NaToSaphiX steps in for Sprout in IEM Katowice Qualifier

23-1-2018 15:57

After an unimpressive display at the Major, Sprout has decided to shake up their roster for the IEM Katowice 2018 Qualifier—replacing Jesse "zehN" Linjala with Niels-Christian "NaToSaphiX" Sillassen.

Jesse "⁠zehN⁠" Linjala was one of the core three members still remaining from the PENTA squad that made the PGL Krakow 2017 Major last year. However, the team's performance in Atlanta, where they picked up one win, over Space Soldiers, before going out with three straight losses, demanded changes.

NaToSaphiX will be playing with Sprout

For today's IEM Katowice 2018 Open Qualifier, Sprout has decided to play with Niels Christian "⁠NaToSaphiX⁠" Sillassen, who up until now represented LPSP, replacing the Finnish 26-year-old on the roster.

HLTV.org has learned that NaToSaphiX will be taking over the main AWP role from Kevin "⁠kRYSTAL⁠" Amend, which will allow the German to focus on in-game leading. zehN's status within the team or his future are not known at this moment.

Sprout will, therefore, play the cup with the following lineup:

Kevin "⁠kRYSTAL⁠" Amend
Denis "⁠denis⁠" Howell
Timo "⁠Spiidi⁠" Richter
Paweł "⁠innocent⁠" Mocek
Niels Christian "⁠NaToSaphiX⁠" Sillassen

First I'd like to thank all of hltv community for granting me this opportunity, also I would like to thank my mom and all of my friends and family.

2018-01-23 15:59

18 replies

He's a really complete danish player, looking forward to see what he does with the team in the qualifier.

14 replies

needs another German

2018-01-23 16:01

5 replies

-inno +Tabsen

2018-01-23 17:12

4 replies

Why should tabsen join sprout? there is no reason when he is already on big

2018-01-23 21:16

3 replies

BiG is terrible. Worse than Sprout...

2018-01-23 23:21

2 replies

2018-01-24 00:28

1 reply

Just 2 EZ for N6

2018-01-24 08:51

who tf cares?

2018-01-23 16:00

We do

2018-01-23 16:11

+1 f u mahone

2018-01-23 21:33

me does

2018-01-24 10:22

Trust me he's not, the only thing this guy does if you have watched his previous matches is complain and whine lmao

2018-01-23 16:24

2018-01-23 16:28

Yeah I think so too! I hope he does well and gets recognised. Maybe het get picked up from a other team in the future! Glhf Nato

2018-01-23 16:54

we have the same flag and same team.... coincidence? xD

2018-01-23 22:00

Oh Yes would love to see him there <3

and cat i dont have cat

well done

2018-01-23 16:13

2018-01-23 15:57

Lul

He can show them smoke tutorials xD ?

2018-01-23 15:58

he was really good o LPSP

2018-01-23 23:28

downgrade

are u joking? Nato is pretty dope

2018-01-23 18:59

Lol no xD

2018-01-24 01:01

2018-01-24 06:23

lol no

2018-01-24 17:57

Gj Nato

bound to suck

This team won't go far.

Not if they keep replacing good players with shit ones. Whats next? Innocent out and some random streamer in?

2018-01-23 16:39

Nato isn't some random player though, he's consistently been getting 1.20-1.30 ratings when playing tournaments against tier 3-5 teams. He has potential to be a tier 2-1 player for sure.

2018-01-23 16:49

Don’t get too excited, maybe solid tier 2 player if everything goes well

2018-01-23 17:10

Sprout won't be more than that anyways with their players.

2018-01-23 20:11

lol please that fucker been around for many years he aint goin anywhere

2018-01-23 22:40

omegaLUL

Rip sprout thank god no more shitty german awping though

Krystal is the shitty german awper, and he's still on the lineup

2018-01-23 19:09

but he will full igl now

2018-01-23 21:39

First off, you can do both (FalleN). Also, as far as I know Spiidi said that kRYSTAL isn't IGLing anymore and that denis is the new IGL. So I don't think kRYSTAL will stop AWPing anytime soon.

2018-01-24 07:46

He may not stop AWPing but for now when Nato is on the team he aill definitely be AWPing. He has been dropping massive ratings against this entire year (2017) AWPing. It would be dumb to have him rifle

2018-01-25 15:33

gl natosaphix <3

Famous youtuber

Better player than youtuber btw

2018-01-23 16:08

His youtube is mainly highlights from official games now though...

2018-01-23 23:46

exactly

2018-01-24 00:58

meme

EZ 4 NATOGOD

Who

why not for inoccent hes botte...

7 replies

you never know why. maybe inno has another role on the inside of the team that we're not aware of. can't tell tbh cause he did truly suck at the quals.

2018-01-23 16:15

maybe his gf is sucking off all the players in the team?

2018-01-23 16:30

Probably not.

2018-01-23 17:04

Maybe it's him sucking off all the players

2018-01-23 17:11

Fnx

2018-01-23 18:06

I think the'd kick him instantly then.

