Serbian CS:GO in-game chief Nemanja “nexa” Isaković has quickly stepped away from OG’s beginning lineup attributable to private causes, the group introduced as we speak. During his absence, OG will play with their former rifler Nikolaj “niko” Kristensen within the BLAST Paris Major’s Europe RMR closed qualifier, which begins tomorrow, Feb. 16.
The non permanent departure of nexa comes as an enormous blow to the group’s probabilities of qualifying for the Europe RMR in April as a result of they’ll must undergo the closed qualifier and not using a devoted in-game chief like him. It’s unclear who will probably be taking over the captaincy duties whereas nexa is out since not one of the OG gamers—degster, Shahar “flameZ” Shushan, Adam “NEOFRAG” Zouhar, Maciej “F1KU” Miklas, and niko—have expertise within the position, at the very least on the highest stage of CS:GO esports.
“The team remains determined to qualify for BLAST Paris Major and is currently gathering for a week-long bootcamp in Warsaw, [Poland],” OG mentioned in an official assertion.
In-game chief points apart, there’s additionally a difficulty relating to whether or not niko is ready sufficient to play in such an essential occasion because the BLAST Paris Major’s Europe RMR closed qualifier. He has solely performed in a handful of maps for Astralis Talent and Danish combine NtK since OG benched him in May 2022. Niko was launched from his contract on Jan. 1, 2023, and he’s been ready for a brand new alternative in free company ever since.
Even although OG are set to play with out nexa, they’ll strive their finest to copy the shape they displayed at IEM Katowice earlier this month after they defeated Sprout, Fnatic, and MOUZ earlier than getting knocked out by Heroic forward of the playoffs.
The closed qualifier for the European RMR will probably be performed from Feb. 16 to 19. There are 18 BLAST Paris Major Europe RMR spots up for grabs on this qualifier.
