After an amazing major in Shanghai, Counter-Strike is back for another season and as we head to the first LAN of 2025, let’s look at some of the biggest transfers that have come out of the rostermania.
Ropz to Team Vitality
Following a stunning performance at the Shanghai Major, Robin ‘ropz’ Kool parted ways with FaZe Clan to join Vitality. According to reports, ropz disagreed with FaZe since the organization refused to add firepower to the team which has been lacking for most of 2024. These disagreements paved the way for ropz to join Team Vitality as they did not hesitate to add a player of his pedigree to the team.
EliGE to FaZe Clan
As an aftermath of Ropz’s move to Team Vitality, FaZe turned to EliGE. EliGE has been a top player for a long time and enjoyed his career high with Team Liquid but as North American CS fails to meet expectations, EliGE has taken up the opportunity to join FaZe Clan’s EU roster to previously enjoyed tremendous success with another NA star in Twistzz. Karrigan was clean with his desire for ELiGE and now that he has joined FaZe they will be a force to be reckoned with.
NiKo to Falcons
Falcons finally secured NiKo‘s signature after a year-long pursuit for the best rifler in the world. Falcon’s previous roster failed to meet any and all expectations, but they managed to retain magisk and round off the roster by singing Heroic’s trio. While NiKo did not get the superteam he was promised, NiKo’s pursuit of his Major will continue with degster, TeSes, kyxsan, and magisk.
HeavyGod to G2
G2 turned to the promising Israeli anchor in HeavyGod to replace the irreplaceable NiKo. Goes without saying that replacing NiKo will not be a one-man job as G2 as a team will have to cycle roles within the team to adapt in the absence of NiKo tactically. HeavyGod’s 2024 with Cloud9 may not have yielded the desired results, but it was clear that his performance would definitely put him on the wishlist of the top teams and G2 became the team to secure his signature.
Nertz to Liquid
YEKINDAR’s departure from Liquid came as a surprise given he joined the team as one of the best entry fraggers in the world but as Liquid went through an overhaul, he found himself losing his place in the team under the leadership of Twistzz. Heroic performing poorly at the top events made Nertz performance go under the radar but his move will likely be one of the standout signings for Liquid as his playstyle fits right into their tactical approach heading into 2025.
