TSM reportedly chasing dupreeh for huge CS2 comeback

The organization and the legend could reunite after nearly 8 years.

Professional CS:GO player dupreeh poses for photo during PGL Antwerp Major Europe RMR's media day in 2022.
Photo via PGL

TSM is targeting a handful of European CS:GO players—including the five-time Major champion dupreeh—to build a lineup for CS2 and come back to Valve’s FPS franchise after more than six years away.

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The North American organization is currently “scouting the market”, according to a report by 1pv.fr on June 26. The names of dupreeh, German AWPer Florian “syrsoN” Rische, and veteran French rifler Audric “JACKZ” Jug have come across during this phase. TSM is also chasing former G2 head coach Rémy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam to lead the project, according to 1pv.fr.

TSM announced its intention to come back to CS esports with a European lineup in October 2022 and was looking for a general manager to oversee the operation in February. But we hadn’t heard news since then, and some fans were even doubtful TSM was still going to build a lineup in CS after the organization’s financial woes became public at the end of March.

Related: TSM may sell its LCS franchise spot amid financial struggles, according to report

The timing, however, to build a team for CS2‘s release this summer is better than ever. A lot of players are in restricted or unrestricted free agency as nearly every tier-one organization in the world is making roster changes during the summer off-season.

Professional CS:GO player dupreeh smiles during BLAST Paris Major.
Dupreeh was recently moved to Vitality’s bench. Photo by Michal Konkol via BLAST

Dupreeh, for example, left Vitality’s active lineup on June 22 as a result of the French organization signing Shahar “flameZ” Shushan to replace him. The five-time Major champion is on the lookout for a new home, and he not only wants to play CS2 professionally, but also play for a team that could win the first CS2 Major in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2024. The Danish rifler has a history with TSM, having played for the NA organization in 2015 before joining Astralis in 2016.

All the other pieces TSM targeted are also free agents. JACKZ and XTQZZZ are not signed with any organization at the moment and syrsoN is on BIG’s bench. This is the perfect opportunity for TSM to try signing some experienced players without spending a boatload of money on buyout clauses.

Related: Former G2 and Vitality CS:GO coach announces return after 6 month hiatus

TSM has been out of the CS ecosystem since January 2017, when it parted ways with a NA lineup spearheaded by Sean Gares and Twistzz over a “player rights” dispute.

Author
Image of Leonardo Biazzi
Leonardo Biazzi
Staff writer and CS:GO lead. Leonardo has been passionate about games since he was a kid and graduated in Journalism in 2018. Before Leonardo joined Dot Esports in 2019, he worked for Brazilian outlet Globo Esporte. Leonardo also worked for HLTV.org between 2020 and 2021 as a senior writer, until he returned to Dot Esports and became part of the staff team.