Heroic has announced it is moving Ismail “refrezh” Ali to the bench as the team continues its efforts to come up with better results. The 24-year-old player was crucial to Heroic’s performance but is now free to search for new opportunities in CS: GO.
“Since the beginning of this 5-man roster, we have always believed that the team were capable of great things. However, during the last year Heroic has been highly competitive in the major tournaments but has struggled to take that final last step. Therefore, despite all the qualities of refrezh, we have decided that it was time to try something new,” the press release reads.
Heroic has been a top-tier team in CS: GO for more than a year. They have been challenging the best teams in the game regularly. However, getting over the final hurdle, and winning tournaments was a challenge for Heroic.
Refrezh joined Heroic last year in February and just a month later, Heroic won ESL Pro League Season 13. They rose to the top 5 in CS: GO and maintained their position in the top five for most of 2021 and much of 2022 as well. However, as we near the half-way mark of 2022, it is clear Heroic’s ambitions are more. They want to be the best.
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Mixed results, inconsistent performance
Heroic finished in the top 4 at IEM Katowice losing to FaZe Clan in the semifinals. But their performance in the next tier 1 tournament, the ESL Pro League Season 15 was underwhelming. Heroic bowed out early in the playoffs, losing 0-2 to Team Liquid. A disappointing result (by their standards) at the PGL Antwerp Major seemed to be the final straw for the team who wanted to be the best. Heroic reached the top eight at the CS: GO Major.
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Refrezh signing a fan’s jersey at the PGL Stockholm Major 2021. Image Credit: Refrezh twitter.
The Danish org is yet to announce refrezh’s replacement on the team. According to a report by sport.tv.dk, Heroic might sign Jakob “Jabbi” Nygaard. The former Copenhagen Flames player was recently put up for transfer along with his teammates,Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen and Rasmus “Zyphon” Nordfoss.
Heroic will participate in the upcoming IEM Cologne 2022 which kicks off on July 5. Popular as the Cathedral of Counter-Strike, IEM Cologne will have a million-dollar prize pool and feature the best teams in the world.
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Stay tuned to esports.gg for the latest CS: GO news and updates.
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