Keeping track of every notable roster change in Counter-Strike is a tall task, especially with a number of teams assessing their options following the conclusion of the BLAST Paris Major on May 21. If you want to stay updated with all the signings and rumors, this roster tracker is exactly what you need.
Several professional organizations will be analyzing their lineups and deciding if they want to pursue roster changes ahead of the worldwide release of CS2 this summer. The timing for roster changes couldn’t be better since the next Major will be played in 2024.
Dot Esports will update this roster tracker with every confirmed or rumored roster change concerning the best players and teams of the CS professional scene, allowing you to get the news all in one place.
Confirmed roster changes in Counter-Strike after the Paris Major
FaZe Clan
FaZe signed the Polish legend NEO to be its interim CS:GO head coach on July 27 following the surprising departure of Robert “RobbaN” Dahlström on July 13. This will be NEO’s first time as a head coach throughout his lengthy career in CS esports.
Cloud9
C9 removed in-game leader Vladislav “nafany” Gorshkov and rifler Timur “buster” Tulepov to create space for the arrival of former NAVI stars electroNic and Perfecto on July 14. ElectroNic will be the team’s IGL, while Perfecto will play the supportive role that belonged to buster.
Into the Breach
Into the Breach welcomed two new players in the form of OG’s former rifler Adam “NEOFRAG” Zouhar and MOUZ’s former rifler Aurimas “Bymas” Pipiras on July 12. The duo will take the places of star entry-fragger Cai “CYPHER” Watson and Sebastian “volt” Malos.
MOUZ
MOUZ benched Jon “JDC” de Castro on June 28 and parted ways with in-game leader Christopher “dexter” Nong on June 30 as part of its roster overhaul for CS2. Since then, the organization signed GamerLegion’s star IGL Kamil “siuhy” Szkaradek on July 3 and completed the lineup with the promotion of prodigy rifler Jimi “Jimpphat” Salo from the academy team on July 11.
Imperial
Imperial signed the AWPer Henrique “HEN1” Teles and the rifler João “felps” Vasconcellos on July 10 to take the spots left vacant by FalleN and chelo after they departed to FURIA earlier this month.
Fnatic
Fnatic added the Australian in-game leader Christopher “dexter” Nong and the primary French sniper Aurélien “afro” Drapier on July 6. This change means William “mezii” Merriman will be free of the captaincy duties and can go back to just focusing on his rifling abilities.
The new duo has replaced the Danish AWPer Nico “nicoodoz” Tamjidi, who was benched on July 4, and the Dutch rifler Dion “FASHR” Derksen, who departed to OG on June 30.
Team Spirit
Spirit revamped its roster for CS2 with the promotion of three academy players—Artem “ArtFr0st” Kharitonov, Myroslav “zont1x” Plakhotia, and the young star Danil “donk” Kryshkovets—on July 5. The rookies will play under the orders of in-game leader Leonid “chopper” Vishnyakov and alongside the rifler Boris “magixx” Vorobiev.
Virtus Pro
VP signed the Russian rifler Nikolay “mir” Bityukov on July 5, expanding its CS:GO roster to six members. For now, he’ll replace David “n0rb3r7” Danielyan, who’s recovering from an arm injury.
FURIA
FURIA parted ways with supporting rifler André “drop” Abreu and AWPer Rafael “saffee” Costa on June 27 and June 28, respectively.
The Brazilian organization confirmed the signing of FalleN on July 3 and also announced Marcelo “chelo” Cespedes’ signing a couple of hours later.
Imperial
Imperial parted ways with FalleN on July 2 and with Marcelo “chelo” Cespedes on July 3. These two players are reportedly bound to join FURIA for CS2.
NAVI
NAVI announced the signings of Finnish captain Aleksib, star rifler Ivan “iM” Mihai, and Lithuanian rifler Justinas “jL” Lekavicius on June 30, confirming several reports. The new trio will replace the long-standing duo of electroNic and Perfecto, and the youngster Andrij “npl” Kukharsjkyj.
ElectroNic and Perfecto are set to sign with C9, according to a report from June 19.
OG
OG has all but revamped the entirety of its CS:GO squad heading to CS2 with the exception of Maciej “F1KU” Miklas. The European organization brought in-game leader Nemanja “nexa” Isaković back from the bench, completed the signing of Romanian AWPer Iulian “regali” Harjău after a brief period as a stand-in, and secured the acquisitions of BIG and Fnatic former riflers—Nils “k1to” Gruhne and Dion “FASHR” Derksen, respectively on June 30.
OG parted ways with its former IGL Nikolaj “niko” Kristensen on June 8, benched degster and Adam “NEOFRAG” Zouhar on June 20, and lost the Israeli star Shahar “flameZ” Shushan to Vitality on June 22 as his contract expired.
MIBR
MIBR confirmed the signings of former FURIA duo André “drop” Abreu and Rafael “saffee” Costa on June 30. They arrive in MIBR to fill the void left open by the departures of Matheus “Tuurtle” Anhaia on May 31 and Henrique “HEN1” Teles on June 27.
Evil Geniuses
Despite early rumors of a revamp with tier-one European stars, Evil Geniuses will enter the new season with a reworked North American roster, promoting the bulk of its academy squad.
