With the playoffs for the two biggest North American leagues rapidly approaching, two of the continent’s biggest Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams have made significant moves.
The first of these moves concerns Lunatik. The team has rapidly ascended to the upper echelon of American Counter-Strike through strong results in the CEVO Professional, ESEA Invite, and Faceit leagues.
The team’s strong results were enough to draw interest from Denial Esports, who recently announced that they had acquired the services of Lunatik to represent the esports organization.
The squad’s captain, Preston “Juvenile” Dornon, was upbeat about his team’s chances under the Denial banner.
“We are very happy to finally have a place where we can see ourselves for the forseeable future,” Dornon said in a statement on the team’s website. “We are excited to finish out the seasons and attend these (events) under the Denial organization and see where we can go from there!”
The team made news last month, when sources indicated to the Daily Dot that Shahzeb “Shahzam” Khan had been involved in a match-fixing scandal. But Denial’s CEO Robby Ringnalda did not indicate any concerns with his new group of players.
“I have had some issues in the past with teams not remaining stable, however, I have spoken to (Dornon) for the last few years and I trust his judgment,” Ringnalda said.
Meanwhile, the team formerly known as Exertus, which is now playing under the Elevate banner, made a change to their roster.
Zach “TM” Miller has been removed from the team effective immediately. Taking his place will be Will “Rush” Wierzba.
The addition of Wierzba is the second that Elevate has made this season after the squad brought in Derek “Desi” Branchen following the dissolution of Manajuma.
Both Denial and Elevate are currently in line to participate in the fall playoff season. The live playoff final for CEVO will be played in Philadelphia on Oct. 10, while ESEA’s final will take place in Dallas on Nov. 21.
