TYLOO rebuilt its CS:GO lineup on May 25, more than one month after failing to qualify for the BLAST Paris Major. The Chinese organization now fields three Asian players, one Serbian, and one Croatian—a combination almost as random as Cloud9’s lineups between 2018 and 2019.
Hong Konger rifler Cheung “Freeman” Wing-hei was the only member from TYLOO’s previous lineup to survive this roster overhaul and Chinese rifler Sun “SLOWLY” Kelun was brought back from the bench. The three new additions are the Mongolian star Tengis “sk0R” Batjargal, the Serbian captain Luka “emi” Vuković, and the Croatian AWPer Marin “ROGA” Rogić. Sk0R had been inactive since he was surprisingly removed from IHC’s lineup ahead of the Asia RMR in April, while the European duo last played for Partizan Esports.
The announcement of such a unique combination of players caused a fuss in the CS:GO community, especially due to the natural language barrier involved. One CS:GO fan said on Reddit this is the “most random” lineup ever and other fans are surprised TYLOO went for emi and ROGA out of all the other options available.
The link between TYLOO, emi, and ROGA is likely the Serbian head coach Nestor “LETN1” Tanić, who has been working for the Chinese organization since May 2022. LETN1 most notably worked with emi between 2019 and 2020 in CR4ZY, which was later acquired by c0ntact Gaming, one of the founding members of the defunct CS:GO league Flashpoint.
Although TYLOO is one of the most known organizations in the Asia-Pacific region, it hasn’t found success in CS:GO for a while. The last time TYLOO qualified for the Major was at the PGL Stockholm Major in October 2021. This could have inspired TYLOO’s shift to an international approach ahead of Counter-Strike 2’s release, rather than keeping itself restricted to a limited pool of players.
Published: May 25, 2023 08:25 am