I mean innocent didn't play that bad on major now. If I would kick somebody, that would be kRYSTAL not zehn.

2018-01-23 18:50

well that was unexpected

NaTooo!

No zehN no party.

looooool

ZEHN.............

Upgrade I wish dennis will get caked in for Crystal thou.

would be a waste for dennis. deserves a way better team than shitty sprout

2018-01-23 16:03

-denis +dennis

2018-01-23 16:09

-dennis +denis

2018-01-23 16:55

he qualified to V4 Budapest with Control Gaming and then he leaves them lol

doesnt that tournament allow only V4 CountrieS?

At least 1 per team

2018-01-23 16:21

aaaaa

2018-01-23 17:32

FaZe, mouz, vp and hr were I think the confirmed teams

2018-01-24 00:05

onlaner

Nato is actually a really good player, hope to see him on the big stages soon

lol

2018-01-23 16:05

What

2018-01-23 16:07

who ?

at this point they should consider disbanding, theres no way this is going to work

+szpero 100%

2018-01-23 16:04

zehn tilted or team decision?

Probably his own decision why would the team remove basically their best player lol

2018-01-23 16:17

kRYSTAL didnt want to awp anymore and they wanted a good awper. Someone had to take the hit.

2018-01-23 16:42

zehn > innocent.

2018-01-23 17:15

zehn > innocent > Bot John > kRYSTAL

2018-01-23 18:51

nt newfag

2018-01-24 02:55

So what sprout learned from the major is that they should get a danish player?

2018-01-23 16:06

They learned that the fraggers needs to be gone Innocent needs better team ffs

2018-01-23 23:04

So that was the guy who used kRYSTALs smurf account yesterday.

nato this is your chance!!!

nato this is ur chance mannnnnnnnnnnnnn I believe

Rip "zamknij pizde"

Saw him in Oddset cup. An absolute beast with the big green.

2018-01-23 16:12

LUL EZ

zehN is smart leaving this shitty team

2018-01-23 16:18

zehN was probably sprouts best player. but i dont know where else he could end up. teams like mouse are definatly not interested. maybe optic

2018-01-23 17:46

Spiidi and Denis have been performing way better than Denis tho

2018-01-23 19:10

He won't get any better opportunities

2018-01-23 19:29

that's great, keep removing your best players one by one until something magical happens :D

GL it's a good move

-mocek +szpero as awp -zehn +ayken

Nice, gl to him

2018-01-23 16:19

NICEEEEE!! Natosaphix deserves 100% Been watching him dominate the danish semi pro scene for like 3 years lol

zehn to optic

2018-01-23 16:22

And replace who?

2018-01-24 09:48

zehn was their best player by far lol

2018-01-23 16:23

Yes, I think this was zehn's decision. Now he can join a team that can actually develop.

2018-01-23 16:27

He might be also smart enough to realize that if he is the best player of the team, team has no hope.

2018-01-23 16:41

lmfao

Yep and got kickked OmegaLUL

2018-01-23 17:43

NATO in eSports, nt

why zehn wtf ? innocent deserve to be kick...

2018-01-23 16:26

Sweet NaTo! GL. Best option for a danish player rn hahah

Downgrade, Zehn was the best player.

WTF NATO? MY BOY!!!

2018-01-23 16:34

2018-01-23 16:40

gl sprout <3

2018-01-23 16:45

Who the hell is he?

2018-01-23 16:46

gl nato

so now 4 support players + NaToSaphiX

Innocent pls leave this team deserve better

2018-01-23 17:01

MY FAVOURITE PLAYER <3 NATOSAPHIX

2018-01-23 17:02

FINALLY!Gl,Nato.

2018-01-23 17:05

Wow nato eventually got an opportunity to prove himself

2018-01-23 17:07

Haha GL with the 2 worst pro players of all time Spiidi and Denis :()

2018-01-23 17:13

even if a like a lot zehn, denis and spiidi were doing a better job then him lately

2018-01-23 17:18

but i agree if u say that zehn > innocent

zehn > innocent but innocent > krystal kick krystal plox

2018-01-23 19:01

if krystal became the igl again he gonna give a lot more than denis bcs he know how to manage a team in a good way, and actually he is a rly sick support player

pretty good pickup, but they should keep zehN if they want an European team. CRUC1AL & mikeS are still free agents.

8 replies

2018-01-23 20:15

Whats so funny ? ;D

2018-01-23 20:21

6 replies

I mean, I guess you're just stating a random fact, so fair play.

2018-01-23 20:22

Im not staing random facts, they are free agent looking for a team.

Yea I know, but it's a random fact in this context.

2018-01-23 20:24

Nah mikeS is an IGL and its what Sprout lack, on top of that German & Dutch are not so different, with some english they will have a very good communication. Wich is important for mikeS as an IGL. And CRUC1AL is really good and without a team so why not. kRYSTAL is abd with the AWP ( and in general ) so why no hire a competent sniper ?

