Hiko subs for iBP; nitr0 to Torqued

16-12-2014 18:05

The North American roster shakedown continues as Spencer "Hiko" Martin chooses to stand-in for iBUYPOWER for the MLG X Games qualifiers, replacing Nick "nitr0" Cannella.

While continuing to remain a part of the Cloud9 organisation, Spencer "⁠Hiko⁠" Martin has announced that he will be playing for iBUYPOWER during their qualifications for the MLG X Games.

I'm standing in for @iBUYPOWERCSGO to qualify for @MLG X-GAMES - nothing is confirmed until next year- matches starting tonight :D
— Spencer Martin (@C9Hiko) December 15, 2014

Hiko's efforts have already seen some fruition with his dominant performance in iBUYPOWER's first match in X Games Qualifier #1 on full display.

Hiko tests the water with iBUYPOWER

At the addition of Hiko, another player was clear to see their way out of the roster for the time being: this self-evident truth was verified when iBP newcomer Nick "⁠nitr0⁠" Cannella departed the lineup.

I appreciate all your support guys, but I wish the best of luck to the new @iBUYPOWERCSGO roster! Hope they do big things!
— Nick Cannella (@nitr0cs) December 15, 2014

Brought in in order to fill iBP's roster for DreamHack Winter, nitr0 impressed many with his frag-oriented play, putting up big numbers at both DreamHack (adjusting for iBP's brief run) and ESEA S17 LAN.

nitr0 surprised on the international scene

However, nitr0 has already found a temporary home in the line-up of Torqued, a team notably featuring Lucas "⁠steel⁠" Lopes and Mohamad "⁠mOE⁠" Assad. As per the latter's Tweet, nitr0 will be seen in action during the team's X Games Qualifier run:

Weclome @nitr0cs to our squad for MLG qualies
— Moe Assad (@m0E_tv) December 15, 2014

In a telling parallel to Hiko's performance as a stand-in, nitr0 was also seen last night with a strong showing during the X Games Qualifier.

Stay tuned to HLTV.org for any ensuing news on changes in the North American scene.

expected

2014-12-16 18:05

5 replies

old, hltv is getting slow to post those news

2014-12-16 18:10

1 reply

cnfrmd hltv slw rfl

2014-12-16 18:13

Yes, NA is going full Danish

2014-12-16 19:06

2014-12-16 23:01

True that

2014-12-16 23:18

#nashuffle2k14, no team will be spared

2014-12-16 18:06

17 replies

the NA scene is a joke

2014-12-16 18:11

16 replies

Portugal is no better m8. Kappa

2014-12-16 18:12

k1ck would also shuffle players, if there were any other teams and orgs to shuffle with

2014-12-16 18:21

12 replies

2014-12-16 18:23

2014-12-16 18:32

2014-12-16 18:56

he needs a burn heal

2014-12-16 19:27

Ouch

2014-12-16 19:57

The portuguese scene died when cs 1.6 died, besides k1ck theres not many other organizations. There is some skill here or there, but nowhere close to the european skill point atm. Its true i agree with you dont get the hate. The NA scene is just a bunch of backstabbers

2014-12-16 20:37

3 replies

there was a portugese scene in 1.6 ?

2014-12-16 21:23

2 replies

Just like there was a antarctica scene back in 1.6

2014-12-17 03:35

Yeah those guys from Hawaii were really good in 1.6

2014-12-18 16:49

Or more specifically, ibp

2014-12-16 20:43

that was quite painful

2014-12-16 21:10

Not really in my opinion, I think it's interesting to see a plenty of new lineups :D

2014-12-16 18:29

It's a joke for a team to try and make the most powerful team as possible? Just because portugal doesn't have the player pool NA does, doesn't make it a joke to swap.

2014-12-16 18:42

Felt sad for nitr0 watching that torqued gane :(

11 replies

yeah man, the team is good but moe, just really bad at this game

2014-12-16 18:17

10 replies

The sad fact is they're just a pug winning games via their skill, and that team getting that many rounds...? that was sad. DaZeD (and steel of course) was the only reason they beat mS/etc before. Then again mS didn't play too great either. We'll see how they fair when they face a real team, possibly iBP.

2014-12-16 18:49

4 replies

I'm not saying torqued is amazing or something, but if you were watching steel/moe stream the matches they were clearly not taking the games yesterday very seriously.

2014-12-16 19:33

Regardless, losing that many rounds to that mediocre to bad team is just sad.

2014-12-16 19:37

with 160-200 ping bro ? without real training ? it was ok imo

What are you talking about 160-200 ping? I'm talking about the MLG match, who cares what moe/steel did in some UK tournament.

2014-12-16 20:33

pretty sure you won't win 1on1 vs moe

2014-12-17 00:57

pretty sure im not ppl pretty sure im not expend 8 hours of my day in csgo, pretty sure i dont have a 144hz monitor, pretty sure i dont have best pc in the world, pretty sureprettysure

2014-12-17 01:00

then why are you saying that he is really bad at the game?

