Thomas ready to step in for Endpoint in BLAST Premier Showdown as OG close in on flameZ

The British player is expected to plug the gap in the squad as the organisation prepares for life without the Israeli talent.

Endpoint will field Thomas "⁠Thomas⁠" Utting as their fifth player next week in the BLAST Premier Spring Showdown if OG complete the signing of Shahar "⁠flameZ⁠" Shushan, HLTV.org has learned. Discussions between the two organisations are at an advanced stage, with a deal expected to be wrapped up soon.

Thomas subsequently confirmed the story on Twitter, adding that he will also play for the team in European Development Championship 3, which will kick off Wednesday.

flameZ, one of the brightest young talents in the Counter-Strike scene, has emerged as OG's primary target to fill the vacant roster spot created by Issa "⁠ISSAA⁠" Murad's benching, last month. Michał "⁠MICHU⁠" Müller was also under consideration before OG stepped up their interest in the Israeli player, who was earmarked by Nemanja "⁠huNter-⁠" Kovač, Florian "⁠syrsoN⁠" Rische, Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool and Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač in the most recent HLTV Top 20 as a player to watch in 2021 and beyond.

Thomas is expected to play for Endpoint in the BLAST Showdown

Thomas is no stranger to Endpoint, having played for the organisation in two spells between 2018 and 2020. Both times, he left the team to try his luck in international projects - NoChance in 2019 and Envy in 2020 -, but he found success hard to come by.

The British player became a free agent in February, just weeks after Envy decided put their CS:GO division on hold for an unspecified period of time. He played just one tournament under the North American organisation, Flashpoint 2, in which Envy finished 7th-8th. He has stepped in for Endpoint several times this year, in both domestic and international competitions.

The BLAST Premier Spring Showdown will run between April 13-18, with $162,500 and two spots in the BLAST Premier Spring Finals on the line. Endpoint booked their spot in the tournament after winning the Fantasyexpo Cup, in which they beat Pompa, LDLC, Sprout and DBL PONEY.