In a world as cutthroat as esports, players can go from performing on the biggest stages to out of a job in the blink of an eye. Fans of many esports constantly debate and wonder why players can’t find their way back onto rosters.
In particular, CS:GO fans have called for a ton of former pro’s comebacks over the years. Just recently, Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz, a former four-time major champion, made his return to Astalis’ starting lineup after an extended hiatus.
However, most of these players discussed are past their prime and flop when getting back server side. Very few if any at all, sub into a lineup and perform extremely well while helping the team to the next stage of a high-tier tournament.
That’s exactly what twenty-seven-year-old star Patrick “es3tag” Hansen just did, subbing in for FaZe Clan with Håvard “Rain” Nygaard out of the lineup.
It was far from a perfect nine-game stretch, but es3tag played a huge role in pushing FaZe to qualify for the BLAST Spring Finals. Es3tag even earned the praise and a lot more from his teammate Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken, who took to Twitter to express his confusion over the Danish rifler’s teamless status.
Es3tag’s last consistent starting spot was a year-long stint with Ninja in Pyjamas than ended in November last year when he was subsequently benched. NIP cited a “bumpy road” for es3tag’s 2022 season as the reason for his removal from the starting lineup, a move that confused fans, and to the looks of it Twistzz as well.
It is common for fans to use social media to question when teams cut or bench players, but to see a major champion express that same confusion is rare.
Es3tag certainly had his down games during the Blast Spring RMRs, with a pair of single-digit kill performances and four sub-one ratings across nine matches with FaZe. Rust was to be expected though, as es3tag hadn’t played on-stage since last November. At the same time, es3tag dropped 31 kills against Complexity in his second match and just top fragged with 19 kills on the final map of a 2-0 sweep of OG to secure FaZe a spot in BLAST Spring Finals.
The cherry on top might be this highlight-worthy ninja defuse that defines the iconic Counter-Strike phrase “pros don’t fake” perfectly.
Sure, the list of tournament finishes for teams including es3tag aren’t great. During his NIP career the team never made it to a grand finals of any S-Tier tournaments and had a couple of ugly showings at both ESL Pro League Season 16 (17th-20th place finish) and the IEM Rio Major (15-16th place finish).
However, it is unfair to place the blame solely on one member of a squad for a year of lackluster finishes. NIP changed much of the roster around es3tag throughout the season from IEM Katowice in Febuary up until the IEM Rio Major. NIP went from the IGLing of Plopski to a short stint with alexsib. Constant roster turnover is one of if not the biggest negative effects on a team and its players.
It’s not like es3tag is some big-shot IGL that needs command over any roster he goes to. He is the definition of a solid, plug-and-play entry fragger that just showed his ability on the current biggest stage in pro CS:GO. Teams likely wouldn’t have to make huge accommodations to bring him into a starting roster, and es3tag has already played professionally in both Europe and North America.
With Rain likely to return for the next stage of BLAST Spring Finals, es3tag will once again be without a team.
With RMR’s for BLAST closing out soon, there will be a bit of a break between top-tier tournaments for teams to reset and reevaluate their starting lineups. The hope now is, after this stellar sub-in, FaZe es3tag will be able to find a roster in the future.
