Jason “JasonR” Ruchelski has decided to step down from his in-game leader position on OpTic Gaming, and James “hazed” Cobb will replace him for the time being, the players announced earlier today.
OpTic’s main AWPer, Oscar “mixwell” Cañellas, announced in the organization’s Vision video today that the team will play with hazed instead of JasonR at the ECS Season 3 Finals. The ECS Finals take place in two weeks in London, England at the Wembley SSE Arena.
Mixwell cited JasonR’s streaming career as the primary reason for his departure from the team.
“While we were in Dallas, Jason was talking to hazed [secretly], and he told James that he felt like he wanted to stop playing professionally because he thinks he will never be a permanent player on OpTic,” Mixwell said. “He doesn’t feel like he’s good enough for us, and he wants to keep his streaming career because he makes a lot of money doing that and it’s a safe bet for him in the future.”
This may be the case due to OpTic’s mediocre performance at the ESL Pro League Season 5 Finals two weeks ago, where they placed top eight.
“[JasonR] thinks that this month would be too much for his brand to be away from home more than 30 days playing all these tournaments,” Mixwell continued. “He thinks that he will not be a permanent player and it’s really risky for him.”
Mixwell thought JasonR and hazed’s roles within the team made sense, but he and the rest of the team understood that JasonR prefers a long-term career as a Twitch streamer. JasonR may face much scrutiny from OpTic fans as a result of his decision; similarly, OpTic’s former in-game leader, Peter “stanislaw” Jarguz, was deemed a “snake” for leaving the team in favor of Team Liquid.
Hazed is now the in-game leader of OpTic, a role he hasn’t played since his days under the CLG banner. JasonR will be returning to full-time CS:GO streaming. With hazed at the helm, OpTic is now without a coach.
“It’s not the end of the world,” Mixwell concluded at the end of the CS:GO segment of Vision.
OpTic will have a little over a week to prepare and adjust to the swap. They’ll be heading into ECS Season 3 Finals as a rather weak team in comparison to the other top dogs attending the event, such as FaZe Clan, SK Gaming, G2 Esports, and Astralis. The change may also affect their chances of qualifying for the PGL Krakow Major in July if the team fails to adapt to hazed’s strat-calling. Hazed now has the fate of OpTic’s success resting on his shoulders.
