Team Coast responds after Counter-Strike roster disputes

After internal disputes, Team Coast no longer has a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive squad in the ESEA ESL Pro League

After internal disputes, Team Coast no longer has a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive squad in the ESEA ESL Pro League.

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Team Coast tells the Daily Dot that team captain Ahsan “draek” Ismailzadah is in violation of his player contract, which states that the organization is in total control of final roster decisions. Ismailzadah’s alleged violation involves him cutting David “inVert” Monroe, Mitch “DUM0RE” Green, and Peter “stanislaw” Stanislaw from the ESEA roster and filled their spots with other professional players.

“Coast was only involved with this team for a few weeks,” Team Coast CEO David Slan tells the Daily Dot. “We became involved because we recognized the tremendous potential of the individual players. What players sometimes forget is that most esports are team sports. Unless individuals are committed to work together as a team, they will never be successful. So while we wish all these players well, we are incredibly disappointed by their decisions.”

The dispute began after Monroe, Green, Stanislaw, and the organization sought to bench Ismailzadah and Chris “draWsouL” Drossel. But neither player wanted to step down.

The team was unable to forcibly remove Ismailzadah from his ESEA ESL pro league captaincy because they lacked the 70 percent consensus to do so, as required by ESEA rule, because Drossel sided with Ismailzadah. So Ismailzadah in turn used his power as captain to remove the three players who sought to bench him.

While the organization is in control of its roster for other leagues (per its player agreements), the team’s spot and roster for the ESEA ESL pro league will continue to be controlled by Ismailzadah.

As a result, Ismailzadah and Drossel have been released from the organization and will continue to compete with their new teammates in the ESEA ESL pro league under their previous name Orgless.

For now, Team Coast will continue to compete in Counter-Strike with the three players they retained, but they’re losing out on a spot in one of the biggest leagues around.

Image via Valve | Remix by Jacob Wolf

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Jacob Wolf
Chief Reporter & Investigative Lead for Dot Esports. A lifelong gamer, Jacob worked at ESPN for four and half years as a staff writer in its esports section. In 2018, the Esports Awards named Jacob its Journalist of the Year.