Sprout bench refrezh; Zyphon returns to active roster

28-2-2023 15:15

The 19-year-old returns to the lineup after spending 21 days in the inactive roster.

Sprout have announced their decision to move Ismail "⁠refrezh⁠" Ali to the bench and transfer-list the player, ending his six-month stint on the active roster. In his place, Rasmus "⁠Zyphon⁠" Nordfoss will make his return to the starting lineup after spending three weeks on the sidelines.

The news comes after a series of internal changes in the European squad this month, which started with the initial removal of Zyphon and refrezh's decision to step down from the in-game leader role. The team briefly trialed Mikkel "⁠Maze⁠" Sparvath as an IGL, but Sprout decided to end their trial just a few of days later.

Sprout have transfer-listed refrezh six months after his arrival

refrezh joined Sprout alongside Zyphon in August 2022 and took over the leadership of the squad as a rookie captain. It was under him that the Danish core surprised everyone and claimed a spot in the IEM Rio Major Legends Stage with victories over FORZE, Spirit, and B8 at the European RMR. Their favorable start in Rio enabled Sprout to secure their highest-ever placement at a Valve-sanctioned event.

The squad failed to maintain their consistency in the following months while the Dane struggled to deal with his new responsibilities as an IGL. Early exits from IEM Katowice and the closed qualifier for IEM Rio 2023 did not improve the situation, and by February, refrezh had decided to step down from the team's leadership.

refrezh on IGLing: "It's been tough for me"

Sprout briefly experimented with Maze from Let us cook as an IGL, but they decided to not carry on with the Dane at the helm just a few days after his arrival. The team was forced to tackle CCT Central Europe Finals with coach Danny "⁠BERRY⁠" Krüger as their fifth, crashing in last place with no map wins to their name.

"It’s with a heavy heart that we bid farewell to refrezh from our active roster," read Sprout's announcement on Twitter. "Due to different views on the project, we have made a mutual agreement to put him on the transfer list. We’re grateful for his commitment and the memories, especially our run to the Rio Major."

The European squad will have to find their new in-game leader ahead of the RMR registration deadline if they don't want to take on the Regional Major Ranking event in April with BERRY on the lineup.

Sprout are now:

Laurențiu "⁠lauNX⁠" Țârlea
Adrian "⁠XELLOW⁠" Guță
Rasmus "⁠Zyphon⁠" Nordfoss
Victor "⁠Staehr⁠" Staehr

Danny "⁠BERRY⁠" Krüger (coach)

Ismail "⁠refrezh⁠" Ali (benched)

Confused 🔥🔥💯💯🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️

2023-02-28 15:16

4 replies

he was doing worse than berry, good bench

2023-02-28 15:57

3 replies

Berry is gigachad though

2023-02-28 16:28

no shame in doing worse than BERRY, what you mean?

2023-02-28 19:26

1 reply

+1 Berry is cracked & jacked.

2023-02-28 21:30

hahahaha

2023-02-28 15:17

expected

The team needed big changes

2 replies

They just need a great leader

2023-03-01 04:07

Call gla1ve

2023-03-01 23:52

THE HELL U TALKIN BOUT 🔥⁉️⁉️⁉️

damn

-xellow next

26 replies

glad he replaced bot slaxz who can't awp in tier 4 cs. xellow is really good player, can't compare.

2023-02-28 15:25

22 replies

Xellow's rating in sprout is 0.95 while slaxz's was 1.07 in 2022 lol

2023-02-28 15:30

16 replies

let's be honest, both are bad for this level.

2023-02-28 15:33

He is support, his role in this team is a passive one. He doesn't have much freedom, based on the system. But you can't understand these aspects, i am prolly talking with level 5-8 faceit player, at max.

2023-02-28 15:42

14 replies

Exactly why GuardiaN was bad in NaVi

2023-02-28 15:47

Agree.

2023-02-28 15:51

Awper (most important role in CS) is "support" XD No, he is just shit. +Smooya

2023-02-28 16:16

11 replies

Device just said that last night lmao, awp is very passive in this meta and throws a lot of nades for his teammates, forced to play late rounds But i guess sigmaswede knows better than device

2023-02-28 17:14

9 replies

And surely "aLeeeex" from romania is absolutely not coping about xellow having 0.95 rating and being a mega super duper bot BuT He Is SUppPorT AwPer

2023-02-28 17:17

8 replies

I think "aLeeeex" from romania is watching all the sprout games unlike sigmaswede from swedistan and sees what happens in the server Classic hltv stats + cope response, no arguments

2023-02-28 17:33

7 replies

Let it be, aLeeeeex. SigmaSwede def. knows a lot about cs hahahahah. Btw I watched device yday as well and heard him talking about that, but don't listen a legend.. listen to SigmaSwede xD.

