Serbian CS:GO in-game leader Nemanja “nexa” Isaković has temporarily stepped away from OG’s starting lineup due to personal reasons, the organization announced today. During his absence, OG will play with their former rifler Nikolaj “niko” Kristensen in the BLAST Paris Major’s Europe RMR closed qualifier, which begins tomorrow, Feb. 16.
The temporary departure of nexa comes as a huge blow to the organization’s chances of qualifying for the Europe RMR in April because they’ll have to go through the closed qualifier without a dedicated in-game leader like him. It’s unclear who will be taking on the captaincy duties while nexa is out since none of the OG players—degster, Shahar “flameZ” Shushan, Adam “NEOFRAG” Zouhar, Maciej “F1KU” Miklas, and niko—have experience in the role, at least at the highest level of CS:GO esports.