raalz completes Sprout lineup: "I still have a damn lot to give"

The German organization once again boasts an international lineup.

Sprout have announced the signing of Rasmus "⁠raalz⁠" Steensborg to their active lineup, filling the spot left after Denis "⁠denis⁠" Howell was benched last month. raalz joins from Danish organization Lyngby Vikings, with whom he had played since April 2020.

This marks a return to an international roster for Sprout just seven months after the organization assembled an all-German team again following the departure of Paweł "⁠dycha⁠" Dycha and Michał "⁠snatchie⁠" Rudzki, and is set to be the third time that Sprout will feature a mixed-nationality lineup.

raalz gets his big break eight years after he was tipped to become the next big thing in Denmark

raalz revealed that the team will communicate in English moving forward. "The guys from Sprout had the experience from earlier lineups and the same applies with me. This will not be any harder for us as we all know how to react and do comms in English," he explained. "I will be taking over a lot of denis' roles on different maps, which have been a lot of the same spots I've been playing with Lyngby Vikings."

"I am really looking forward to start working with the Sprout boys and I know for a fact that they, same as me, have high expectations for the upcoming months," raalz went on to say in a statement. "My goal is for sure to grind to the top with Sprout and show people what we can do together as a team."

"I am super happy about this opportunity given to me and I won't let anyone down, that's for sure. I will work my ass off every day, and still, keep up the hunger for even more. Now I am just ready to get the season started with the boys and put up some good results."

raalz may be known to long-time fans of CS:GO, as he played in the first two CS:GO Majors, DreamHack Winter 2013 and EMS One Katowice 2014. During this time, he played with players like Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen, Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander, René "⁠cajunb⁠" Borg, Mathias "⁠MSL⁠" Lauridsen, Philip "⁠aizy⁠" Aistrup, and more. Many players within the Danish scene saw him as one of the next big stars at the time, with both Peter "⁠dupreeh⁠" Rasmussen and Andreas "⁠Xyp9x⁠" Højsleth choosing him as their bold prediction in 2014's Top 20 players list, but after 3DMAX disbanded in 2014, raalz never returned the same level of competition.

HLTV.org talked to the Dane to ask about why his career came to a halt in the earlier days of CS:GO and how he has worked his way back up over the last few years. "I reckon I made some pretty bad calls personally in the early days of CS:GO, which caused a lot of back and forth from the game and real life," raalz shared. "I also had a lot on my mind besides the game."

In 2016, raalz opted to commit to military service, which didn't allow him to compete in CS:GO full time, but at the turn of the year he joined up with ANIMALS, which featured long-time Danish captain Danny "⁠BERRY⁠" Krüger as well as Lucas "⁠Bubzkji⁠" Andersen. "During my time in the military, I really figured out how much I missed the game and how much I really loved to play CS:GO. These thoughts made me decide to return to the competitive scene," he said.

Over the next couple of years, raalz played under many different organizations and tags in the lower-tier Danish scene, almost always alongside BERRY. "He simply knows how to get every team he plays on to compete with better teams," raalz said about the veteran in-game leader. "I think BERRY has always been doing a lot of great stuff for his teams and, honestly, is a really underrated IGL."

After opting in for military service, raalz slowly returned to action in the last few years

In the spring of 2020, he finally made the move over to Lyngby Vikings, sticking with the organization through many different roster iterations. In the year and a half he spent with the Danish side, raalz was always one of their standout players, helping the team establish themselves in the top 50 this year despite constant changes.

Now joining Sprout, raalz hopes to take his career one step further again after years of playing on the outskirts of top 30 competition, with his sights set high. "Even though Sprout is a step up in level from my previous teams, I really do believe I have what it takes to compete at this level," the Dane said. "I think I still have a damn lot to give both to my team but also regarding my individual performance. This is actually the first time in my whole career that I don't have anything besides CS to focus on."

He joins the German side at a time when they are looking to work their way back up to the top 30, having struggled to find success outside of local tournaments in recent times and barely escaping relegation from ESEA Premier ahead of the summer break. The 38th season of the league is where raalz is set to make his international debut with Sprout, with the event kicking off on August 17.

Sprout's new lineup looks as follows:

Timo "⁠Spiidi⁠" Richter
Josef "⁠faveN⁠" Baumann
Marko "⁠kressy⁠" Đorđević
Fritz "⁠slaxz-⁠" Dietrich
Rasmus "⁠raalz⁠" Steensborg

Niclas "⁠enkay J⁠" Krumhorn (coach)