Unlike most traditional sports and other esport games, Counter-Strike doesn’t have a set transfer window within which teams buy, sell, or trade players. Transfer activity is usually higher during the summer and winter tournament breaks, but this year, we didn’t witness many blockbuster moves.
apEX and zonic are reportedly going to cooperate in Vitality
Why is it starting to happen now? Well, the Majors in CS:GO are the ultimate goal. They are the events every player wants to qualify for, compete at, and ultimately, win. Organizations want to be there not only because Majors put eyeballs on their team and sponsors, but also due to the extensive financial injections they provide via in-game stickers.
The Regional Major Ranking point system, which punishes teams for making a change to their five-man lineup with 20% deduction, dissuaded some teams from making changes unless they were absolutely necessary. Others were happy with what they had, but underwhelming results in the lead up to PGL Major Stockholm or at the event changed their mind. Additionally, with the end of the year coming up soon, many player contracts are coming to an end, so swaps are unavoidable.
All of this combines for interesting changes listed in this article — which we will continue to update in the coming days.
Update: November 30
NAF extends contract with Liquid
Jackinho released by fnatic
Dignitas sign pita as new head coach
VINI not in FURIA’s plans for 2022
nitr0’s Liquid return “close to a done deal” – Report
Update: November 17
Update: November 16
maLeK out of G2
Report: es3tag to join NIP
sdy joins mir and chopper on Spirit transfer list
Update: November 11
Dignitas and vENdetta part ways
Report: The big Brazilian reunion
The biggest talking point since the end of the Major has been the reported reunion of Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo and Marcelo “coldzera” David, first broken by Jaxon.
The same outlet claims that Complexity is considering signing the squad, with a piece of follow-up news linking Fernando “fer” Alvarenga and Lincoln “fnx” Lau to the project. Our editor Milan “Striker” Švejda doesn’t like the idea.
Report: Magisk, dupreeh, zonic to Vitality
Another bombshell was dropped shortly following the quarter-final elimination of Vitality from the PGL Major as 1pv.fr revealed that a French-Danish merger was on the cards.
Richard “shox” Papillon, Jayson “Kyojin” Nguyen Van, and coach Rémy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam are reportedly on their way out of the team, but are still expected to play out the rest of the year for Vitality. That is because Emil “Magisk” Reif, Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen, and Danny “zonic” Sørensen will have to wait out for their Astralis contract to expire before taking on a new challenge in their career.
Evil Geniuses turn a new (old?) page
The prime example of a team way past its expiry date, but still sticking together is Evil Geniuses. The move ended up paying off as they miraculously secured a spot at the Major, despite horrible form throughout the year.
Of course, at the actual event they stood no chance, and not long after going out 0-3 the organization announced sweeping changes in the team. Evil Geniuses is now down to three members: Tsvetelin “CeRq” Dimitrov, Vincent “Brehze” Cayonte, and coach Damian “daps” Steele – a core trio whose history dates back to 2017 and NRG. Peter “stanislaw” Jarguz, Owen “oBo” Schlatter, and Michał “MICHU” Müller have become free agents.
The NRG trio is all that is left on EG
FPX quintet up for sale
A relevant team for the biggest part of the year, FunPlus Phoenix hit a rough patch during the summer and failed to qualify for the Major, effectively signing their own death sentence. The Chinese organization pulled out of CS not even a year after signing the team featuring Martin “STYKO” Styk and co., with all five players now on the transfer list.
Spirit to rebuild, mir and chopper exploring options
Spirit transfer-list mir, chopper
The CIS side that peaked at #6 in the world early into 2021 had struggled to reach the same heights later in the year, with the inability to make the top 16 of PGL Major Stockholm being the final nail in the coffin for one of the longest-standing five-man rosters.
Spirit first announced that they would be rebuilding, with star rifler Nikolay “mir” Bityukov and IGL Leonid “chopper” Vishnyakov being transfer-listed few days later. The team is currently playing with Robert “Patsi” Isyanov and Aleksandr “KaiR0N-” Anashkin instead of the duo on their way out.
Astralis lock-in Danish talent
Bringing optimism back to Astralis after a disappointing 12-14th finish at the Major, the organization announced the signings of Kristian “k0nfig” Wienecke and Benjamin “blameF” Bremer while the tournament in Sweden was still in full force.
The duo was at the core of Complexity‘s success in 2020, and at 24 years of age, have a lot more to give. The in-game leadership duties will stay with four-time Major winner Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander, who will be assisted by head coach Alexander “ave” Holdt. Meanwhile, reports say Lucas “Bubzkji” Andersen is on his way out of the team.
Complexity dissolve roster
es3tag and jks transfer-listed by Complexity
poizon and Complexity part ways
Another team that was ended by not qualifying for the Major is Complexity. Valentin “poizon” Vasilev was the first one to exit, the news of blameF followed, but ultimately the team was left with just Luis “peacemaker” Tadeu as the coach and the duo of Justin “jks” Savage and Patrick “es3tag” Hansen who are transfer-listed. coldzera is a free agent after his short-term contract ran out.
The Juggernaut is no more
Rest of the news
enkay J joins BIG as head coach
nertz replaces Thomas on Endpoint
arki returns to SAW roster
lollipop21k set for Nemiga exit
Sprout go international (again) with KEi, BERRY
Sangal release Turkish core
smooya makes fnatic British
EXTREMUM bench roster
rallen and Snatchie go to Anonymo
Finally, here is a list of some of the most notable benched players, free agents, those reportedly out of their teams, and coaches looking for new opportunities.
* Former Astralis trio are reportedly joining Vitality
** Bad News Bears are free agents aside from junior who is still contracted to FURIA
*** Coaching staff still contracted to EXTREMUM
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Source: https://www.hltv.org/news/32780/post-major-shuffle-tracker
