which ended with a 1-3 Legends Stage finish despite starting the event with a Legends spot. BIG have done better in events since then, though, with a semifinal appearance at IEM Dallas and a third-place finish at the Pinnacle Cup.
It was at the Pinnacle Cup where k1to made a stand-in appearance for trial player Karim “Krimbo” Moussa, who also tested positive for COVID. K1to isn’t the only player on a prominent team to stand in as a player and coach as of late. G2’s François “AMANEK” Delaunay has filled in for coach Rémy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam and in-game leader Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen in recent months.
BIG’s match vs. ENCE today is scheduled to begin at 1pm CT. Just one series win in the GSL-style group stage would allow BIG to advance to the playoffs.
