Cloud9 are making another change to their long-term CS:GO “colossus,” reportedly benching Turkish AWPer Özgür ‘woxic’ Eker for ex-Chaos’ Erick ‘Xeppaa’ Bach. The former mousesports star is just three months into his three-year contract.
Update on January 18
Cloud9 and woxic mutually agreed to terminate the AWPer’s contract after trying to navigate problems that were “almost insurmountable.”
Statement regarding Cloud9 CS:GO & Woxic.
Wishing him the very best of luck in the future.
More to come in the next couple of days.. pic.twitter.com/SSotR8UDBh
— HenryG (@HenryGcsgo) January 18, 2021
CSGO fans are now looking ahead for what may come next as C9 officially look for a replacement AWPer and head coach, as woxic will now plan his next move apart from the org.
Original story follows below
Cloud9 is undergoing big changes heading into the 2021 season. Turkish star woxic could be on his way out of the colossus just three months into his three-year contract.
The star AWPer is reportedly being benched “due to non-performance related issues,” according to Rush B Media, but a person close to the team “did not believe that there was an internal disagreement that took place which would cause [woxic] to be [benched].”
The team had mixed results after their late-2020 rebuild, finishing last in Flashpoint Season 2, but third in the BLAST Premier Fall Showdown.
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W0xic has posted middling results at these recent events, with an average HLTV rating of 1.00 since joining Cloud9. He has struggled to shine like his 2019 peak with mousesports, where he played a part in claiming the European squad a ESL Pro League Season 10 title.
First in line to replace woxic is the now teamless Xeppaa. After the disbanding of Chaos, the squad has gone their separate ways, with the likes of Nathan ‘leaf’ Orf and Anthony ‘vanity’ Malaspina swapping to Valorant.
The 20-year-old American rifler shone during Chaos’ rise at the end of 2020, helping the squad win IEM Beijing 2020, DreamHack Masters Winter, and secure a podium spot at ESL One Cologne and DreamHack Open Summer.
Speculation has also been rife about who else Cloud9 could potentially be signing. Cloud9 General Manager Henry ‘HenryG’ Greer posted a Tweet with four emojis indicating two contracts being signed.
📝✅📝✅
— HenryG (@HenryGcsgo) January 6, 2021
With the removal of Kassad at the end of 2020, the second signing could indicate a return of former Assistant Coach Chris ‘Elmapuddy’ Tebbit. The Australian coach has been linked with Cloud9 yet again, less than two months after leaving the squad for Gen.G.
Cloud9 are yet to confirm either the benching of woxic, or the signing of Xeppaa. We will update you as more information arises.
