MAD Lions has moved CS:GO in-game leader Teodor “SPELLAN” Nikolov to the bench, the organization announced today. The Bulgarian had been playing for the Spanish organization since April when he joined the international team to replace Kristers “keen” Dārznieks.
He’s leaving the active CS:GO lineup with immediate effect and MAD Lions will allow him to pursue new opportunities elsewhere. The team was playing with a six-man setup, so the organization still has five players ready to play when the Counter-Strike season resumes. The lineup now features Thomas “TMB” Bundsbæk, Justinas “jL” Lekavicius, Pere “sausol” Solsona, Filip “tudsoN” Tudev, and Volodymyr “Woro2k” Veletniuk, who are all up-and-coming players.
SPELLAN’s addition didn’t translate into great results for the European squad in some notable tournaments, such as Spring Sweet Spring One and BLAST Rising, even though they had victories at smaller events. “I never really felt comfortable in the team in-game and didn’t really have the chance to lead the game the way I’m used to, so it affected my confidence and performance during my stay here,” the Bulgarian said in a personal statement. He averaged a 0.93 rating over the last three months, according to HLTV’s statistics.
“On the positive side, I can say I learned and improved a lot on some aspects inside and outside of the game thanks to the people in MAD Lions,” SPELLAN said. “I can say I really had fun with the boys, so I know I can bring more to my next team with the experience I got. I am very thankful for the professionalism and the time we spent together.”
The Bulgarian said he’s going to enjoy his vacation until the end of the summer player break, which is scheduled to run through Aug. 15, and he’s open to continue playing as an in-game leader or just as a regular player. MAD Lions, on the other hand, said there will be more updates soon, so the org might make more changes to its lineup before the CS:GO tournaments start up again.
