CS:GO Pro Team Brutally Drop Player Mid-Series After Disastrous Performance
Strife Esports, currently ranked as the 54th best Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team in the world, has made waves in the North American scene by dropping a player halfway through a series after they dropped a woeful map in the ESL Challengers League.
Whilst substitutes are common in esports for injuries or after long deliberations throughout the season, it's not something we're used to when a player is removed from the entire organisation simply for having a bad performance. However, in this case, Strife Esports made the impromptu decision to send their player packing at the halfway stage of their match, leaving a stand-in to come through as a replacement.
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Strife Esports Drop Player Mid-Series
After a heavy defeat at the hands of MIBR - a team that is 20 places higher in HLTV's global leaderboards - in map one of their best-of-three tie, Strife Esports took their frustration out on Danny "cxzi" Strzelczyk, who had just five kills with seventeen deaths.
The 21-year-old was subsequently chopped from the starting line-up going into Map 2, as the organisation brought in emergency substitute Austin "AAustiN" Urb, who is actually a former member of the squad that was released in November 2021.
Not that the change made much improvement to the roster though, as MiBR made light work of the revamped squad, winning 16-6. For a single round's difference, fans were left quizzing the decision, albeit with AAustiN improving on the five kills with 12 of his own.
Strife Esports' Roster Turmoil Continues
Cxzi will not be returning to the team following his removal, and the organisation has now opted to move away from AAustiN again too. Instead, Matthew "D4rtyMontana" Paplawskas will be joining the team, having previously competed with the team in the Mythic Winter Cup two as a stand-in earlier this year.
The roster recently hit the top 50 for the first time ever at the beginning of March, peaking at 49 on March 7. However, they have now slipped back down to 54th, following a drubbing in the ESL Challengers League.
Their new-look roster will next be competing in the Challengers League on March 23, as they take on Team oNe eSports, with the winner earning themselves a place in the Playoffs - barring Strife overcome a nine-map deficit.
Let's see if the roster confusion can push them back into the form that has seen them ascend through the rankings throughout the last 12 months.
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