Hiko steps down from OpTic

21-3-2017 21:48

Spencer "Hiko" Martin has announced on Twitter that he is no longer playing for OpTic Gaming as a substitute.

Spencer "⁠Hiko⁠" Martin had been filling in for OpTic since the surprise departure of Peter "⁠stanislaw⁠" Jarguz to Liquid, with the 27-year-old stating at the time that he would be playing for the team "through DreamHack Masters Las Vegas at the least".

He ended up staying a bit longer and also attended the IEM World Championship, but in both cases the team failed to impress, finishing 9th-12th in Las Vegas and 11th-12th in Katowice.

Hiko will no longer play for OpTic

The news closely follows coach Luis "⁠peacemaker⁠" Tadeu's own announcement that he was no longer working for OpTic after joining the organisation on trial at the same time as Hiko.

On Twitter, William "⁠RUSH⁠" Wierzba revealed that Echo Fox member Ryan "⁠freakazoid⁠" Abadir will be filling in for the team in tonight's ESL Pro League match against Rush, which is scheduled to start at 03:20 .

The North American team currently have:

Keith "⁠NAF⁠" Markovic
William "⁠RUSH⁠" Wierzba
Tarik "⁠tarik⁠" Celik
Oscar "⁠mixwell⁠" Cañellas

Not going to be standing in for @OpTicGaming anymore - good luck to them!

Still not giving up! Exploring other options :)

xD
— Spencer Martin (@Hiko) March 21, 2017

Good for OpTic :) Hiko was the problem tbh.

2017-03-21 21:51

35 replies

expected

2017-03-21 21:48

25 replies

2017-03-21 22:12

15 replies

2017-03-21 22:22

14 replies

2017-03-21 22:37

13 replies

c9: -autimatic +Hiko optic: -hiko + Elige, -mixwell + jdm64 sorry I'm from future

2017-03-22 01:06

12 replies

xD would be cool but i guess elige and jdm are sticking with liquid for quite longer time than that xD

2017-03-22 01:11

8/8

2017-03-22 02:56

lol autimatic is 1000 times better than hiko

2017-03-22 06:31

1 reply

2017-03-22 07:25

literally so wrong it hurts.

2017-03-22 07:13

-autimatic wtf?

2017-03-22 08:23

cs teams are stupid and drop things. I didnt say this as it was logical, just likely because na cs is dumb

2017-03-27 15:59

disband 99 % NA teams. ...

2017-03-22 09:56

I'll nuke the world if Autimatic gets dropped for Hiko.

2017-03-22 14:44

Yes, drop C9s 2nd best player... That ain't going to happen. C9 won't even drop their worst players. I could actually see something like that happening if Stewie left too. They might be so fed up with C9 being garbage that they would go as a package deal to Liquid or Optic. But they certainly aren't going on their own. Also why the fuck would Elige and JDM (JDM especially) leave the team now that it finally has some sort of tactics and structure.

2017-03-22 16:35

2 replies

whos their best? let me guess OMG STEWIE RUSHING SMOKES HAHA shut up

2017-03-22 16:53

You could argue that Autimatic is better than Stewie, and I'd say they are pretty close. Regardless they are certainly the 2 best by far. Nothing is decent but Shroud and Skadoodle are trash.

2017-03-22 20:43

Inb4 +jks cause renegades are reportedly signing some random serbian dude. Heard it here first.

2017-03-21 22:27

8 replies

2017-03-21 22:29

7 replies

even azr is a good pickup imho. Solid consistent fragger.

2017-03-21 22:33

6 replies

If either of them want a chance to do something even decent, they need to leave RNG, unless they're dumb and signed a 4 year contract or something ridiculous.

2017-03-22 00:44

5 replies

No good NA teams will ever pick up the RNG kids and it's mainly just because they're bad even for NA standards and that's saying a lot. Sure they seem like good hard working kids but they suck ass at the game and in no way should be competing anywhere above premier same goes for the UK shitters on Complexity. Just think about the amount of money that Org has lost keeping this team that barely even qualifies for LANs anymore.

2017-03-22 09:35

4 replies

they are decent players but they are also very inconsistent. jks and azr can be crazy good, they just need a good igl. yam is a dedicated awper, not an igl. He really showed it in 2014 as the best awper in au but he's been struggling lately.

