Ax1Le to miss IEM Cologne group stage

27-7-2023 21:31

Cloud9's much-awaited debut will be missing their star rifler on the team.

Ax1le will miss out due to visa issues

Cloud9 have announced that Sergey "⁠Ax1Le⁠" Rykhtorov will miss out on the IEM Cologne group stage due to technical issues at the visa processing center. The organization expects his return for the playoff phase if his team are to qualify.

Timur "⁠buster⁠" Tulepov will step in for the 21-year-old in the initial phase of the tournament, where Cloud9 begin their road on Saturday against one of the teams advancing from the Play-In. They have been put in Group A alongside HEROIC, ENCE, and GamerLegion.

Date	Matches
IEM Cologne 2023
29/07/2023	Cloud9 12:30 fnatic	Match

Cloud9's offseason roster moves have made quite a stir in the community, with many touting it as the best decision of the transfer period. The North American organization added Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov and Ilya "⁠Perfecto⁠" Zalutskiy from Natus Vincere, replacing Vladislav "⁠nafany⁠" Gorshkov and buster on the Russian-majority roster.

Fans will have to wait for the debut of the stacked and much-anticipated roster, though, as buster temporarily rejoins the team for the German tournament.

Cloud9 will play the IEM Cologne group stage with the following roster:

Dmitry "⁠sh1ro⁠" Sokolov
Abay "⁠HObbit⁠" Khassenov
Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov
Ilya "⁠Perfecto⁠" Zalutskiy
Timur "⁠buster⁠" Tulepov (substitute)

Konstantin "⁠groove⁠" Pikiner (coach)

BROOO

2023-07-27 21:31

4 replies

Nah he plays on Monte

2023-07-27 21:32

1 reply

Nice one

2023-07-27 23:10

unlucky.

2023-07-27 21:35

sad times

2023-07-27 21:57

wtf is thisss

:( no

lol

Soooooqa

c9 finished.

2 replies

The era ended?

yes, let's have a minute of silence edit: thats probably about as long as the c9 era was on anyway.

2023-07-27 21:36

that's good

so much for a proper debut. Now its uncertain if they'll even make it to the playoffs. And for a proper debut unless they somehow make it without Ax1Le, we have to wait for an entire month due to EPL season 18 starting at August 30.

2023-07-27 21:33

3 replies

Not really Gamers8 starts just 10 days after Cologne ends.

ffs, I actually forgot about Gamers8

2023-07-27 21:39

So proper debut in EPL

2023-07-27 23:12

Wtf how can buster get his visa sorted in one day compared to Ax1le in 2 weeks. Is it really only because he is russian? Would not rest of the team have some problem? I don’t get this visa bullshit all over again and again.

2023-07-27 21:34

5 replies

buster probably had a visa already

2023-07-27 21:38

+1 prob the normal subsitute in case someone cant play(sick injury etc)

2023-07-28 07:39

"technical issues at the visa processing center" is truly the technical issues at the visa processing center here probably because as u said no one except him had any problems

2023-07-27 21:55

Well buster isnt from russia

2023-07-28 02:18

Read my comment properly next time. I literally said “ Is it really only because he (Ax1le) is russian?” Pointing out that buster isn’t from Russia.

2023-07-28 12:11

anlaki, no W

c9 fans clinging onto our sanity atm. I'm sure they can still make it to play offs but this rly kills the hype for me :(

I was so hyped for Saturday but now it’s just meh

Same

Sad day

It is extremely unprofessional on the part of C9 to have visa issues at such a big org. They should have thought about it long time ago

8 replies

due to technical issues at the visa processing center. This doesn’t sound like it’s their fault.

2023-07-27 21:37

If they had done everything in advance, they would have had the time to resubmit if that was a visa center issue

I agree but in these kind of cases it’s absurd to me they can’t speed up the process in this day and age. Tomorrow is a working day, I don’t understand this shit. Everyone losses, c9 fans and the whole tournament. Imagine if it was some star football player (or maybe if he wasn’t Russian) they would solve this instantly.

