The 2022 off-season roster shuffle recap
As the player break winds down, it's time to take a look back on what went down over the off-season.
With the Counter-Strike world gearing up for the start of the next season, it's only right that we take inventory of all the new-look rosters that were formed since the conclusion of IEM Cologne in July.
From the overhauling and change of leadership of G2 to the single roster move of Complexity, a lot has transpired over the player break and the new season will definitely bring some shuffling in the rankings once competiton resumes and these upcoming rosters debut.
Natus Vincere
While not necessarily a transfer in itself, and certainly not one that materialised over the player break, sdy's confirmed addition to the squad until the IEM Rio Major is still one of the talking points heading into the new season. The Ukrainian has already helped his new side to gold with a victory at BLAST Premier Spring Groups whilst narrowly missing out on a trophy at IEM Cologne with a loss to FaZe in the finals. With even more practice and stability under their belts, there's no doubt that the CIS roster will be gunning for their second Major, and there's already proof in the pudding that this iteration of Natus Vincere have what it takes to wrestle with FaZe for that coveted top spot.
Vitality
The highly-scrutinised Franco-Danish experiment has, so far, failed miserably for Vitality, notably missing out on stage appearances at the three biggest events of the year — IEM Katowice, PGL Major Antwerp, and IEM Cologne. This led to the side parting ways with misutaaa and instead acquiring star rifler Spinx from ENCE in a bid to get the sinking ship back on track. With apEX coming out to say their role issues are now resolved, it'll be interesting to see where the future takes them, and whether this transfer will be enough to help them start being a menace in the server once more.
ENCE
After spending the first half of the calendar year firmly second-place behind FaZe, it makes sense to see ENCE scour the market in search of upgrades after Spinx elected to transfer to Vitality. In a bid to topple their kryptonite in FaZe from atop the world rankings, ENCE have reportedly gone on to sign the Spanish hot topic in SunPayus and the dependable Dane in valde. It will always be difficult to fill the void left by Spinx's departure, but should this change in personnel come to fruition, it might help lessen the blow and finally see the Finnish organisation get their hands on some silverware if they play their cards right.
G2
A year spent in the shadows of Natus Vincere saw the overhauling of the G2 roster over the new year. But eight months later and with their trophy cabinet still looking barren, the European mix have opted to double down with yet another change in personnel with the recruitment of jks and HooXi. Time will tell whether this change pans out as expected, especially with this new venture being HooXi's first time at the helm of an English-speaking lineup and jks being away from competition for quite some time (aside from a Cindarella stand-in stint with FaZe at IEM Katowice).
Liquid
It's no secret that Liquid have YEKINDAR firmly within their crosshairs for their new fifth. The Latvian's addition as a stand-in was felt almost immediately as his debut with the North American side at IEM Cologne saw the team nab their best placement of the year so far. Praise by his Liquid teammates was quickly sent his way, and with the 22-year-old now being fielded once more at BLAST Premier Fall Groups, odds are that spirits are high and the nitr0-led lineup will be able to continue their upwards trajectory. Chances of a permanent transfer are a bit up in the air given the current US-enacted sanctions, but for now, Liquid will be enjoying this new-found success, even if it might be only temporary.
BIG
Aside from claiming victory at Roobet Cup 2022, BIG have largely remained stagnant for much of the year, securing a couple of top-four finishes but rarely contending for titles or making consistent deep runs. Missing out on IEM Cologne was the kick in the gut BIG needed to make a move — bringing k1to back into the starting lineup at the expense of tiziaN and having both the in-game leader in tabseN and coach in gob b put pen to paper for extended five-year deals. Should k1to slot back into tabseN's system without too much trouble, and if syrsoN is able to even come close to his peaks in 2020, there's no reason why BIG should be unable to start reaching far into tournaments.
Movistar Riders
Movistar Riders' end to the opening season of the year was nothing short of extraordinary. Blitzing through ESL Challenger Valencia before making a semi-final appearance at the stacked event that was IEM Cologne, this was an ascent that few expected from the Spanish side. However, a lot of this aforementioned success can be attributed to their then-star AWPer SunPayus, whose loss will be difficult to remedy. This is even further exacerbated by the fact that the 23-year-old's replacement, MartinezSa, is quite the rookie — only recording 44 maps on HLTV's databse. While they will most likely retain some form of relevancy in the top 30, it's going to be hard to see how they'll continue their strong form seen earlier on in the year, especially with the extra time they'll need to settle in their new recruit.
