Windigo benches v1c70R and blocker

Viktor “v1c7oR” Dyankov and Yanko “blocker” Panov no longer represent Windigo Gaming, the organization announced today.

The Ukrainian organization has been featuring a full-Bulgarian CS:GO lineup since its foundation in October 2017. But Windigo now plans to look for international players to complete its roster.

Blocker and v1c7oR helped Windigo achieve good results this year. The team won the WESG World Finals in March, earning $500,000, and Moche XL Esports in June, but bombed out of the Europe Minor closed qualifier and won’t be at the StarLadder Major in August.

Maksym Bednarskyi, Windigo’s managing partner, said that the organization will be testing international players. 

“After a series of tournaments that our team played after the WESG 2019 World Finals, it became clear that we lacked stability and creativity to reach the Tier 1 level,” Bednarskyi said. “Today we are taking a step towards the international lineup and we take very motivated and talented players to test them. We have enough time to switch to the English language within the training process and to start the next season with the updated lineup.”

Although it’s still unknown who Windigo will sign, the organization may hire Buğra “Calyx” Arkın, an ex-Space Soldiers player. The Turkish player played well at DreamHack Masters Dallas in June and averaged a 1.10 rating when he stood in for blocker, who faced visa issues at the time.

Windigo aren’t scheduled to attend any tournaments over the next few weeks, so we’ll probably watch the organization’s new roster in the second half of the season.