Former G2 Esports rifler jks was “ghosted” by the organization’s Counter-Strike 2 manager and staff before his eventual benching, SPUNJ has claimed today.
The Australian star was officially replaced by Nemanja “nexa” Isaković on Nov. 21, however, early leaks hinting at jks’ departure began much earlier, after their semi-final loss at the hands of Complexity at IEM Sydney 2023. Around the same time the leaks came out, jks was allegedly being frozen out behind the scenes, CS2 analyst SPUNJ suggested on the Talking Counter podcast, with G2’s staff failing to talk to jks for “weeks at a time.”
SPUNJ claimed jks spent weeks trying to find out when he was due to return to Europe for CS2 practice. Despite these attempts, the org failed to respond. This roster move came alongside what HLTV called a “shock u-turn” from star player NiKo; the Bosnian star turned down a blockbuster deal with Saudi-owned Team Falcons and remained with the G2 org, with NiKo’s former teammate nexa then replacing jks on the starting lineup.
Though many implied NiKo was to blame for the reshuffle, he quickly denied being the “puppet master” on X (formerly Twitter) amidst the rumors. However, SPUNJ went on to suggest today that NiKo may not have been directly signing players, but as “one of the franchise Counter-Strike names” he certainly would have had significant input on the squad, even compared to their IGL, coach, and other teammates.
Jks’ stint on G2, which has now come to a strange end, resulted in multiple top-place finishes, and a slew of trophies to match. G2’s latest CS2 lineups took home the IEM Katowice 2023, IEM Cologne 2023, and BLAST World Finals 2022 trophies after IGL Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen and jks joined in August 2022.
So far, jks’ next endeavor hasn’t been announced. With rumors of a FaZe and Liquid shakeup unfolding, open spots will begin appearing in multiple CS2 lineups. With the Copenhagen CS2 Major 2024 commencing in March 2024, he’ll have to find a team before the roster locks begin earlier in the year.
Dot Esports has reached out to G2 for a response to SPUNJ’s claims.
