VERTEX coach Kingfisher substitutes malta in Asia RMR elimination match

Liam "⁠malta⁠" Schembri is sitting out the match against Twisted Minds due to feeling unwell.

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Update 05:20 : malta says he won't be playing with the team today

It seems malta might not come back at all today despite saying he's feeling better already. If VERTEX win this match, they will have another to play in the following round of the lower bracket against Eruption.

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VERTEX's coach, David "⁠Kingfisher⁠" Kingsford, is playing instead of malta in the first map of the first match of the lower bracket. According to our information, the player is being examined and could return for map two or three.

Kingfisher last played a match record on HLTV in 2020, when he subbed in for AVANT in ESEA MDL Season 34 Australia. The 26-year-old was previously an active player and represented the likes of Paradox before hanging up his mouse in 2019 to become a coach.

The official CS:GO Major rulebook allows teams to swap their substitute — or their coach, in the case where they didn't submit a separate player for the sub slot — in once. Teams can then revert to their core lineup, but after that can no longer make any more substitutions for any reason.

A similar situation to VERTEX has already happened once before at the Asia RMR, as Rare Atom's Andrew "⁠kaze⁠" Khong was feeling ill on the opening day of the tournament and nearly got replaced by coach Xielin "⁠k4Mi⁠" Zhu. The substitution was avoided in the end, as day one matches were postponed due to server issues and kaze was ready to play by the time action resumed the next day.