2017-03-22 15:46

Optic also needs a dedicated IGL, they were a top 3 or 4 team in the world before their IGL Stan left. Now they've gone to shit cause there is a void there. I think Optic has an IQ of at least 2 so they understand that and will try to get some sort of IGL. Unfortunately they don't have many options. Maybe Daps although with how he was kicked I would doubt he would want to come back. Other than that they could import someone from EU. That would seem to be the best option IMO. Maybe see if Ex6tenz is willing to go over to NA. I'm sure he would love to get out of the tier 3 hell that is LDLC and he would certainly get those guys in shape.

2017-03-22 16:48

jks and AZR are not bad, you are dumb if you think so. They are on a bad team.

2017-03-22 17:16

they need a better igl

2017-03-22 18:35

RIP BIG HEEK

Retire

2017-03-21 21:49

HIHO IS THE PROBLEM

Hiko only good if he is allowed to play his favourite positions on ct side and lurk as a T

2017-03-21 22:47

nucka got kicked.

2017-03-21 23:19

Literally saw this coming from seven miles away.

2017-03-22 02:11

2017-03-22 12:07

hiko to dignitas instead of pita

2017-03-22 10:29

expected from na

are you kidding me

Hiko's sister is so hot dudeeee

rip hiko. where will he go next?

Mythic

retirement home

2017-03-21 22:18

I think Dignitas would be a great option , because "pita" < "hiko". Nevertheless "pita" got much hate, when dignitas announced that they changed their roster. So Hiko woukd be a lurker instead of pita.

2017-03-22 07:07

pita vel kebab is random player .... just like 1/2 of PRO players .... and they earn money this is SICK

2017-03-22 09:55

wtf

2017-03-21 21:50

yes, can confirm by me

obvious

RIP Big Heeks

finally

OMG

wow

poor hiko!

+ jks

omg

Hiko has literally been in every NA team almost LMAO

Like znajder in EU LUL

2017-03-21 22:20

WTF WHO IS REPLACING HIM Daps?

3 replies

jks, freakazoid or roca you heard it here first!

2017-03-21 22:30

I hope it's jks but it probably won't happen

2017-03-21 22:31

freakazoid is worse than hiko and roca is terrible at cs, online pugger

2017-03-22 06:28

FaZe Hiko confirmed

SpaceSoldiers Hiko

2017-03-22 18:38

Nein coldzera will play 5th for ex dp

2017-03-22 21:19

wtf, Hiko climbing down the tier ladder..

-shroud +hiko

SHUFFLE INCOMING

Oh noe

retirement inc

Well, Expected... "xD" Good luck Hiko! We smart, we loyal, we friendly, we are from BRAZIL! Kreygasm

who says Brazilians are smart?

2017-03-21 22:23

BuddyINSANE

2017-03-21 22:32

Don't hate us buddy, accept your reality!

lol Brazilians are the most toxic people on the planet and don't even try to say it's not true..

2017-03-22 03:55

uninstall hiko

wise words

2017-03-21 21:56

Hard for this guy to find a decent team in NA..

lol he had his chance

2017-03-22 00:42

Hard to find a decent team in NA..

2017-03-22 07:35

I think the main difference between NA and EU is our nationalities. While there are a few rather successful international teams, the majority stick to their country's or neighbour's language teams, while US and US teams are just a mix of any players who move from one team to another, thus lacking stability. Just my thoughts.

2017-03-22 19:36

hiko?? are u kidding me

that was fast

Hiko to C9 :D

hiko go c9

OpTic.OCEAN. A leader of men. A savant tactician. A fragger, boys.

+3000 if it happens i donate both kidneys

2017-03-21 21:59

+ Lungs

2017-03-22 00:05

The forward thinking academics of HLTV understand that it will take a selfless leader and people pleaser like OCEAN to lead us to the sacred land of trophies and titles.

2017-03-22 00:12

2017-03-21 23:54

more like fell down from optic

predictable

expected since he join optic became regular shit tier55 NA team

2017-03-21 21:52

Next is team dignitas

I knew hiko wont do much in optic, it was rly stupid to trade stanislaw fir hiko, such a retarded move..

