Even after all of the success G2 has had this year in Counter-Strike, they’re reportedly set to make a roster change.
According to a joint report from HLTV and 1pv, G2 is set to bench Justin “jks” Savage. The move is bizarre: Despite falling flat at Majors, G2 won IEM Cologne and IEM Katowice this year, the two most notable non-Major events on the Counter-Strike calendar. In late 2022, they also won the BLAST World Final, adding to their trophy count in the calendar year. G2’s record at Majors is the only blemish on their record during the year. They went out with a whimper in the Legends stage of the BLAST Paris Major, the only Major in 2023.
G2 have been linked to roster moves that haven’t exactly panned out in the recent past. According to a report, G2 was set to lose superstar rifler NiKo to Falcons. The move didn’t pan out, despite reports that it was set in stone. If the jks move were to go through, G2 could be targeting former player Nemanja “nexa” Isaković, who currently plays for OG.
CS2 has brought on a flurry of roster moves in the Counter-Strike space. Legendary coach zonic’s move to Falcons has brought on tons of speculation about rosters, NAVI’s s1mple is taking a break from CS, and Heroic benched their team’s heart and soul, cadiaN.
Teams are still figuring out how CS2 works, and which position is the most important on the roster. Still, despite the new game fog-of-war and not knowing the internal workings of the team, this move for G2 seems to make little sense. Their team is full of stellar players that are arguably being under-utilized by their team’s IGL, Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen, who has been the target of the lion’s share of criticism.
It’s a bit unfair to say from a bird’s eye view, but this certainly does look like they’ve moved the wrong player as they look to the future.
