CSGO: G2, Complexity roster changes; Stewie2k retires
As IEM Cologne was the last CSGO major before the summer break, some teams are taking the opportunity to change their roster around.
Most of the top teams are using the summer break as an opportunity to relax, train, and develop new strategies, with G2 Esports and Complexity signing on new players and changing their roster around as a result of their performance in the 2022 season so far, and Evil Geniuses signing on another in-game leader after Stewie2k announced his retirement from competitive CSGO.
Stewie2 K’s retirement
Jake “Stewie2K” Yip has put the speculation to rest by announcing his retirement on Twitter. Stewie2K has been in the CSGO scene for a long time and saw major success on Cloud9 and Team Liquid, even winning the Intel Grand Slam Season 2 back in 2019.
Now that Stewie2K is leaving the competitive Counter-Strike scene, he’ll focus on streaming for the Evil Geniuses Valorant and Counter-Strike Creator Collective. His announcement on Twitter reads:
“I’m hype to announce that I’ll be streaming VAL & CS for @EvilGeniuses Creator Collective. For now, I’ll be stepping away from competitive CS and focusing on streaming. Thanks to those who tagged along and 🥂to many more! My future isn’t determined, so stop by tonight’s stream 🤍”
His retirement means that his previous team, Evil Geniuses, will be signing on Sanjar “neaLaN” İshakov to replace his slot as the in-game leader. nealaN is a relative newcomer to the competitive Counter-Strike scene, joining in 2016 on the team zARLANS. Despite that, he has achieved a multitude of top placements at various tournaments, most recently at the Thunderpick Bitcoin Series in March as part of K23.
G2 and Complexity roster changes
G2 Esports will be swapping out Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen and Audric “JACKZ” Jug as the team has been struggling with competing at various majors such as IEM Dallas, IEM Cologne 2022 and PGL Antwerp 2022. The team is trading its in-game leader with Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen, formerly of the Copenhagen Flames.
To replace the slot JACKZ filled, it will be signing Justin “jks” Savage, who used to play for Complexity and substituted for FaZe Clan at IEM Katowice 2022. G2 Esports will only have around two weeks to adjust to their new roster and in-game leader before the BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2022 begins on August 18.
Complexity, meanwhile, has decided to replace Paytyn “junior” Johnson with Hkon “hallzerk” Fjrli due to his unsatisfactory performance in the 2022 season. Though junior could make very explosive plays, his lack of consistency is what led to the organization signing on hallzerk.
Compared to G2 Esports, Complexity will only have to deal with a single-player roster change, giving the team a better chance of adjusting before their next major. However, only time will tell if the change is enough to solve Complexity’s overall performance problem and push the team to the top.
With three different teams experiencing roster changes only a few weeks before the next major, the next few major tournaments are expected to be an exciting time for fans of G2 Esports, Complexity and Evil Geniuses.