2014-12-17 10:04

now i need to be better than the guy to talk about it, shut up broh, a lot people on tv sport shows talk about messi but no one are better than him or thorin,ander,semmler, they're not btter than f0rest jw etc, just shut up

2014-12-17 15:13

ok sorry

2014-12-17 15:17

IBP will change their lineup before next year

weclome

+1 i was looking for comment about that misspell, you were the first commenting about that

2014-12-18 14:39

;(

not cool

cool

gl :)

2014-12-16 18:07

Tests his toes? I didn't think he was that sedentary.

I think that's my weird way of mixing up the two idioms "tests the water" and "dips his toes into" :D

2014-12-16 18:08

I think it's just a wrong template used :) Keppe

2014-12-17 00:22

Really sad to see nitr0 out of iBP. He was a really good player, much better then hiko tbh. Anyways, gl to you nitr0, don't know about hiko. Maybe iBP best team NA? Since C9 is... Yea, C9. :P

Sadly I think Hiko got tired of playing with C9, which isn't too shocking considering they just kept losing....all they had to do was replace sean/semphis, obviously it wouldn't be "easy" to just replace 'em, but yeah, if Hiko stayed it would have been Shah in for sean, then tarik maybe for semphis?

2014-12-16 18:50

non of them have really played that well in the past 6 months. I looked at n0thing every single match, because anders and semmler said that he was one of the best, if not the best player in NA. The only thing i actually saw, that was special was a 0-12 score. - But yea, I'm also glad he left(hiko) :)

2014-12-16 19:21

Not gonna lie, I'd love to see Hiko/shroud in iBP together. DaZeD/Ska/swag/Hiko/shroud.

2014-12-16 19:34

I still don't understand how Moe is allowed to compete despite video evidence of him installing cheats

Corrupt American bureaucracy.

And the witchhunt begins... Again. Guys, no one is guilty until proven otherwise. Yeah, maybe there are videos of him installing cheats. How cares? Sooner or later it will get him if he still cheats or starts to cheat. That's it

2014-12-16 18:18

It's not a witchhunt if there's clear evidence of him installing cheats. It is not comparable to flusha's accusations.

2014-12-16 18:24

hes already banned from esea. Hes "serving his sentence" as it were. Im not sure what else we could expect

2014-12-16 18:43

A ban from competitive tournaments in general? Why should a cheater be allowed to play in cevo/mlg?

2014-12-16 20:48

he was not VAC banned.

2014-12-16 22:50

How is that relevant?

2014-12-16 22:58

9 replies

how is him cheating in esea pug relevant to competing in cevo/mlg tournaments?

2014-12-16 23:00

8 replies

Because cheating should obviously not be tolerated at any level. Should KQLY not be banned from competitive play because it was never proven he cheated in professional leagues/tournaments? Edit: You also didn't respond to how his vac status is relevant.

2014-12-16 23:19

7 replies

KQLY is banned from competitive play because it was a VAC ban, so its not really the same thing. I am not really making a judgement on whether its right or wrong, I was just stating the way it is

2014-12-16 23:22

6 replies

I'm arguing that a vac ban and a video of someone installing cheats is the same thing - they both serve as undeniable proof of cheating and should be treated the same way.

2014-12-16 23:32

Tell that to Valve. If they didn't ban him, let him play. Let valve the judge.

2014-12-17 14:51

Valve isn't running/funding cevo and mlg

2014-12-17 17:30

ESEA is not running/funding Valve, CEVO, MLG, ESL, Dreamhack, ESEC or ESWC.

2014-12-17 17:55

This is about as relevant as your earlier comment about moe not being vac banned; i.e. not relevant at all.

2014-12-17 19:34

This is about as relevant as your earlier comment about banning moe from competitive tournaments in general.

2014-12-17 20:47

He was not VAC banned. And he is still good with the AWP.

2014-12-16 22:34

... gl nitro

WECLOME

#top1 inc

new writer ? :p

2014-12-16 18:09

why'd you ask?

2014-12-16 18:36

omfg

nitr0>hiko but ok ... shit move from ibp idk why they always switching

because hoes switch up on you in a heart beat

2014-12-16 21:17

I dont get the NA scene do they all hate or love each other?! :D

Murican's are pretty much the most ignorant people on the planet

2014-12-16 18:28

Burgers > Waffles

2014-12-16 21:25

See xD

2014-12-16 22:28

Belgian accents sound like an Indian smoked crack.

2014-12-19 00:00

That escalated quickly.

Good luck

2014-12-16 18:14

Now add shroud to iBP and GG..

2014-12-16 18:15

Who would you remove to have shroud in the lineup?

"nothing is confirmed until next year" n0thing to iBP? Whaaats? Kappa

anyone know where i can watch vod of torqued in their MLG game?

