Good old "this isn't working well enough so we need to make a change" category of roster changes, where the replacement isn't any better either.

I assume they came to the conclusion that NA just doesn't have good options for players?

But at the same time I don't think Patsi and Rainwaker are necessarily the answer - but I could be wrong, of course, haven't followed them very closely. But someone like Yekindar at least was clearly a star level player, even if he hasn't always shown that in Liquid.

I always think of him as getting one deagle kill on eco rounds.

I just don't think NIP can really work with the looser style, in my eyes the more rigid, systematic style is very hard to get working well, while the looser, momentum based style is more fun, but depends a lot on the players hitting their shots. If they have a downswing in performance, it falls apart, and you have nothing to fall back on.

NIP's players just aren't on the same level individually as something like G2, and we have seen how good G2 looks when their players are in form, and how fast they fall off when they aren't in form.

Obviously it isn't that simple and there are tons of different things that affect a team's performance, but that's how I see the "broad strokes". And don't get me wrong, each one of k0nfig, Brollan, hampus, headtr1ck and REZ has had very high highs during their careers, but none of them can reach that level consistently. I guess it's sort of a gamble to see if they could unlock that good form in a more consistent manner for their inconsistent stars with this? Or they just don't have other good options.

At the same time it feels like this move makes sense and doesn't solve anything.

Edit: Well I guess Jackz gets money so that's good for him.

Tbh to me having the FAMAS brings more utility than having all three of M4A1S/M4A4/AUG. I'm not a huge fan of the FAMAS, but I feel like it definitely has a range advantage over SMG's.

Was it just that? I got the impression it was based more on a rumor about Valve going through all of the maps before release, and that taking up so much time the next suitable gap between tournaments would be after EPL?