2017-03-21 21:53

11 replies

stanislaw left bro and hiko was their only option

2017-03-21 21:55

WTF Idk how I missed that but why would stan left optic, they were pretty solid team and top na team. And stan is rly good igl who can actually kill sometimes which is pretty rare with todays igls. Too many questions..

2017-03-21 21:58

personality clash, the fact that they originally wanted to remove stan for daps, but tarik wanted stan. Liquid might be an org willing to make a team that suits him.

2017-03-21 22:13

Apparently stan didnt want to stream/social media and do things like that but Optic really wants their players to do a certain amount of hours every week as a form of advertising its brand. He started talking to Liquid and they told him that he can just focus on CS and not worry about any other duties so he just left Optic. So hiko was kicked and Optic needed a 5th quickly so they picked him up on trial basis to see how the team would look with him in the roster. Didnt turn out good so he's now been kicked or left on his own accord.

It wasnt a trade tho. Snan left for liquid, hiko got homeless and optic was in need of a player so they took hike since he was the only reasonable player avaible at the time. After all he was just a "standin" from the start

Yeah my bad, but one thing for sure - optic will never find a good igl like stan and I guess they will be like clg and other na teams who will never again qualify for major.

2017-03-21 22:00

if they toggle frequently enough they will qualify, dont need an igl with perfect info

2017-03-22 08:57

Wasn't a trade, Stanislaw left optic suddenly for the $$$

Liquid have more money than Optic? :/

2017-03-21 22:02

Optic pours all of their money into top notch Halo and COD teams so yeah in terms of CS they do

2017-03-21 22:07

fucking waste of money lol the only reason theres any money in cod or halo is the publishers throwing money at those tournaments to sell more consoles seems like a bad move to put more money into those scenes than you get out of it and if having cod and hlao teams makes optic more money than they cost your point doesnt apply

2017-03-22 08:59

Expected.

-pita +hiko coming soon...

2017-03-21 21:54

rip optic lul

Please C9 , send shroud to Optic but dont bring Hiko in

that will not fix anything, bring in a shit player while letting go of another shit player

2017-03-21 22:17

Hiko to C9 inc

hiko clanhopper like maikelele ....

Just give up

good

2017-03-21 21:57

100% expected

+ShahZam

OpTic hazed?

THANK GOD

Optic sucks. Good to hear for hiko

Gl Hiko!

hiko in 2k17 xD

-pita +Hiko

2017-03-21 22:01

bot pls retire LUL you NEVER will win a major xD

2017-03-21 22:04

long journey

2017-03-21 22:06

retire

Plays one tourny. Plays poorly, steps down, hard lel. The balls on this kid

2017-03-21 22:09

maybe clown 9 next, the best team in tier 3 NA

2017-03-21 22:10

optic pita optic pyth optic freakazoid optic summit1g optic moe optic lilmoe optic crimsix

minimoe

2017-03-22 00:50

Hiko keep changing temas like socks, gg

just give up my guy

2017-03-21 22:15

stewie to optic, hiko to c9?

2017-03-21 22:19

inb4 c9 somehow gets better

thank god

hiko are you kidding me???!?!

loool

Back to streaming, typical for NA.

2017-03-21 22:24

Good move by optic.. who's gonna replace him?!

C9 Hiko

hiko is fucking shit....c9 doesnt need more bots...

2017-03-21 22:52

BigBoss already!

2017-03-21 23:08

Rush should ditch optic and join c9 and -shroud

2017-03-22 00:49

stew auti elige rush ska

2017-03-22 18:37

stan fked it all by leaving.. or lets say optic fked it up by letting stan go

so long road :D kappa

2017-03-21 22:42

-pita +hiko pita to coach, and dignitas top10 easily.

2017-03-21 22:43

Shit player, I hope no team with potential thinks he would be a good addition

2017-03-21 22:48

It was about time the only best na player that deserves a good team

2017-03-21 22:50

hiko destroys teams..I hope he wont find a new one...he should stick with streaming...

2017-03-21 22:51

Welcome CoL.Hiko :)

CLG Hiko

2017-03-21 23:02

Hiko in eu?

2017-03-21 23:05

As bad as it sounds, OpTic best option might be try to pick up Daps again for the team. They were a decent team with him, not as good as they were with Stan tho.

2017-03-21 23:07

2017-03-21 23:10

2017-03-21 23:17

expected xD

2017-03-21 23:18

When was the last time he played good, can someone enlighten me?