2014-12-16 18:20

"Weclome" sums up the professionalism of cheater Moe.

and why dont u stay in c9?

sad, he carried IBP...

wtf, nitr0 > Hiko :'-(

2014-12-16 18:25

Expected from 2-faced Hiko. Anybody that watches his stream or actually is a fan of him is brainwashed and an idiot. This move had been planned weeks to months ago and its obvious IBP didn't even care about Dreamhack, but just wanted to clear some room for Hiko. Hiko purposely didnt try for c9 and played like shit just so he'd have a reason to step down and join a different team. ITS OBVIOUS Hiko. Start being truthful to your brainwashed fanboys

2014-12-16 18:34

tinfoil hat confirmed

2014-12-16 18:44

Damn Genius Hiko Master mind !!!! Hiko's evil plan is too strong !!! Illuminati Hiko !!!!!

HOW DARE YOU HIKO

The Age of the NA cs begins?

iBP>vp, ldlc, titan, fnatic gg wp

2014-12-16 18:33

-1

2014-12-16 22:37

I have nothing against AZK, but I would hope to see him gone and desi or nitro take his place.

Why? AZK is better than both of them.

C9 had no shirts for hiko size anymore

2014-12-16 18:35

Traitor !

2014-12-16 18:37

After yesterday's m0e stream I can't see any bright future for torqued

2014-12-16 18:40

Well, no words :P

When Hiko had that long interview with Thorin, he said that he would never play on the same team as DaZeD again. Well, well, well. Two-faced Hiko strikes again. Honestly I don't get how Hiko easily isn't branded the most toxic guy in the NA scene. He has been trashtalking ShahZaM hard when they faced him, said he was a great act and an obvious onliner. Pasha did the same to JW, and Pasha went on to say sorry to him. Where is Hiko now ShahZaM is trying to fix what he broke in cloud9? He seems like he is a backstabbing sell-out, who I would never want to be around.

2014-12-16 18:41

shut up

2014-12-16 18:48

u shut up , u scene is fully betraying !

2014-12-16 20:12

m0e is like 100x more toxic than anyone else in NA lol stfu nerd

2014-12-16 19:02

Nice logic. "Wow, he's toxic? That's okay, I can be toxic too, as long as I'm not as toxic as him!". Mentally impaired American strikes again.

2014-12-16 19:50

You obviously don't know how to read. He's implying that m0E is the most toxic NA and not Hiko. Very classy calling someone mentally impaired when you're an idiot yourself.

2014-12-16 20:41

He didn't mention m0e at all. That's only your American brain playing with you.

moe is a fucking joke and cheater

2014-12-16 21:31

Your mental age is 10 (in EU that would be 3).

2014-12-16 21:41

Need a tissue?

I do remember that interview. Who knows maybe Dazed has changed since being kicked off once? However, so much for loyalty going to the arch rival IBP, saying he values loyalty in that interview. =T

2014-12-16 21:52

Hiko "subs" for IBP yea..

2014-12-16 18:46

Nice "retirement"!

He never said anything about retiring?

2014-12-16 20:20

hoping to see more of torqued so that there are 3 competent NA teams in 2015

2014-12-16 18:52

fucking traitor

traitor... omg wtf Hiko...

2014-12-16 18:58

does anyone know when torqued is playing tonight?

2014-12-16 19:10

nitro>hiko

2014-12-16 19:25

So thats hiko ditching c9 for ibp with a bit of drama?

it was common sense that eventually the 5 best NA players would make a team (hiko swag dazed azk ska)

2014-12-16 19:47

NA scene like Game of Thrones ! lmao every hour guaranteed

2014-12-16 20:01

Atleast we now have one super strong team while Russia stays in MM. Suckaaaaaaaaas

2014-12-16 20:21

Go Hard Like Vladimir Putin !

2014-12-16 21:27

super strong team Kappa

No kappa here bud

2014-12-17 01:04

Lol :)

2014-12-16 21:33

Problem?

2014-12-17 01:05

hiko carrying ibp in that game lol

2014-12-16 20:14

Haha, "subs". This move is done and done, but they surely will want to see if he fits in the teams chemistry before they seal it.

2014-12-16 20:17

Hiko - IBP best team <3

2014-12-16 20:19

Interesting.

2014-12-16 20:38

Hiko carrying ;)

2014-12-16 21:26

FINALLY!

imba

2014-12-16 21:36

This is exactly what I was hoping for. NA will actually get further than group stages now

Anyone else remember Hiko saying in Thorin's Reflections that he would never leave his "tight knit" team for IBP?

2014-12-16 21:50

just though of that and accidentally read your comment ahahaha, ya, I remember that.. Hiko was saying a different thing here youtube.com/watch?v=fTuouIX6VFw but its ok, doesnt matter, you live your moment, things can definitely change, you learn as you go, so its okay... You do what you find would be the best for yourself during that specific moment, so Hiko was honest when he said what he said, its just during that specific moment thats what he needed and felt was enough for him to be happy... IMHO

2014-12-17 02:55

CLG Hiko

2014-12-16 22:17

gj HIKO ;) !

2014-12-16 22:48

Moe Assad ‏@m0E_tv 14 minutes ago nitro was strictly a stand in for MLG match we made that clear, GL to him in denial. we are on 100% good terms. our 5th TBA for tonight twitter.com/m0E_tv/status/54497273138552..

2014-12-16 23:04