2023-02-28 17:38

6 replies

You can imagine how braindead he is the moment he said + smooya =)).

2023-02-28 17:40

smooya is a prime culprit of suddenly turning into a support awp as soon as he plays tier 1 LMAOO anyways i hope xellow gets good and makes his shotgun awping work because some of the games he played recently were rough. he was very close to pulling off certain clutches but couldn't do it.

2023-03-01 04:41

Funny how you all talk about "people not knowing anything about cs" Link me ur faceit profile

2023-02-28 17:42

No no, I can ask you to link me your profile, cause if we talk about me I got lvl 10 in ~40-50 games. I am really curious to see your elo, my boy.

2023-02-28 17:45

lvl 10 in 40-50 games hahahahahaha link it pls i wanna see I said link ur profile and my man tried the uno-revese "LiNk UrS FirSt HiHi"

2023-02-28 17:46

Rank and knowledge is two veeeeery differrent things. With your reasoning no one can have opinions about almost anything. Im not defending this guy. But turn his opinion down because hes not good at the game is just weird

2023-02-28 21:51

Smooya XDDD

2023-02-28 19:30

0.95 rating god

2023-02-28 15:34

i dont think slaxz had to play in xellow's circumstances, by having to play with coach/change multiple teammates that didn't work in the roaster and so on. after they get a good line up to play with he will outperform almost everyone beside launx if used correctly

2023-02-28 15:56

Flag. Launx best romanian player. On other hand i heard xellow many years ago in tier 3-4 now after years he still same tier trash.

2023-02-28 16:55

idgaf if you think slaxz is a better awper than xellow u re just delusional

2023-02-28 17:01

LMAO XELLOW IS TRASH COMPARED TO SLAXZ. look at sprout results since the change.

2023-02-28 22:22

+ syrsoN

2023-02-28 16:00

2023-02-28 22:59

Idk i feel like they should replace BERRY first, he is a young talent but not ready for t1 yet Not saying sprout is a t1 team, but they aim to be

2023-02-28 16:57

Wonder who will IGL for them. Maybe they get Valde, he's IGL'ed in the past and he's a decent fragger. Shame about Refrezh, he was great on Fragsters and Heroic for a period but his form has just went down the toilet. I'd like to see him make a comeback. Best of luck Sir.

2023-02-28 15:20

That’s true, but it’s is the right move, cause he don’t want to IGL anymore, they need to decide and he was worse tbh.

2023-02-28 15:22

True I just hope they get someone good.

Welcome to Sprout @pronax

2023-02-28 15:53

Snax

2023-02-28 15:23

twitter.com/csgotalentscout/status/16303..

2023-02-28 15:37

Snax be cooking

2023-02-28 15:48

let them cook

2023-02-28 19:45

Valde doesn't care about CS.GO, he just want to make easy money.

2023-03-01 11:52

lol

repeat that ⁉️💯💯💯🔥🗣️🗣️

2023-02-28 15:18

finally

SNAX now

2023-02-28 15:19

Nice pic lol

2023-02-28 15:29

Mf is sleeping on the job, no wonder he got benched

2023-02-28 19:25

:DDD

2023-02-28 22:52

was thinkin the same :D

2023-03-01 11:24

Shame, really liked the refrezh and zyphon duo… Hope they will team up again, with bubski perhaps

Astralis killed Bubzkji, he's known as Benchkji now.

2023-02-28 15:32

He's been working on Danish television as an analyst. Tbh I think he's fine with his life as it is, and he's probably not gonna try to get into tier1 cs again.

2023-02-28 15:39

He was so talented tho...

2023-02-28 15:49

He was killing it in t2 but watching him play t1 always felt like he was detached from team tactics, he never felt comfortable in my opinion

2023-03-01 04:10

He didn't feel comfortable "in the Astralis system*. If he got another tier 1 chance he would prove his worth. Kinda like danish Grim.

2023-03-01 05:10

Yes I know but considering his comments on twitter I still feel he isn’t done. Nr 1 in Denmark for a reason and I am confident in him at the very least could go right in and perform on a “Tier 1.5” level.

2023-03-01 16:28

just sell the players and disband at this point

I feel like Sprout really likes to listen to our ideas :D

Sprout, Spr out of the major

2023-02-28 16:29

Good decision imo, didn’t really understand the previous one… now get a decently solid igl and you’re good to go.

+1 would be a good roster

2023-02-28 15:50

i think that might confirm +snax

2023-02-28 15:27

i hope so

2023-02-28 16:04

Why???

