One of best teams in Counter-Strike history is making a change, and the effects are being felt across the game’s top level.
Fnatic announced today the departure of Markus “Pronax” Wallsten, the team’s in-game leader. Wallsten will be replaced by Dennis Edman, most recently of G2 Esports.
Wallsten led the team to multiple major titles and one of the most dominant streaks of play seen in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Recent results have not been up to that standard, with the team failing to capture a title in their past four events and crashing out in the quarterfinals of DreamHack Cluj-Napoca.
Renowned sniper Jesper “JW” Wecksell referenced the team’s relative struggles as well as Wallsten’s desire to pursue other opportunities when explaining the decision.
“As you the fans probably know, we have been going through a rough time lately and Markus wanted to try out new things in 2016 and walk a different road than the team,” Wecksell said in a statement.
While Robin “Flusha” Ronnquist will be taking over Wallsten’s leadership duties, his spot on the roster will now be taken by Dennis Edman.
Edman’s decision to depart G2 Esports immediately after the European side managed to make the semifinals in Cluj-Napoca, where they had multiple match points on eventual champion EnvyUs, is curious. But the draw of joining the team at Fnatic seems to have been too much for Edman to resist.
“I feel honoured to have been given this opportunity,” Edman said. “I understand if some of my fans might think this is a selfish decision, when we’ve just started to achieve good results with Gamers2.”
Forced to account for Edman’s loss, G2 Esports have followed suit and taken a talent from another pro team in Europe. Philip “Aizy” Aistrup has been confirmed to join G2 Esports, departing a Dignitas team he had served since January. Aistrup was bullish on his new team’s future in addressing the move.
“I am very much looking forward to making an impact with these guys, and hopefully we will do big things!” Aistrup said.
Dignitas responded to losing Aistrup by restructuring their roster. Jacob “Pimp” Winneche will also be departing the team, and the two open positions will be filled by Kristian “k0nfig” Wienecke and Ruben “Rubino” Villarroel.
