Lemondogs Return To CS:GO Leaving MAJESTY To Change Their Roster
One of the oldest teams in Counter-Strike history has once again returned to CS:GO. Originally founded in 2004, Lemondogs was a well-known team throughout CS 1.6, a game that held teams like NAVI, SK Gaming, and WeMade FOX. From 2004 to early 2012 Lemondogs formed a large fan base and a successful organisation. With earnings close to thirty grand and years of experience, things were going well before entering the CS:GO scene. Lemondogs have won titles from Nordic Masters to DreamHack 2009, a coveted title that is treated with respect to this day. From 2012 to 2016 Lemondogs have made plenty of roster changes while playing CS:GO.
LEMONDOGS JOURNEY
In 2013 their CS:GO roster was acquired by SK Gaming. The team they had beaten back in 2009 which earned them the DreamHack title. SK’s decision led to one of their worst years in Counter-Strike history. Dropping to an all-time low of just under ten grand in earnings leaving Lemondogs disbanded. From 2014 to 2016, the team chose to sponsor different organisations. They originally chose WRTT and found terrible results. A couple of months later, Lemondogs found a team called AliGon. Now disbanded, AliGon used to participate in small events earning them a total of twelve grand in earnings. Lemondogs liked what they saw, so they gave the org an offer to buy out their roster.
The price for this acquisition is unknown, but all five players had moved on from AliGon. This decision was made recently on September 1st, 2020. Lemondogs new lineup now consists of xelos, kaktus, hemzk9, Mann3n, and gamersdont. The team has no captain or coach and will simply depend on the skill from their independent players. They’ve already received a sponsorship from Logitech and a few first-place finishes. Based on experience, xelos is probably the closest thing to a team captain. With ten years of experience and thirty grand in earnings, he’s definitely a great player. Before joining Lemondogs, he once played for Epsilon eSports and SK Gaming. He even had a small stint with Lemondogs back in 2013 as a young player.
His biggest event tier wise was placing second at DreamHack Bucharest in 2013 after losing to NiP. On the other hand, he earned fifty grand with Epsilon at a B-Tier event called PGL in 2016. They beat out Team X that once housed legends like gla1ve and Snappi. The rest of the players on Lemondogs don’t share the same experience. A good example is kaktus. He has no major recorded tournament wins and started out back in 2018 with independent teams. The same thing goes for hemzk9, Mann3n, and gamersdont.
So far the new Lemondogs lineup has competed in four events earning five grand in just one month of playtime. Their first win was at the Leo Vegas CS:GO Open where they placed second after losing to Lilmix. One week later, they were able to return the favour and beat Lilmix at the Shark Gaming CS:GO Open. Their time had finally come to secure a first-place finish. The best player rating went to hemzk9 in both events. In total the team made six clutches at the Shark Gaming Open before finishing in first place. Definitely a team to be on the lookout for.
Click to enlargeMAJESTY FLIPS THE SWITCH
MAJESTY has also been working the books with their newest roster. A team founded only two years ago that mainly participates at the C-Tier level. The current roster includes team captain THRONE, nat1ve, w0nderful, j3kie, and DarkS1DE. The first four joined back in August while DarkS1DE tagged along a month later. MAJESTY has played in small European cup events earning just under ten grand in total earnings. In 2020 they placed first in their best tournament so far which was the Time of Bet CS:GO Cup. MAJESTY was able to beat Lilmix and brought home a prize of three thousand dollars.
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For most of the roster, this has been their first official team besides the independent groups they played with. Some of them even spent time playing for CR4ZY. THRONE has the most experience with three first-place cups and six years of experience playing competitive CS:GO. DarkS1DE has mostly played for academy teams in the past, so this newest transfer should be a breath of fresh air. The other three, including nat1ve, w0nderful, and j3kie, have the least amount of experience. MAJESTY is definitely taking a chance on this new roster considering w0nderful is only fifteen.
MAJESTY has earned around five grand with their newest roster after attending small European tournaments. Their most recent achievement was placing second at the ROG Autumn Cup after losing to a team called S21. Still, a great finish but plenty of people felt thought they were going to be the tournament winners. Considering every other attending team was independent. MAJESTY still has some things to learn with their newest roster and plan on preparing for 2021.
Images via Lemondogs
