Counter-Strike legend returns to the big stage

One of the biggest names in Counter-Strike history is returning to the game’s highest levels.

Salvatore “Volcano” Garozzo has been an integral part of the world of Counter-Strike for over a decade. Now, he’ll be joining Team Elevate.

iBUYPOWER sent shockwaves through the North American Counter-Strike scene last week when they parted ways with Sam “Dazed” Marine and Joshua “Steel” Nissan. One of the players chosen to replace the two was Derek “Desi” Branchen, who had to that point been playing with Elevate.

After Elevate sold Branchen’s contract to iBUYPOWER, his former team was left in need of a replacement. They’ve found it in Garozzo.

Garozzo originally made his name more than 10 years ago playing with zEx, one of the world’s top Counter-Strike teams. He would later join Team 3D, another major name in Counter-Strike history.

While he has continued to play through the introduction of Global Offensive, Garozzo’s most notable contributions to the game during this time have largely been through helping create new maps for competitive play. In joining an Elevate team that plans to attend ESEA’s global final later this year, Garozzo has made clear his intent to play at the game’s highest level once more.

Elevate already features some of the best players from Garozzo’s glory days in Tyler “Storm” Wood and Matt “Warden” Dickens. Adding Garozzo allows the team to maintain their old school motif.

This move also brings into question the future of The Steam Team, another of North America’s top Counter-Strike squads. Garozzo had most recently played with The Stream Team, who were already facing the need to replace Todd “Anger” Williams after Williams had joined Denial, who themselves had been searching for a replacement for Nick “Nitro” Cannella, who joined Branchen in migrating to iBUYPOWER.

Screengrab via ESEA #1/YouTube