According to a report by Dust2.us, Josh “JBa” Barutt will be absent from IEM Chengdu 2024 because of food poisoning, which led him to miss his flight to Chin and now Wildcard will have coach João “horvy” Horvath step in as a replacement for the event.
With less than 24 hours to go, Wildcard will have their coach play as a stand-in having failed to source another player with the little time in their hand. While horvy’s history as a player is far from common knowledge, Wildcard will have to walk into every match as the underdog given the major names won’t let the obvious weak link have an easy time on LAN.
JBa’s being the highest-rated player for Wildcard in the last three months, holding an impressive 1.13 rating as a rifle, will be a massive blow. Adding to the challenge, JBa’s absence means that Wildcard will have to compete in IEM Chengdu with two substitutes, as they have had to bring in Ian “motm” Hardy for Qihao “C4LLM3SU3” Su.
Wildcard CS2 lineup for IEM Chengdu 2024:
- Peter “stanislaw” Jarguz
- Keller “SLIGHT” Nilan
- Aran “Sonic” Groesbeek
- Ian “motm” Hardy (Stand-in)
- João “horvy” Horvath (Stand-in)
Wildcard were far from favourites to win the event but a deep run might have been on the cards for them had they been able to field two of their starters. Having lost two players to misfortune, Wildcard will have their chances hurt but it would be foolish to write them off just because of what a piece of paper says.
Stay updated with the latest news in gaming and esports by signing up for early access to TalkEsport’s Mobile App. Follow us on Twitter and Google News to ensure you never miss the exciting updates.
