With the bulk of post-Major roster moves out of the way and ESL Pro League in progress, the CS:GO roster move landscape has gone quiet. A majority of the world’s best are confident with their starting five and will not change their lineup until after the Starladder Berlin Major in September.
With many teams remaining static, the list of talented inactive players has grown to a size we may have never seen before. So many, that at least two whole mixed nationality rosters could be created tomorrow.
Here is our list of some of the best players available on the market and some exclusive context surrounding their situation:
Miikka ‘suNny’ Kemppi
SuNny is a rifler with superstar potential, showing that on multiple occasions during his time with Mousesports. His decline in form towards the end of his tenure on the lineup is understandable considering the overall form of the roster before they split up.
Multiple roster moves in a short period of time obviously didn’t help his case, either. He won’t be cheap to extract from Mousesports but the longer he sits, the more they will be motivated to move him elsewhere.
Sources have mentioned that his contract with the organization ends in less than a year. It would be shocking to see him teamless come September, given the impact he can provide in the server.
Robin ‘flusha’ Rönnquist
Flusha could possibly be the most attractive player on this list for interested teams due to his ability to perform as an in-game leader or as a strong role player. During his time with Cloud9, his performance only got better until he decided to step back from professional play.
The interest from a number of teams will be extreme, which means it will come down to how soon he wants to return to playing Counter-Strike.
One obvious landing spot is FaZe Clan, who have expressed they will eventually recruit an in-game leader. Although, their recent victory at BLAST Pro Series: Miami might put a damper on a potential roster change. The other obvious move is a return to Sweden, where he still held in high regard.
Fabien ‘kioShiMa’ Fiey
KioShiMa was one of the best players for Cloud9 during their period of roster volatility at the start of the year. Once again though, he was replaced.
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William ‘RUSH’ Wierzba recently mentioned in an interview that kioShiMa was a great teammate, but doesn’t play the game the way the rest of the roster wants to. Surely though, there is a team out there that could use a veteran rifler that has a wide skillset and is dependable to deliver results in-game.
The bonus for any team interested in his services is that he is a free agent and just like suNny, I would be surprised to see him without a team for long.
Owen ‘smooya’ Butterfield
Smooya is an AWPer that has shown flashes of brilliance during his time on the big stage and brings a level of aggressiveness that many teams could utilize. He has expressed his willingness to play anywhere in the world, meaning any team in need of impact AWPing should at least explore the idea.
The small downside of his recent stand-in play for Renegades is that he cannot play in ESL Pro League for Season 9 for any other team once he is subbed out.
Thankfully, his buyout with BIG Clan is quite low, with sources intimating it is around the $30,000 mark.
William ‘draken’ Sundin
Draken hasn’t shown a level of consistency yet to make him more desirable than smooya but has shown on multiple occasions he is worth rostering based on potential alone.
Constantly being moved in and out of the Ninjas in Pyjamas roster can’t be great for his confidence, which is essential when using the big green gun.
Putting him on a roster that is a bit more rigid and structured is worth a shot for those needing some firepower. He was smart by ensuring he would be a free agent if replaced on NiP, rather than getting locked to the bench again.
Notable Mentions
- Abay “Hobbit” Khasenov
- Jakob “JUGi” Hansen
- Niels-Christian “NaToSaphiX” Sillassen
- Asger “AcilioN” Larsen