2018-01-23 20:26

IDK man. I've only seen crucial play ok vs tier3 and below, mikeS did aight with PENTA but again pretty much the same story and now neither have played in forever. I guess crucial can still grow but mikes is alrdy 25.

2018-01-23 20:30

Yeah so what ? Ive seen older players being in TOP1 teams. He's 25, so he should speed up and join with CRUC1AL a team. ( CRUC1AL is T2 at best but he can improve and atleast he will be playing teams of his level in Sprout )

2018-01-23 20:57

whole team is shit so makes sense to try to look for more firepower I guess xd. I also do not think zehn is at his best currently so removing him seems also non issue honestly...

2018-01-23 17:38

ahahaha even more bad now

2018-01-23 17:40

tegnap még v2ön toltad kutya

2018-01-23 18:17

will they stream the qualifier?

2018-01-23 18:19

NaToSaphiX you cheat and i cheat ~sodaH 2017

2018-01-23 18:48

who is this guy?

2018-01-23 18:52

sometimes he streams, played for alot of Danish mixes. Didnt do more tournaments out of Danish scene tho, but pretty good overall. Hes dedicated AWPer

2018-01-23 19:00

oh, ty man, i don't pay attention to the danish scene too much.

I do also not follow that much either danish scene, but somehow i watched some of his stream/matches. I think this guy got potentional just need more experience/matches to play on some good lvl. I think his around 20y old..

2018-01-23 19:05

yeah, maybe.

2018-01-23 19:12

Spiidi >= denis > zehn > innocent > kRYSTAL Kick krystal plz and keep zehn

2018-01-23 18:53

can you stop spamming this everywhere? krystal is the best player on sprout in actual if you think about it,hes been changing roles from support to awper to igl over the span of 4 years,shut your trap just to defend innocent

2018-01-24 02:59

>krystal is the best player on sprout in actual if you think about it nt krystal

2018-01-24 11:54

nt innocent

2018-01-24 18:17

Happy to see NaTo actually joining a tier 2.5 team!

2018-01-23 18:58

And he get's to focus on his awping instead of having to IGL Tier 4 teams. Hopefully he can prove himself.

he was igl too? Woah maybe he could igl in sprout too?

2018-01-23 21:36

Then Krystal would be pretty much useless

2018-01-24 00:16

Why people cry? Nato is actually good player, the guy is pretty young and need more exp on scene.

Jeg kan li det.

2018-01-23 19:06

Jeg ka' ikke li' det. Mest irriterende klip....

2018-01-24 08:49

Hahahahah

2018-01-24 17:03

Very nice

2018-01-23 21:00

Every time I saw nato play, he performed really well. Dunno how he was kept out of relevant teams for so long. Hope he grabs the chance here.

2018-01-23 21:12

pug player, cant expect more from him.

2018-01-23 21:41

Yet they still want to be called Sprout?

2018-01-23 21:45

onliner removed ez

2018-01-23 21:51

wtf not remove BOT innocent?? what this

2018-01-23 22:08

Stil waiting for -krystal

2018-01-23 22:42

and they just lost to the nohltvranked nice gaming , gj

2018-01-23 23:01

isn't nice gaming game agents?

2018-01-24 09:07

nope

2018-01-24 10:34

Fuck yea go Na2. Show em how it's done.

2018-01-24 00:37

Really nice pickup

2018-01-24 00:41

Two problems still though. - Krystal - Spiidi So yeah.

2018-01-24 01:03

wasn't spidii one of their best players?

2018-01-24 09:06

This tournament maybe, but Spiidi has a history of shitty matches that goes beyond the standard pro player.

2018-01-24 15:48

i mean im pretty sure the germans are the issues no?

2018-01-24 01:20

Krystal is not the IGL. denis has said he is the IGL during the Eleague Qualifier, please fix this HLTV.

2018-01-24 01:38

kRYSTAL is going to go back to IGL since he doesn't have to worry about AWPing and IGL now

2018-01-24 03:03

ok thank you very much, i read to fast to understand it.

2018-01-24 03:10

He's good but let's not overestimate the guy. Just remember AnJ and even valde

2018-01-24 01:39

So zehn leaves im pretty sure innocent leaves too

2018-01-24 02:04

great get rid of krystal and they stand a real chance

2018-01-24 02:50

Good Change. Krystals AWP was abysmal in the last months.

2018-01-24 02:57

They should have changed denis instead of zehn because he has more impact in terms of fragging and consistency than him tbh

2018-01-24 04:30

When is match??

2018-01-24 04:32

They are out already

2018-01-24 06:19

not really, i heard that there are 2 open eu quals so they have one more chance

2018-01-24 09:03

as soon as natosaphix would rock, other danish teams will take him... RIP SPROUT

2018-01-24 07:01

Good move, Finnish CS about as low quality as UK CS

2018-01-24 09:22

idk about that. Sunny and allu and HAVU are still alive

2018-01-24 14:57

really proud of him as a follower for several years, this is his time to shine and prove his worths

2018-01-24 23:37

NaToSaphiX steps in for Sprout in IEM Katowice Qualifier

Do you want analysis and insight in your inbox?