Timothy “autimatic” Ta was the only survivor of the previous iteration of EG which ultimately failed to post any result of merit in 2023. Joining autimatic are Paytyn “junior” Johnson and Jadan “HexT” Postma, both of whom have previous limited experience in tier-one competition.
Rounding out the roster is captain Colby “Walco” Walsh and Jeorge “Jeorge” Endicott, both of whom have international experience via a number of tournaments with EG Black. The main squad also changed up their front office, with Tommy “Axed” Ryan as coach and William “RUSH” Wierzba dropping to the bench.
EG was negotiating with multiple European players such as Audric “JACKZ” Jug, Aleksandr “zorte” Zagodyrenko, and electroNic to leave North America, according to multiple reports. But, according to a report from June 22, the negotiations with JACKZ and zorte collapsed with the players no longer in EG’s plans for CS2.
Complexity
After EliGE’s negotiations with EG slowed down, Complexity became the primary candidate to sign him from Liquid, according to a report on June 22. As of late June 22, Complexity welcomed EliGE to its Counter-Strike roster in place of Justin “FaNg” Coakley, who’s been moved to the bench to accommodate the ex-Liquid star.
Team Liquid
Team Liquid has entered a new era, leaving behind the North American region they’ve been a bastion of for eight years, parting ways with EliGE, and signing Bulgarian rifler Aleks “Rainwaker” Petrov from 500 and Russian rifler Robert “Patsi” Isyanov from Team Spirit.
Liquid’s veteran captain nitr0 departed the active lineup on May 31 following the conclusion of IEM Dallas. Retirement from professional esports is on the cards, but the veteran is also interested in hearing offers for CS or VALORANT.
Vitality
Vitality has signed OG’s prodigy rifler Shahar “flameZ” Shushan on June 22 to replace dupreeh. The Dane has been placed on the bench after one year and a half, but most notably one month after he helped Vitality win the BLAST Paris Major in May. FlameZ was a free agent and Vitality seemingly didn’t want to lose the opportunity to snatch a player of his caliber for free and bolster the team’s firepower.
Astralis
Astralis let go of two key members of its staff on June 21. Controversial head analyst Nicolai “HUNDEN” Petersen was cut after just six months, while longtime director of sports Kasper Kvidt—who helped Astralis win four CS:GO Majors between 2017 and 2019—had his contract terminated after nearly six years.
Astralis promoted other major changes in its CS division on June 22. The Danish organization benched the legendary in-game leader gla1ve and completed the signings of Sprout’s star rifler Victor Staehr and former Copenhagen Flames’ support rifler Johannes “b0RUP” Borup to round out the roster for CS2. The two new players will play alongside the new IGL blameF, dev1ce, and rookie Christian “Buzz” Andersen.
As a result of this, academy player Alexander “Altekz” Givskov was demoted to Astralis Talent and Xyp9x is once again on the bench. Astralis will likely try to sell Xyp9x and gla1ve in the near future.
BIG
BIG signed the Polish AWPer Mateusz “mantuu” Wilczewski and promoted the academy German players Elias “s1n” Stein and David “prosus” Hesse in a major roster overhaul on June 21. Mantuu had been a free agent since January and will replace Marcel “hyped” Köhn, while s1n and prosus have been promoted to take the places of Nils “k1to” Gruhne and Josef “faveN” Baumann.
Falcons
Falcons has officially revamped its CS:GO roster ahead of CS2 with the addition of three young prodigies in the form of star rifler Mohammad “BOROS” Malhas, Polish AWPer Miłosz “mhL” Knasiak, and Romanian rifler Laurențiu “lauNX” Țârlea on June 20. The three youngsters will play alongside the French veterans NBK- and bodyy, and the in-game communication will switch to English.
The Mongolz
The Mongolz replaced their former AWPer Tuvshintugs “Annihilation” Nyamdorj and former rifler Baatarkhuu “Bart4k” Batbold with the primary sniper Usukhbayar “910” Banzragch and 15-year-old youngster Ayush “mzinho” Batbold on May 31. These roster changes come 20 days after their participation in the BLAST Paris Major Challengers Stage.
Ninjas in Pyjamas
NiP benched Aleksib on June 14 to open space for the return of hampus. The Swede will be in charge of in-game leadership duties once again and will return to pro play after spending time on the sidelines since January.
Reports and rumors about incoming Counter-Strike roster changes
TSM
On July 24, TSM’s new roster was leaked. The lineup consists of Cai “CYPHER” Watson, JACKZ, Timofey “interz” Yakushin, Mădălin-Andrei “MoDo” Mirea, Valdemar “valde” Vangså, and coach XTQZZZ, according to the report.
Coach XTQZZZ, however, confirmed on July 31 that he’s no longer a part of the project and a report from the same day claimed the roster is having contractual disagreements with TSM, which has put the organization’s return in jeopardy.
GamerLegion
Despite what some rumors suggested, GamerLegion isn’t disbanding. The runners-up of the BLAST Paris Major want to stay in tier-one and believe they can keep star players Kamil “siuhy” Szkaradek and Ivan “iM” Mihai for CS2.
Ninjas in Pyjamas
Swedish rifler and in-game leader Hampus Poser has let the world know he’s ready to return to activity after spending time on the bench since January due to health issues. Jonas Gundersen, the COO at NiP, told HLTV the organization will assess its CS roster during the off-season.
Published: Jul 31, 2023 10:29 am