The 24 teams attending the second Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Valve Major of 2018 have two more weeks to change their rosters.
The roster lock for the FACEIT Major in London, starting Sept. 20, has been moved back to Aug. 5.
The reason behind the extension is likely due to a series of significant roster changes among some of the top teams in CS:GO in July. Most notably, reigning champions Cloud9 currently only have three players after the team removed former in-game leader Pujan “FNS” Mehta, and star player Tarik “tarik” Celik opted to leave the team in order to join MIBR on July 12.
Cloud9 competed with European players Martin “STYKO” Styk and Maikil “Golden” Selim at the ongoing ELEAGUE Premier, but it’s not clear if the players will be attending the FACEIT Major with the organization.
Fan favorites Virtus Pro also has a vacant slot in its roster, after the departure of Janusz “snax” Pogorzelski on June 27. The team has reportedly attempted to acquire current AGO rifler Michał “snatchie” Rudzki ahead of the event. Since the departure of snax, the team has competed with Piotr “morelz” Taterka, but the newcomer’s performances have reportedly not been up to scratch.
In past Majors, players that failed to qualify have been ineligible to compete at the event with a different roster. The FACEIT Major will, however, be allowing players that competed in the Minor qualifiers to join other rosters up until the deadline on Aug. 5, according to HLTV. That’s a first for a Valve Major, and a pretty significant change.
The only teams who don’t have a chance to change are the teams who qualified through the Minors—their rosters are already locked in.
