TSM add joel on two-month probation period

5-1-2024 18:36

The Swede returns to competitive play for the first time after his suspension by ESIC in September 2023.

TSM have announced they have added Joel "⁠joel⁠" Holmlund to their starting roster, with the rifler set to undertake a two-month probation period whilst the team evaluate their performance.

"He will assist in bringing greater balance to our roles, while also adding firepower to the squad," TSM said of joel's addition. "We look forward to watching him play with us as we evaluate our performance."

With the addition of joel TSM's starting roster is back up to full strength after they recently transferred Cai "⁠CYPHER⁠" Watson to BLEED. TSM also recently added Allan "⁠Rejin⁠" Petersen as head coach.

CYPHER rounds out BLEED's lineup

joel previously featured for Victory Zigzag and helped the squad win Pelaajat Nordic Masters Fall, which qualified them for BLAST Premier Fall Showdown 2023.

Victory Zigzag then became embroiled in multiple scandals, first due to joel's ESIC suspension amidst allegations of match-fixing, then due to their coach receiving a cheating ban on FACEIT. BLAST eventually moved to disqualify Victory Zigzag due to the ESIC investigation.

Ex-GODSENT player joel suspended by ESIC over match-fixing allegations*

Following their investigation ESIC announced that joel's suspension would expire on January 6 as "no compelling or conclusive" evidence of match-fixing was found. ESIC referenced joel's "full and candid cooperation," as well as his "genuine contrition and commitment to seeking professional help" for a potential gambling addiction, in their statement.

joel’s suspension to expire on January 6; no "compelling or conclusive" match-fixing evidence found

joel joins a TSM squad that is home to well-known names in the upper echelons of Counter-Strike, such as Audric "⁠JACKZ⁠" Jug and Valdemar "⁠valde⁠" Bjørn Vangså, but failed to reach the top level of competition, or put together deep runs in tier two online events, in 2023.

TSM are now:

Audric "⁠JACKZ⁠" Jug
Valdemar "⁠valde⁠" Bjørn Vangså
Timofey "⁠interz⁠" Yakushin
Mădălin-Andrei "⁠MoDo⁠" Mirea
Joel "⁠joel⁠" Holmlund

Allan "⁠Rejin⁠" Petersen (coach)

2024-01-05 18:36

1 reply

Joel??!!! Hahahahahahaa

2024-01-05 21:22

nahh this aint real

3 replies

from biggest org in LCS to hiring a t2 matchfixer hahhaha this is too funny

2024-01-05 21:06

2 replies

where evidence?

2024-01-05 22:26

sorry didn't know esic used hltv

2024-01-06 01:31

probation? lmao nice

JOEL ON PROBATION SINCE TSM IS CONTRACT JAIL XAXAXAXAA

2024-01-05 18:52

he'll take any contract he can get since no one wants his ass after the shit he did KEKW

2024-01-05 19:01

ready to matchfix

2024-01-05 19:15

2 months of matchfixing

HELL YEAH

lmao

Nah cmon TSM what?

He’s gonna save that sorry ass squad lol

2024-01-05 20:22

Lol

lol what

tsm finished

They never started xD

2024-01-05 18:49

why wouldn't you kick jackz & keep cypher??? everything works out then.

2024-01-05 18:37

14 replies

Because bleed paid for cypher

your hatred blinds you, with Jackz, TSM will win the major

2024-01-05 19:21

kick? kassad even said the negotiations were a bit rough meaning tsm most likely wanted to keep him

2024-01-05 19:25

BLEED bought CYPHER out. Considering what kassad said, TSM likely didnt even want him to go and only did cause they got a trade that satisfied them.

2024-01-05 19:36

10 replies

yeah, but it confuses me because this TSM project would be so much more interesting with CYPHER. imo Bleed seems less promising, considering all the young talent this tsm project would have. Doesn't make sense why CYPHER moved over, unless the paycheck was that good.

2024-01-05 19:38

9 replies

Jackz and valde seems more promising then 22yo avg bleed kkk

2024-01-05 22:43

8 replies

Valde is igl, so not like you could have kicked him anyway. Besides I’ll take valde over faven who’s both a parent, and apparently chronically ill. Also cerQ? Like tf? A project with cerq is promising in 2024? Bro hasn’t been relevant for like 4 years. Kick jackz, keep cypher and yeah it’s more promising.

2024-01-06 00:55

7 replies

Valde washed Jackz beyond washed Modo mid Joel sick good Interz suck Vs Hampus ok igl Cypher sick entry Launx inconsistent Cerq question mark, been grinding Faven great Clear win for Bleed

2024-01-06 13:40

6 replies

i mean we'll have to agree to disagree on all of that lol. faveN is a serious liability. launX is pretty consistent. cerQ is shit, though i hope he has a comeback hampus is ok vs interz = really good support Modo > cerQ for sure joel clears everybody on Bleed valde is a better fragger and equal caller to hampus if TSM still had CYPHER, then TSM clears.