2017-03-21 23:22

SIGN ADREN. SIGN SLEMMY.

2017-03-21 23:23

Go To EU Hiko

2017-03-21 23:27

Winning pugs is hikos options to explore

2017-03-21 23:30

optic decided they didnt want u lol, u didnt step down....lets be real here

2017-03-21 23:43

From the semi final in MLG Columbus, to the grand final in ESL ONE Cologne, to being out of groups in E-League Atlanta... and now to not even be on a team. Feels bad for Hiko. I hope he at least joins a decent T2-T3 team and starts grinding back. Anyway, good luck big heekz.

2017-03-21 23:56

ez carry by simple

2017-03-22 09:00

Hiko gonna join cloud9 or CLG

2017-03-22 00:03

Plz not c9 even shroud and n0thing are better..

m0e's gonna show that he can carry the best team in NA.

Hiko skill level unfortunately has fallen below Tier 1 teams so maybe he will join a low tier team.

2017-03-22 00:18

Maybe Hiko will replace pita in dignitas? it will make them a good team.

2017-03-22 00:22

I didn't knew he was a standin. GL, clutch master.

2017-03-22 00:38

lol he hasn't been a clutch master in years

2017-03-22 00:51

No. Hiko, fnx, neo, f0rest, Xyp9x, shox, FalleN, snax, GeT_RiGhT, and a few others, are and will always be clutch masters, this is something that belong to their play style, and most of the times, they prove it. Hiko is by far the best NA clutcher.

2017-03-22 00:55

How can you say that when he hasn't been clutching jack shit for 2 years

2017-03-22 00:57

...are you a hater? Obviously he had some clutches on the last two years.

2017-03-22 01:02

not at all I think hiko is a chill dude it seems like but I'm just talking from what I've noticed. ofc he's had some clutches but nothing compared to how he used to

2017-03-22 01:05

youtube.com/watch?v=kbOZUer1yZU

2017-03-22 16:51

lol another one of those people who believe in roles. hiko is the best clutcher vs tier 4 na teams. vs better teams it doesnt work, he waits for his team to die, gets doublepeeked, and dies. end of round. no chance to win. the only clutches hiko succeeds at are the ones where people just run at him one at a time.

2017-03-22 09:03

c9 hiko getting the band back together

2017-03-22 00:45

Inb4 full time streamer.

2017-03-22 00:52

+ScreaM

FREAKAZOID STANDING IN FOR ESL PRO LEAGUE

2017-03-22 01:04

dat xD at the end of tweet.

give up.

2017-03-22 01:21

Freakzoid to stand-in

2017-03-22 01:34

Finally

2017-03-22 02:28

good decision, OpTic is done, the problem tarik is still there.

2017-03-22 03:06

Hopefully freak. Even tho he is not great in high level competition but still a decent entry fragger.

2017-03-22 03:22

no he isnt

miss Hiko when he used to play with swag and n0thing under coL. That was his peak

2017-03-22 04:04

Finally Good for OpTic

2017-03-22 04:34

2017-03-22 05:51

coL Hiko

2017-03-22 06:10

-atter +hiko

2017-03-22 06:15

Wtf why? Hike was their best player.. Kappa xD

should probably just stream and join clg to get a salary. there is no room for him on c9/optic/liquid.

2017-03-22 07:16

he is too bad for c9 lmao forget it. his place is at splyce or smth like that

2017-03-22 07:27

FREAK COMEBACK INC. HYPE IS REAL

2017-03-22 07:39

There's something wrong with this guy, am I right?

2017-03-22 07:45

2017-03-22 08:17

e.lvme.me/enys03l.jpg

2017-03-22 08:31

after s1mple leaves ,hiko seem gets lonely

2017-03-22 08:38

hiko who ?

2017-03-22 09:10

"steps down" lmao no they kicked him and he has been shit for long enough now since s1mple left Liquid, HiKo has been pure shit. Edit: Actually now that I think about it since he came back to the scene after that long ass break he spent without a team he's been a garbage over rated and over paid shit player and has ruined many NA teams he played for, cancer player.