2023-07-27 22:11

They see country of issue and put it further down the pile. If it were any other passport it probobly would have been sorted within a day or two.

2023-07-27 23:11

germany is notoriously slow with visas because the immigration office is ridiculously understaffed

2023-07-27 21:45

i think it's a different process and office? immigration and visa is not the same thing. for visa you apply at the local german embassy?

2023-07-27 21:49

True

It's not just the immigration office, nearly any important workspot lacks good employees, the bureaucracy in germany is just slow AF in general on any matter. *flag checks out*

2023-07-28 13:40

f hype

better 4 players play instead of buster buster gives morale to the opponent

Left it to last minute to file visa application? clown9 doing clown9 things.

I swear since covid era it feels that way, but we had this also with other teams in the past so every org is lazy!? I don't get the concept behind this.

2023-07-28 13:45

Buster will step in 💀💀💀💀💀

the birth of this super team is delayed damm still will be interesting to see but it´s a shame we don´t see this goliath of a team for a while longer...

while longer? ax1le to miss iem cologne GROUP STAGE so def will see him in 4th of august(if c9 will qual)

2023-07-28 01:40

that is if C9 qualifies. While the rest of the squad is great, I doubt they´ll have the level to qualify. Not only will they most likely have little (or a much smaller) practice but also just player-for-player buster is a colossal downgrade over Ax1le. They could always make it but I think the odds would be low in such a stacked group stage.

2023-07-28 10:45

WTF EVEN IS THAT ????????? top2 rifler in the world missing on of the biggest events in the year + top 1 long awaited debut ...... Nice job Cloud9

9 replies

He may not be top 2 in his team, stop overhyping him.

who is better?

2023-07-27 21:56

electronic, hobbit 1 major > axile 0

2023-07-27 22:00

#61

2023-07-27 22:01

name one better, higher placed + skilled player than him on c9 other than MAYBE sh1ro (they're both kinda at the same level anyway)

2023-07-27 22:16

#60

2023-07-27 22:21

Ax1Le top? xD 😂

2023-07-27 21:43

literally the best rifler of 2022 and 4th best in the world second best in 2021 mår du bra?

whos better except niko?

2023-07-28 06:18

Clown9

RIP the hype :(

Just keep buster

2023-07-27 21:42

Rip cloud9 no playoff stage 💀

Rip debut

2023-07-27 21:47

Unluko maluko((

2023-07-27 21:54

rip but still insanely good

unlucky bro whatt

2023-07-27 21:59

C9 75% beast now :( with Ax1Le 100%

They should pick nafany and play electronic as star rifle

2023-07-27 22:02

7 replies

nafany drinking to death get over with him

2023-07-27 22:07

electronic wanted to be igl..just stop

nah, according to leaks he is just friends with hobbit. and seeing him in his Kazakhstan club kinda proves it, sadly. why kick nafany, elec would've been better as a second caller like he always was in navi, he'd have better stats and the team would've been even better, no reason to cut nafany

2023-07-28 00:05

nafany was garbage and had to be kicked

2023-07-28 00:07

nafany was the core of c9/gambit's roster that lead them here. not his fault he had 2 washed kazakhs and Ax1le missing every second game, not much you can do here. that's some maui level of thinking interz kick was undeserved from c9's management, but even more dumb was replacing him with another washed kazakh (thanks Hobbit, I guess)

2023-07-28 00:12

nafany couldnt keep up with the meta,he was the one which fumbled when lan started after online era . he reached his peak and he is done

2023-07-28 00:40

Nafany currently on duolingo learning Chinese

2023-07-27 22:24

Thank you, Germany!

2023-07-27 22:05

6 replies

How can u be such a c*nt that news about a top5 player in the world missing makes you happy?

2023-07-27 22:23

He's paying taxes to russian government, so he's sponsoring the war.

2023-07-27 22:56

so is 90% of the world buying russian oil

2023-07-27 23:08

Ax1le is free to go to China, India or DPRK, why he want to go to Germany?