2024-01-06 23:21

5 replies

We can agree to disagree but look at roles: Igl hampus>valde Entry cypher>jackz Star launx<joel Lurker interz<faven Awp modo=cerq at best Where do you see advantage for tsm pls? Except you overpraise valde and modo who are shit tbh

2024-01-06 23:34

4 replies

I'll agree that maybe hampus is a more on-meta caller, but I still think valde has a lot of firepower in his roles, which I value. I don't think in any world MoDo is equal to cerQ. Regarding jackz vs CYPHER, I completely agree that CYPHER clears. My main point was that TSM should have added joel, and kicked jackz, while keeping CYPHER. My problem with faveN is that it seems so unlikely that he'll continue to make LANs again, and he's also a bit overrated at times. At a pure skill level though, sure, he's better than interz. That being said, I think that interz is much more flexible, and can take more bitch roles if necessary. This just creates more room for players like CYPHER, valde & joel who are all still pretty damn good riflers. All I'm trynna say is that CYPHER should've stayed with TSM, would have been a more interesting project.

2024-01-07 01:09

I don't think valde can be compared to hampus as fragging igl honestly. Is valde better aimer? Probably yes but now that he has to lead I couldn't bet my house on it. Modo is mid of the mid at his best, I don't think he showed anything with regard that he did play with tsm. Cerq's peak is higher and Kassad is gambling on it. Interz is more supportive element Bleed lacks but Faven is aggro lurk tsm lacks. If Cypher stood at TSM joel wouldn't sign, it's clear since he is a free agent and they could bench jackz and add him long time ago. If joel signed for bleed for launx imagine that lineup. But after Taiga scandal and bleed keeping their reputation i doubt it could happen. Anyhow, if those teams meet at OQ I'd never bet on TSM unless Bleed didn't have time to prepare to tsm could squeeze something. In a month or two tsm will stay top40, maybe top30 with joel, bleed will jump at top20.

2024-01-07 09:10

eh idk. too many hypotheticals here, but we'll see results once oq starts. i won't be surprised if both teams shit the bed lol.

2024-01-07 09:14

Me neither and tbh i expect it. Just seem to me that kassad built his team properly rolewise and tsm is scrambled and has rejin. Long-term, with finances, bleed can reach a lot and tsm won't invest

2024-01-07 09:17

first

Hahahaha

Of course

1 month until TSM ban

These people are so fucking shameless 💀💀💀

xdd

PROBATION PERIOD LULW

2024-01-05 18:39

tsm road to top 50

2024-01-05 18:40

Road to more than 1100 elo

2024-01-05 19:32

this cant be real

2024-01-05 18:41

Disgusting behaviour, especially from TSM

2024-01-05 18:42

L tsm expected from crypto frauds

joel smurfing in rmr ez qual

goat

My fucking GOAT Joel

2024-01-05 18:43

good pickup

GOAT

2024-01-05 18:44

welcome back GOAT

2024-01-05 18:46

They won’t get into closed qualifiers

2024-01-05 18:47

He doesnt deserve it

Maybe, but we will see now how he is. This could be probably his last chance

2024-01-05 18:59

Not a good look Team Sold'o MiddleOfGame

2024-01-05 19:02

It never ceases to amaze me how some ppl for some reason gonna get numerous oppoturniteis no matter how much or how many times they fucked up...

2024-01-05 19:03

2024-01-05 19:19

goats, will be goats, just like s1 back in the day.

2024-01-05 19:30

Meanwhile a consistent Top 20 player got 1 opportunity after FaZe.. GuardiaN :'(

2024-01-05 19:48

2024-01-06 00:29

Interesting way to write opportunities.

2024-01-07 07:18

LMAO

GO fix TSM like you fixed your matches

2024-01-05 19:08

Hahahaha sounds like he's in prison

2024-01-05 19:11

TSM is worse than prison for joel, he should be on a top3 full swedish lineup.

2024-01-05 19:29

Booooooooooo TSM

Skill wise i think he is a pretty good pick :/

2024-01-05 19:14

lol...TSM is a great company :-)

Lets go! GL joel :)

2024-01-05 19:28

joel and the four bots POG

What happened to this guy? Used to be a beast?

2024-01-05 19:31

gambling happened

2024-01-05 20:38

Down bad Save JACKZ

He's gonna be playing with so much anxiety (rightfully or not).

2024-01-05 19:33

Joel on probation? I aren’t think that

2024-01-05 19:34

i like this move for tsm. low risk, high reward, joel always been a talented player If something goes wrong just move on from him after these 2 months

imagine calling an alleged match-fixer low risk 💀

innocent until proven guilty. and tsm not gonna face any consequences anyway

2024-01-05 19:39

+1 and not like they're regarded as a good org

2024-01-05 19:50

true, org with shit rep and player with shit rep, sounds like a good fit

2024-01-05 19:53

He is freed from fixing charges

2024-01-06 18:27

Entire Tsm team in shambles

2024-01-05 19:42

Now he is safe T1-2 players are untouchable, look at demq, w0nderful

2024-01-05 19:51

TSM top 20 HLTV with JOEL, this guy is good.

2024-01-05 19:58

TSM = Throw Some More

2024-01-05 20:03

He surely will catch great odds on esea advanced underdogs

2024-01-05 20:10

HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA

2024-01-05 20:14

GL! Wish nothing but the worst to you!

2024-01-05 20:20

Expected af. Finally a good choice. Now kick jackz or interz and pick one more top rifler

2024-01-05 20:24

Fixel

2024-01-05 20:27

he's good but he's a moral-less piece of shit so he's bad rep for any org that decides to hire him. tsm are desperate I know that so let's see how he fits in. he's got potential but he's a giant pos

2024-01-05 20:48