Monte parts ways with Woro2k

The Ukrainian AWPer departs his home of nearly two years.

Monte has announced the benching of AWPer and IGL Volodymyr "⁠Woro2k⁠" Veletniuk, ending a near two-year stint on the team for one of its founding members.

This marks the latest in a string of changes for Monte in recent times, as they only just brought Martin "⁠STYKO⁠" Styk and Ali "⁠hAdji⁠" Haïnouss into the lineup.

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Monte sign STYKO, add hAdji as stand-in*

Monte did not reveal who would be replacing Woro2k on the team, but a post the team recently made on X seemed to suggest they had a replacement lined up and that there would be further changes.

Woro2k's destination is as of yet unclear. The player seemed to make a veiled reference on X to having already signed with a new team mere days ago, but whether or not this is true remains to be seen.

The 22-year-old sniper was one of the founding members of Monte and served as the team's IGL for much of his near two-year stint. They garnered some modest success in the online scene in 2022 after their founding in July, but suffered from roster instability.

With the arrival of Szymon "⁠kRaSnaL⁠" Mrozek, Viktor "⁠sdy⁠" Orudzhev and Sergey "⁠lmbt⁠" Bezhanov by January of 2023, Monte began their climb proper. They began to rise through the world rankings amidst a number of online event wins, the most impressive coming in ESL Challenger League, and qualified for the BLAST Paris Major Europe RMR.

The team continued their spectacular rise by making an underdog run to top-eight at the Paris Major, which saw them claim a spot in the top 10 of the world ranking.

Soon after said Major run Mohammad "⁠BOROS⁠" Malhas departed the team and many expected Monte to drop off, but with their ranks bolstered by Alexander "⁠br0⁠" Bro they continued to perform at a high level. They claimed a top-four finish at ESL Pro League S18, second-place at Roobet Cup 2023, and the trophy at ESL Challenger Jönköping 2023 to cement their status as a near-top-five team by the end of 2023.

The departures of br0 and sdy early in 2024 seriously hampered Monte, and the squad began to slide down the world ranking. They still enjoyed a couple of deep runs in tier-two online events, but results had taken a significant hit overall.

With Woro2k's departure, Monte are now left without a single member of the original roster. Sergiy "⁠DemQQ⁠" Demchenko is the longest-serving player remaining, as he replaced Karol "⁠rallen⁠" Rodowicz on the team a mere week after its founding.

Monte are now:

Martin "⁠STYKO⁠" Styk
Ali "⁠hAdji⁠" Haïnouss (stand-in)
Sergiy "⁠DemQQ⁠" Demchenko
Szymon "⁠kRaSnaL⁠" Mrozek

Sergey "⁠lmbt⁠" Bezhanov (coach)