The 2022 IEM Cologne was the last event before the summer break started, and the next top-tier event is coming a couple of weeks down the road. While a lot of the top CSGO teams are currently taking a break, there are some teams that are already making changes within their lines to increase their chances of winning the upcoming tournaments. We’ll be covering the most important roster changes that have been happening so far in the summer break.
Stewie2k retires from competitive CSGO
While there was a lot of speculation regarding this matter, Jake “Stewie2K” Yip recently made it official. He announced on Twitter that his time playing professional CSGO has come to an end. The 24-year-old American player had some great moments throughout his career, even getting the opportunity to hoist a major trophy during his time with Cloud9. In 2019, Jake joined Team Liquid and he found a lot of success with this team, winning 9 trophies.
After leaving Team Liquid, he never went on to be the same great player he once was. There were several rumors talking about his lack of motivation and having no desire to put in the hours needed to compete. After a couple of months, he decided that his time competing had come to an end.
Hooxi and JKS signed by G2 Esports
2022 hasn’t been a great year for G2 as they’ve struggled in most of the top tier events. After bringing in Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen, we were expecting a lot from G2. Sadly, after poor performances at PGL Major Antwerp 2022, IEM Dallas, and IEM Cologne 2022 Play-In, the team had to make some changes.
Alongside their IGL, Audric “JACKZ” Jug is also on the chopping block. G2 has potentially found a new in-game leader in Copenhagen Flames, a roster that surprised everyone in recent months. Alongside Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen, another player that put a pen to paper is Justin “jks” Savage.
The only question remaining is if Hooxi and JKS will have enough time to adapt to the team’s needs in such a short span of time. The BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2022 are kicking off in just 2 weeks, which might be just enough time for them.
Complexity replaces Junior with Hallzerk
The North American squad were forced to make changes after not seeing any kind of success in the 2022 season so far. Paytyn “junior” Johnson has the target of criticism for the past few months and the organization has finally decided to let him go.
But such criticism was completely valid as he was one of the worst-rated CSGO pros on the scene with an abysmal rating of 0.80. Even if he had some great moments during his short stint in Brazil’s FURIA, he isn’t a player reliable enough for Complexity to keep him on the roster.
Trying to turn things around, Complexity acquired Håkon “hallzerk” Fjærli from Dignitas. Only time will tell if Paytyn was the real problem or this roster is due for a full revamp.