Because Zyphon is better and there is no point keeping refreshz if he doesn't lead

2023-02-28 15:35

Refresh to Faze, new wind in the org :D

mezii was never IGL until fnatic made him one out of necessity. hear it from me first, do not freak out, it is inevitable. +smooya igl to save sprouts.

kekw. smooya igl: YOU FUCKING BALD EGG, WHY DIDNT YOU BOUGHT A SMOKE AFTER I TOLD YOU SO?

2023-02-28 16:10

tough love will get you the trophies.. YOU FUCKING BALD EGG!

2023-02-28 16:12

this is what i said after playing on him fantasy ..

Finally realizing keeping refreshz if doesn't IGL is useless

the pic omegalul

2023-02-28 15:36

Zyphon played one match amd showed hendeserves the spot more than refrezh lmao

why not keep both in roster?

good move

W move

2023-02-28 15:38

expected.

bold prediction - he will replace fashr or krimz after the major and fnatic will play under danish flag

2023-02-28 15:41

lmao no, refrezh is one of the most inconsistent players every he can win you one game and lose you 5

if u call him the most inconsistent, then u didnt hear about k0nfig kekw. refrezh is refrezh, none expect from him big things like from k0nfig. he is good at his role.

There is no way KRIMZ is being replaced by refrezh (XD) after his 6,5 years of consistency, also doubt they would change FASHR since he just got better roles

2023-02-28 16:39

fuck that

2023-02-28 17:31

bro dont you flame old papa krimz when he plays bad?

2023-02-28 17:32

yeah and he plays good the next round

Let's go shuffling the deck sprout. Waiting for a substitution every month

2023-02-28 15:40

clown moves

2023-02-28 15:55

Stop associating race when a player can't do his job properly. He was hired as an IGL and he said himself that he stutters. I'm not sure how he convinced himself in thinking this would work. It's not like playing with one of the best IGLs (CadiaN) would make you a good IGL in the first place. But Sprout is also in shambles. On the 3rd of Feb, refrezh says he is having issues as an IGL, on the 7th they bench Zyphon and trial a new IGL, on the 28th they bench this guy and bring back Zyphon.

2023-02-28 15:58

But objectively speaking this is a good move, especially if they find a good enough IGL.

2023-02-28 19:44

I agree it is, refrezh has enough skill to return to the team in my opinion. But I don't follow enough Sprout to know if the other 5 that are in the team are much better.

2023-03-01 15:45

WHAT??🔥🔥🔥

Good move

2023-02-28 16:01

Lmao wtf? Could astralis be interested in refrezh hence the benching?

Good joke

Astralis, cmoooooooooon

2023-02-28 16:13

This is quicker than -olof+Olof

2023-02-28 16:18

snax or bust

2023-02-28 16:27

gl refresh and zyphon both

2023-02-28 16:46

BERRY IGL?

2023-02-28 17:04

+nexa you never know

2023-02-28 17:07

Finally!

2023-02-28 17:20

Idk, refresh + zyphon + staehr + niko + farlig is a decent danish team

2023-02-28 17:22

man wtf is sprout management doing :(

A good move for once?

and they cucked Maze out of a contract AND his old team in the process

2023-02-28 18:15

Maze cucked himself by trying to make himself the star player.

2023-02-28 19:43

2023-02-28 17:41

sprout gotten so uninteresting..

2023-02-28 17:55

Zyphon is a good anchor, glad he's back.

2023-02-28 17:57

deserved

2023-02-28 18:17

Why the hell would they do this? Its not like Refrezh was the best igl ever, but he definitely did preform way above expectations in his role. EDIT yes I do understand the he would have not been the igl anymore but still

2023-02-28 18:18

+Swisher for head game factor

2023-02-28 19:34

wtf is going on with this team

2023-02-28 19:38

no hate to refrezh but him not having much firepower was okay when he is igling same happens to many other igls. But once berry started igling his indivdual skills didnt become better. good change in my opinion best of luck to refrezh

2023-02-28 19:39

Bench refrezh but keep berry ??? Wtf sprout doing , move berry back to coaching and use main roster again until you find new players lmao

2023-02-28 19:41

-xellow + mantu +snax

2023-02-28 19:49

bruh

2023-02-28 19:52

Lol wtf

2023-02-28 20:11

Totally noob, bench!!

2023-02-28 21:34

Happy for Zyphon as I feel he got the short end of the stick vs the rest of his former CPH teammates who are enjoying great success at their new organizations. GL to refrezh in h is future endeavors, hope he finds a decent team to play with in the future.

2023-03-01 01:00