Dramatic r3salt-clax swap finalized moments before 9 Pandas' RMR qualifier campaign

In a series of twists and turns, the trade of r3salt and clax was first canceled and then finalized moments before 9 Pandas were due to play in a Shanghai Major qualifier.

On Saturday, Aurora and 9 Pandas announced the trade of Evgeny "⁠r3salt⁠" Frolov and Timur "⁠clax⁠" Sabirov between the two sides.

The situation was already charged enough with the Aurora organization and players insinuating r3salt had attempted to leave behind their backs, but the story didn't end there.

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Aurora and 9 Pandas trade r3salt and clax

In a dramatic twist, Aurora stated on Wednesday morning that the trade had been canceled on the previous day over the "non-fulfillment of all agreed-upon terms," and that the two players were to return to their former teams.

This left 9 Pandas scrambling for a solution at the last minute, as they were due to play with r3salt in the European closed qualifier leading up to the Perfect World Shanghai Major RMRs later on the same day of the announcement.

In a happy ending, the two sides have now come to a new agreement to finalize the trade, after all, just moments before 9 Pandas' first match in the RMR qualifier against Insilio was due to start.

Date	Matches
Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 EU RMR Closed Qualifier B
21/08/2024	9 Pandas 14:00 Insilio	Match

In a statement about the situation, 9 Pandas only said that the original problem that caused the trade to be revoked was "not financial, but in communication" and that a non-disclosure agreement prevents them from disclosing the exact details.

"Despite the fact that the initial conditions of the transfer could not be met due to a number of hitches, today we were able to offer an alternative solution that satisfied both clubs," 9 Pandas said.