David “sTiZze” de Castro officially retired from the Rainbow Six Pro League today. The Team Secret player has left the professional scene to focus on “academic goals,” according to the organization’s Twitter account.
STiZze leaving Secret is a big change for the organization. Most of the roster has remained unchanged since the “i don’t know” days before being acquired by Secret. The “i don’t know” roster was scooped up in August 2018. Since the team was just relegated, though, a major roster move comes as no surprise.
Daniel “Ferral” Rotheram joined the roster as a “trial addition,” according to Secret’s official post. Ferral is no stranger to playing with Secret—he was briefly a part of the “i don’t know” roster five months before Secret’s acquisition. Secret’s next large-scale appearance will be at the Allied Esports Vegas Minor on Friday, June 7.
Secret were relegated back to the Challenger League following the conclusion of season nine of the R6 Pro League. Despite taking some important victories off of G2 Esports and CHAOS, the team found themselves playing relegation matches to stay alive in the pro scene. Secret were ultimately unsuccessful in holding a Pro League slot after losing to Vitality.
As fans saw with Natus Vincere, it’s possible for an entire team roster to be gutted after relegation or a poor season. While Secret weren’t auto-relegated like Na’Vi, the team still needs to undergo an overhaul if they plan on fighting back up through the Challenger League gauntlet.
