Outsiders turn to fresh CS:GO blood after ditching n0rb3r7 just two months after IEM Rio Major win

Despite recently lifting the IEM Rio Major trophy, Outsiders have removed David “n0rb3r7” Danielyan from their active Counter-Strike roster and will be replacing him with young gun Aleksandr “KaiR0N-” Anashkin.

The 18-year-old sported the Aurora jersey prior to his arrival in the major winning team. KaiR0N is set to take on n0rb3r7’s positions after the squad quickly bombed out of the BLAST Premier World Final, losing to both finalists Team Liquid and G2 Esports.

While KaiR0N is a relatively fresh face in the scene, he’s played for Team Spirit within the last few years. The few matches he played for Spirit featured a roster without an IGL, and the ex-NAVI player Viktor “sdy” Orudzhev joined the squad as a stand-in. 

Dzhami “Jame” Ali’s roster has been chopped and changed multiple times in the last year, with ex-star entry-fragger Mareks “YEKINDAR” Gaļinskis making his move to Liquid and Timur “buster” Tulepov being placed on the bench for the foreseeable future.

N0rb3r7 came alongside Petr “fame” Bolyshev replacing the two ex-Outsiders members. Fame seems to have been a welcome addition to the roster, bolstering their ranks with high-impact frags and incredible statistics at the IEM Rio Major 2022, helping them take down the likes of MOUZ, Fnatic, and Heroic to take home the $500,000 prize.

According to statements made by Virtus Pro, despite KaiR0N-’s addition, n0rb3r7 “remains a part of the team” and will join buster on the bench.

This roster move has been rumored since the start of the year, with CS:GO leakers sharing their knowledge of a switch-up prior to the announcement on Jan. 5.

Outsiders have been hit-and-miss regarding their tournament placings. The squad arguably overperformed at the IEM Rio Major 2022, as the majority of other tournaments resulted in an elimination prior to the playoffs.

The Outsiders roster saw an early exit in IEM Cologne 2022 placing 13-16th earlier in the year, with events later like ESL Pro League Season 16 being some of their strongest showings for the year with the team placing 5-8th alongside FaZe, MOUZ, and NAVI.

Hopefully, this move can help Outsiders replicate old form in the new year.