Copenhagen Flames
The Copenhagen Flames machine is back in operation with a new roster to represent the Danish organisation. After the success of their previous project saw players such as HooXi head over to G2 and jabbi make the leap to HEROIC, they will be hopeful to have a similar experience this time around. Whether the birdfromsky-led lineup will have as many positive takeaways is up for debate but the majority of the players are able to hold their own, and if any org seems to get the most out of their lineups, it's Copenhagen Flames.
Sprout
Sprout's off-season saw the departures of long-term member Spiidi and raalz after a relatively mixed start to the year. The side managed to achieve a 5th-6th place finish in ESL Challenger League Season 41, but then they fell flat at ESL Pro League Season 16 Conference. In their place, Sprout opted to bring on both Zyphon, who joins from the Copenhagen Flames project, and refrezh from HEROIC, with the latter taking up leadership for the first time in his career. Can this injection of Danish power be enough to elevate the squad from Europe's tier two?
Apeks
The new-look Apeks roster looked promising when announced at the beginning of 2022, seeing STYKO, nawwk, and jkaem all be brought in; each with a solid amount of tier one experience under their belts. Results not quite up to par followed however, and the team have since renewed their effort to climb atop the world rankings with the additions of a young talent in jL and the esteemed French veteran of shox. Will this flurry of signings be a worthwhile investment, and can we expect to see them taking the scalps of some high-end lineups given the vast amount of seniority on display?
fnatic
fnatic's form in recent times has been underwhelming; especially for an organisation of their stature and with the esteemed history they have within Counter-Strike. Opting to move away from established in-game leader Alex "ALEX" McMeekin, the lineup have taken a gamble with mezii now at the helm. Looking to help out in the fragging department is FASHR who will be a key component in ensuring fnatic have the firepower to contend with the best of the best. With all of the question marks and uncertainties regarding roles and roster composition now firmly out of the way, fnatic are ready to get back in the server, with their first outing with their new quintet being at ESL Pro League Season 16, with mezii's boys finding themselves in Group A alongside the likes of Natus Vincere, Ninjas in Pyjamas, and Vitality.
Falcons
Falcons have managed to achieve some success during 2022, but this is mostly isolated to the tier two European and domestic French scenes, with their victories in ESL National Championship France Spring and ESL Challenger League Season 41 being the biggest highlights. But this could change with the new signings of both NBK- and misutaaa, two players experienced with the world of tier one. We can assume the French squad will move up the rankings once play resumes, players with the veterancy of NBK- do not come easily and it's hard to imagine a world in which they don't.
Complexity
Complexity ended the first season of 2022 on a ten-match loss streak, with their sole win since May being against Mongolian side IHC in the PGL Antwerp Major. Often cited as the biggest reason for the numerous shortcomings was junior who averaged a lacklustre 0.98 rating during his time under the Complexity banner. Moving forward, JT and company have settled on hallzerk in a desperate bid to finally get some worthwhile results on the board. The Norwegian sniper is definitely an upgrade compared to his American counterpart — with the former averaging a 1.04 rating versus top-30 opponents to junior's 0.94 — but can this European injection help steer the ship back on course, or are we going to continue seeing Complexity fall flat event after event? We'll have to wait and see.
Evil Geniuses
Both 2021 and 2022 have been absolutely horrendous for Evil Geniuses, and that's putting it lightly. The reunion of the Major-winning trio of autimatic, RUSH, and Stewie2K was supposed to get the organisation back on track but that too failed miserably, notably missing out on the PGL Antwerp Major; all while going through the Americas RMR no less. In a bid to stop the bleeding, Evil Geniuses has brought on both neaLaN as in-game leader, a Dane as skipper in Vorborg, and promoting the Canadian youngster in HexT from their Blueprint project. The Seattle-based organisation will be hoping these moves help the brand start getting some much-needed wins on the board.
Imperial
Imperial's height of a 9th-11th placing at the PGL Antwerp Major seemingly justified the Last Dance project. But, praise-worthy results soon began eluding the Brazilian side, culminating in the benching of fnx whilst parting ways with head coach peacemaker. The far more able chelo is reportedly top of the shopping list, with the 24-year-old consistently being one of MIBR's more stalwart players. Can this signing be enough to propel the Brazilians back to their peak at 14th, or will the roster continue to sink further and further whilst other Brazilian cores take the lead?
Other notable changes:
Eternal Fire
HEET
MIBR
paiN
ORDER
Into the Breach
Ismailcan 'XANTARES' Dörtkardeş
Alejandro 'mopoz' Fernández-Quejo Cano
Marcelo 'chelo' Cespedes
Valdemar 'valde' Bjørn Vangså
Aleksi 'Aleksib' Virolainen
Robin 'ropz' Kool
Thomas 'birdfromsky' Due-Frederiksen
Tizian 'tiziaN' Feldbusch
Álvaro 'SunPayus' García
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