2017-03-22 09:31

optic top1 confirmed

2017-03-22 09:30

Sad to see a person who has achieved so much failing. He's hard working and he will bounce back.

well, that was quick :D

2017-03-22 09:37

HAHAHAHHAHAAHA NA SCENE HAHHAAMAUAHAHHABAUAHAHAHAHAHAHUEHEUEHUEHEUEHAHHAA HAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAAMUAHAHAHAA AHHAHAHAHAAA HHAHAHHAHAHHAHHAAHHA'AAHAHAHAHAHAHA

2017-03-22 09:52

that was really funny I suppose

2017-03-22 10:38

2017-03-22 11:29

Hiko to Complexity?

2017-03-22 11:34

Optic Freakazoid?!

2017-03-22 12:04

he's bad so w/e.

2017-03-22 13:22

Those of you who were there from the "Beginning" Today there is 14 top teams in NA ( ESL Pro League - en.pro.eslgaming.com/csgo/proleague/team.. ) Of these, one often hear six teams in the finals: Cloud9, Counter Logic Gaming, Luminosity, Optic, Team Liquid and SK Gaming. * Luminosity and SK Gaming are not Americans, but Brazilians. So that leaves 4 teams. * Cloud9: Former cs 1.6 pro who remained. * Team Liquid: A group of players who can be heard occasionally but not often .. That leaves .. * Optic and CLG. It's damn-incredible to me how the top players in CLG and Optic 3 years ago played together in a mixed team that just "glowed" everywhere. The story of mouseSpaz. 2014. Or rather, iBUYPOWER versus mouseSpaz - December Cup 2014. youtube.com/watch?v=Kh9E2OtzLBM Not the match but lineup, MouseSpaz: FNS, Cutler, PTR, hazed, Tarik vs IBUYPOWER: Skadoodle, Hiko, swag, Dazed, AZK. All names in MouseSpaz play in NA-TOP today. FNS: CLG Cutler: CLG PTR: NRG eSports hazed: Former CLG tarik: Optic Gaming Also... Skadoodle of Cloud9, Dazed from "the ban", swag from "the ban", AZK from "the ban" MouseSpaz also stand for one of history's greatest comeback: 2-13 against Hellraisers: youtube.com/watch?v=52Xr1JDj_7E -> January 2015 MouseSpaz officially became CLGs CS: GO team but it was in March that the dream became reality. During MLG qualifying them where defeated Titans and were eligible to ESL One katawice. Http://www.hltv.org/news/13994-clg-sign-.. Http://esport.aftonbladet.se/csgo/ptr-vi.. Today, tens of thousands of Americans fight in ESEA and FaceIt in hopes to become the next stewie2k, a player who became famous for being at the top of the rankings and win a place in the North American best cs: go team - Cloud 9. That story is true. But what Americans do not really understand is how those other two world-ranked csgo teams - CLG and Optic - was created out of five guys who play together as a fun mix. - And I saw the whole development - in 2015 - when Tarik sat bare-breasted in the stream and argued and had fun with his teammates during games. And mouseSpaz (next CLG) won nearly all their games, with crushed result. Who says Individualism is stronger than A Clan? People today don't really understand the meaning of .. Clan. Edit: To strengthen this theory. In October 2014. Denial vs mouseSpaz. Denials lineup: ShahZaM, NAF-FLY, nitr0, Daps, fugly - youtube.com/watch?v=4ohptD3s5M4 ShaHZaM: Misfits (formerly Optic) NAF-FLY: Optic nitr0: Team Liquid Daps: NRG eSports Fugly: NRG eSports Summary: Old pros are still pros. and the People of the ESEA will never become professionals by pugs. That is to say, to play with four unknown people and try to "win" on the scoreboard list. Just wanted all the players in the Rank B, A, G (insert random letter) to learn this lesson.

2017-03-22 14:25

Interesting read. I would be happy to read a blog with more teams and more matches included. It would be a good blog

2017-03-22 17:04

Hey hiko ive got a idea for you mate, just retire and become a simples manager.

2017-03-22 16:42

2017-03-22 16:43

good luck for u hiko

2017-03-22 17:29

Maybe they have seen that Thorin video explaining the qualities Freakazoid has, and they consider changing their mentality towards leaders in the scene. Without real leaders it doesnt matter if they are frag stars, as soon as they meet EU top teams with real leadership structure those garbage NA superstars will crumble to dust.

2017-03-22 18:21