All-Finnish CS:GO team HAVU has revamped its squad with the additions of former FunPlux Phoenix rifler Jesse “zehN” Linjala, former ENCE captain Joonas “doto” Forss, up-and-coming sniper Jarkko “Spargo” Rahja, and the veteran Mikko “xartE” Välimaa as the new head coach.
These four new signings come weeks after HAVU benched Joona “Sm1llee” Holmström, Otto “ottoNd” Sihvo, and Olli “sLowi” Pitkänen to rebuild the lineup around riflers Jani “Aerial” Jussila and Sami “xseveN” Laasanen. The Finnish organization hopes the additions will elevate the level of the squad after experiencing mediocre results in the first half of 2022.
The move sees both zehN and doto reunite with HAVU. The former FPX rifler played there between 2018 and 2019, while doto joined in 2019 and stayed until the end of 2020 when he left to play for ENCE.
“The first trainings have gone well and I have enjoyed playing,” zehN said about joining HAVU. “Returning to Finnish CS has been refreshing and I’ve always wanted to play with Aerial and xseveN anyway. I believe that we have a great package to raise Finnish CS to a new level.”
Ever since ENCE took the international route, HAVU became the best CS:GO team in Finland. Aerial and xseveN helped the squad reach new heights last year, having peaked at 14th in the world in HLTV’s ranking after winning Snow Sweet Snow Two in April 2021. HAVU, however, couldn’t replicate the same results after that and missed out on qualifying for PGL Stockholm Major in 2021 and this year’s PGL Antwerp Major.
ZehN, doto, Spargo, and coach xartE will debut with HAVU in August at Assembly Summer 2022, a LAN tournament held in Finland.