2023-07-27 23:15

thats why putin eat ur ass, ez title for c9

But not ez to get viza

2023-07-28 08:18

Huge news indeed... Hopefully C9 should still be able to dominant.

2023-07-27 22:06

Rare writing error from Jonty.

2023-07-27 23:54

forgot “edit: general grammatical corrections” Thanks for your understanding, friend Regards

2023-07-28 00:11

unlucky

2023-07-27 22:08

Ax1Le....Ax1Le.... :/

2023-07-27 22:09

are u serious... unlucko

kewk

Lmao now I’m much less excited about C9’s debut

ez for visa

2023-07-27 22:29

cant have shit in cologne

2023-07-27 22:32

about damn time c9 also gets the visa issues that every other cis-based team has..

2023-07-27 22:33

haha

2023-07-28 00:49

expected

2023-07-27 22:35

thats not good

2023-07-27 22:38

Dude I was actually pretty excited to see this lineup :/

big W

2023-07-27 22:54

if they go out in group stage i know who to blame for this travesty.

2023-07-27 22:57

wtffffff

2023-07-27 23:01

unlucky!

2023-07-27 23:02

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

2023-07-27 23:05

eliminated

2023-07-27 23:06

Bro i was so hyped and this shit happened...

they wanted to nerf c9 what a shame

AHAHAHHAHAHAH

Honestly, they are doing quite well even without their star player.

2023-08-01 04:31

fucking buster XD

2023-07-27 23:37

NOOO the best rifler from california NOOO

2023-07-27 23:51

the germoids are at it again...they will never change, they will never learn i hope someone does something about it someday.

What do you think it should be done?

2023-07-27 23:55

stop...replying....to me.

2023-07-28 00:09

Why? You seem to be easily triggered and tend to overreact leading to funny interactions.

Because i dont even know who you are, but im seeing that these last few hours i make comments and your nickname keeps appearing in my notifications, i dont like having npc's in my spoiler, let go. I never follow you, stop following me.

2023-07-28 00:14

I'll be following you from now on.

2023-08-01 04:32

put axile's jacket instead of the buster,the opponent will be more nervous because buster interz nafany give overconfidence to the opponent

Gotta wait like another month for actual event from c9

2023-07-28 00:13

#15

2023-07-28 01:58

#31

2023-07-28 07:48

no problem he will destroy on the playoffs and lead us to the trophy , ez

2023-07-28 00:34

imagine if buster carries group stage then gets replaced with ax1le for play offs that would be hilarious

Maybe nafany instead of buster? nafany igl, elec rifler

2023-07-28 02:05

2023-07-28 06:21

buster is terrible. Not half of Ax1Le level.

2023-07-28 02:22

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

2023-07-28 04:29

West wants Russian men not to go war against Ukraine... Then just give them visa to flee the war.

2023-07-28 06:44

buster about to drop 10 bomb in 2 maps

2023-07-28 07:32

Huge L

2023-07-28 08:38

good

2023-07-28 09:11

boooooooooo brought the hype from a 100 down to a negative fucking infinity. Great job C9!!

2023-07-28 09:20

good good, ban the visa for all ruski

2023-07-28 10:00

Cry poorlish

2023-07-28 10:25

2023-07-29 01:27

disaster

2023-07-28 10:38

buster > axile anyway

2023-07-28 10:46

why is buster not cheap on fantasy game

2023-07-28 11:40

Mind boggling how teams fuck that up still

2023-07-28 17:57

I was applying for a German visa recently, it's fucked up. Because of Russian invasion of Ukraine visa processing time is now increased from 14 to 45 days for Russians. And they didn't even do it in 45 days. EU visas these days are a real pain.

2023-08-01 04:34

I believe that. But a professional (e)sports team that is traveling regularly should know that by now. Especially since that war isn't going on for weeks only.. Btw, waited almost 2 months for my usa transit (only had to switch plane and didn't even leave the duty free area lol) visa a while back.

2023-08-01 11:38