Great CIS reshuffle. How might the Counter-Strike 2 competitive scene change?
Reshuffles on the competitive Counter-Strike 2 scene after PGL Major Copenhagen 2024 were very late, but they never cease to amaze us. The changes that took place after the major practically did not affect the CIS scene, but it turned out that everything was still ahead. It seemed that after the transfer of Denis electroNic Sharipov to Virtus.pro and the almost complete disbandment of the Cloud9 roster, there would be no big surprises, but this turned out to be completely wrong. C9 needs to assemble a new roster and this problem will undoubtedly affect other clubs with Russian-speaking players. Rumors are actively appearing in the community about the upcoming «great» CIS reshuffle, which looks very exciting from the fans. But it definitely won’t please the teams it affects. In this material we will discuss all possible changes in the CIS teams and how they can affect them.
Cloud9
First, it is worth discussing the perpetrators of the CIS reshuffle themselves. Cloud9 clearly do not intend to repeat the «success» of the past star roster and approach the selection of players extremely carefully: they need the best options available on the market. That is why the club abandoned the second tournament in a row – the organization will not have time to form a roster for BetBoom Dacha Belgrade 2024.
According to insiders, Cloud9 intends to take two players from the 9 Pandas roster. They could be Timur clax Sabirov and Daniil d1Ledez Kustov. This choice is quite justified: both esportsmen are the best players of their team and made a great contribution to the team’s passage to PGL Major Copenhagen 2024 through Last Chance. 9 Pandas are unlikely to intend to lose their main stars, but Cloud9 received a large sum after the sale of Denis to electroNic Sharipov and are ready to fight for the desired candidates. The chance of this outcome is quite high and is approximately 70%.
Of this duo, the more desirable player for Cloud9 is Timur clax Sabirov. His club is guaranteed to take it if it reaches an agreement with 9 Pandas. Given C9’s ambitions, there is an 85% chance of this happening.
According to rumors, an alternative option instead of Daniil d1Ledez Kustov is Aleksandr shalfey Marenov from FORZE. Despite the failure of the team at ESL Pro League Season 19, the player showed a high level of individual performance and many top clubs became interested in him, and Cloud9 was no exception. However, Sergey Ax1Le Rykhtorov and Kirill Boombl4 Mikhailov do not really believe in him, so it is unlikely that the club will arrange this reshuffle. It will happen with a rather small chance – 25%.
To form a full-fledged Cloud9 roster, all that remains is to find a sniper. Unfortunately, information about potential candidates has not yet appeared. The team is not going to repeat their mistake and will definitely not refuse to play with AWP again. But there are quite a few good performers on the CIS scene and making the right choice is quite difficult, so it will take more time.
9 Pandas
If this reshuffle happens, 9 Pandas will be in a difficult position. In the coming months, the qualifiers for the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 will start and there is simply no time to look for and develop new talents. Selecting from established players will also be quite difficult, because this will require negotiations with other clubs, and there are not many free agents left on the professional scene.
Aleksandr shalfey Marenov, whom they don’t really want to see in Cloud9, is vying for the place of one of the departed players. Insiders are very confident that the FORZE player will join 9 Pandas, and his transition is almost at the final stage. Coach Artem Fierce Ivanov should come with him. This decision will certainly have a positive impact on the club’s performance, and the probability of a transfer is extremely high and amounts to 90%.
But that’s not the only change coming to 9 Pandas. According to rumors, the club intends to get rid of its captain Denis seized Kostin. If a player leaves the team, it will practically mean the end of his career and it will be a shame that he missed his last major due to visa problems. However, this decision cannot be called a mistake; the captain often lags in statistics, and he is not noted for strong leadership qualities. Denis seized Kostin built the 9 Pandas roster from scratch and led it to PGL Major Copenhagen 2024, which the team did not reach, but perhaps his journey ends here. The probability of this outcome is 40%.
Denis seized Kostin is not the only weak link of the team. In individual terms, the 9 Pandas sniper – Artem iDISBALANCE Egorov – is also sagging. Insiders report that the club wants to replace him, and the club is considering Artem ArtFr0st Kharitonov from PARIVISION for this place. However, it will be extremely difficult to agree on this transfer; the organization clearly does not want to give up the sniper. The chance of this is quite small and amounts to 15%.
After missing PGL Major Copenhagen 2024, the results of 9 Pandas fell very low, the team can’t even always cope with average tier-2 teams. The team even gathered for a bootcamp, but so far no significant improvements have been seen. Apparently, only changes in the composition can help cope with the problems. However, the organization’s CEO denies the insiders’ words and said that all players will remain on the roster. But it has become a tradition to deny reshuffles, and even the players themselves cannot be trusted during reshuffles. This statement serves more to relieve stress from the roster members, as they worry about the future of the team and are distracted from the matches.
Esports is a huge market where money and existing contracts decide a lot. Any negotiations can break down at the last moment, so it is impossible to draw full conclusions based on inside information. But judging by the latest results of 9 Pandas, they definitely need serious changes and this reshuffle will probably benefit them, however, the loss of key players could play a cruel joke and the team will not return to the tier-1 stage. The reshuffle may also affect other teams, because Cloud9 still needs a sniper, and 9 Pandas is a potential replacement for Denis seized Kostin and one more player. We are only at the beginning of the «great» CIS reshuffle and it will definitely give many more surprises, all that remains is to follow the insiders and official announcements.