CS:GO Free Agency Primer 2019

Twice a year, every year, we get my favorite part of the CS:GO season: the post Major shuffle. Now that the roster lock has been lifted, teams are free to shuffle their rosters to their hearts content, with a few caveats. Any team that achieved legend status at the Major will need to keep at least three of their five players if they want to retain their roster spot for the next Major.

Because the shuffle has already started, a few big moves have already been made. We’ll go over those, then over moves that have been all but confirmed officially, then over the rest of the stand out free agents in the scene. Keeping up with these kinds of moves, and checking out these new teams in their first couple games, is crucial in CS:GO betting.

Finished Moves

ENCE -Aleksib +suNny

This move was technically announced before the Major even started, which made ENCE’s performance in Berlin extra confusing. ENCE have removed the tactical mastermind that has been, in most respects, one of the driving forces behind ENCE’s ascension to the top five.

MIBR +kNg

This was another move that was all but announced before the Major started. Coldzera walked away from one of the most successful cores in the history of CS:GO, leaving MIBR to play with their coach Zews in Berlin. To replace coldzera, who is unquestionably a top 5 player in the game over the last three years, MIBR have added kNg, previously of Immortals fame, to complete their roster.

Adding kNg drastically changes the makeup of this roster, really for the first time since 2016. While coldzera did AWP on this lineup, he was about as close to a true hybrid as you can get in CS:GO. kNg is much closer to a full time AWPer, which might get uncomfortable playing with FalleN, who was at one time one of the most fearsome AWPers in the game. It’s important to note that this isn’t the first time kNg has been in this situation, as he played with HEN1, a full time AWPer, on Immortals when they made their run at PGL Krakow.

I’ve touched on this move before, but the potential this move gives them is exciting. While kNg certainly isn’t the star player that coldzera is, he can frag with the best of them. This roster will be interesting at minimum, and a championship contender at best.

Fnatic +flusha +golden

Ahh, a retread. Cause this has worked out so well for Fnatic before. This iteration of Fnatic was definitely the most successful they’ve been since their dynasty in 2015, and they had a lot of potential. But I don’t know if you can throw all the same players together and hope they can recreate the magic they had.

Although, maybe you can? They’re all certainly still talented, and I still believe in golden. Most of his problems had to do with his health over the last year, and if he’s back, and the rest of the players buy in, this team could do damage.

Vitality -NBK +Shox

And so, NBK gets the boot. The founder of the team, and their leader, has been removed from the team, apparently to make room for shox. Now, if you’ve been reading me for a while, you know that I don’t like shox very much as a player. I have advocated for KennyS joining ZywOo over shox, even with the role conflict.

Unfortunately, Vitality have decided to go with shox (although I doubt KennyS was made available). There is some upside here, if I want to be optimistic. Shox is certainly a talented player, there’s no denying that. But his playstyle, and presumably his in game/out of game attitude brings teams down consistently. He hasn’t won anything in a while, even with the “French Superteam”.

This move certainly isn’t the end of Vitality as a championship caliber team. Maybe ZywOo will inspire shox to push a little harder, and they’ll end up winning tournaments left and right. But if my CS:GO Betting experience has taught me anything, it’s not to trust shox.

Rumored Moves

Na’Vi -Zeus +GuardiaN

It has been confirmed that Zeus is hanging it up, which means Na’Vi are now in the market for a new fifth. They already have the IGL spot filled, as Boombl4 was the IGL on his last team, and presumably was brought in with the knowledge that Zeus would be retiring soon.

The word on the street is, Na’Vi are looking at bring GuardiaN back to pair with s1mple and electronic, and my feelings on this matter are complicated. On the one hand, I love the idea of turning s1mple back into a hybrid, and taking the AWP out of his hands at least some of the time. I always felt he was being wasted as a primary AWPer, as it didn’t allow him to play make with the crazy aim that he’s known for.

On the other hand, GuardiaN might be washed at this point. He laid an egg in Berlin, and his Ratings on LAN for the past year are up and down. Not to mention he’s 28 years old at this point, and has been playing for over a decade. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if his retirement was just around the corner. I’d much rather Na’Vi go young, and pull a no name off an up and coming CIS squad.

FaZe -GuardiaN – NEO, +coldzera +broky

This move is scary. Like, really scary. I’ve talked about this before as well, but it’s hard to overstate how petrifying it would be to have NiKo and coldzera on the same team. I’m sure I don’t have to list NiKo and coldzera’s accolades to you, but I will anyway. Two time Major winner, two time Major MVP, five top 10 HLTV placings between the two of them, that’s a lot of firepower. They still don’t have an IGL, but at this point does it even matter? Just let olof call and watch NiKo, cold, and rain rip people’s heads off.

Broky is sort of an unknown, but I’m not mad about it. He was routinely one of Epsilon’s best players, and can pick up the AWP when necessary. He doesn’t have a ton of LAN experience, but who better to learn from than olofmeister, rain, coldzera, and NiKo. That’s a murderer’s row right there. They could probably pick me up and make deep runs at tier one LANs (FaZe call me, I’ll play for cheap).

Notable Free Agents

Let’s talk about who’s left over, where they might end up, how good they are. In a loose order, best to worst.

Oskar

Oskar, for my money at least, is the hidden gem in this free agent class. He was unstoppable with Mousesports last year, putting up ratings that would put players with better name recognition to shame. He’s just sitting there, waiting for an international team in need of a tier one AWPer. And while AWPers are pretty cheap right now, there are several teams that could use him.

Issa

I feel like Issa is the forgotten young potential superstar in the CS:GO scene. I don’t think he ever really hit his ceiling on HellRaisers, and for the right team he could be a big addition.

NBK

NBK has announced his intention to go international, which is a solid choice for him. He’s repeatedly gotten the boot from some of the best French squads, and it would be best for him to spread his wings. There are plenty of teams that could use an IGL, and his stats weren’t bad for Vitality. I wouldn’t be surprised to see FaZe kick the tires on the Frenchman.

Ex6TenZ

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Ex6TenZ hang it up at this point. He hasn’t been a top tier player in years, and he’s been removed from several rosters in the last year and a half. But, IGLs are always in demand, and he was certainly able to work magic with LDLC in 2018. He’s shown a willingness to go international, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see him on Complexity or something like that by the end of the shuffle.

HEN1

Hen1 is a seriously flawed player. He has Draken syndrome, where he misses routine shots, and loses games for his team on occasion. That being said, no player on this list is perfect, and HEN1 brings serious firepower when he’s on. He could be a great 3rd or 4th guy on a tier one team, especially if he’s willing to go international.

Draken, disco doplan, freddib, friberg, twist

There’s like, a whole tier two all Swedish team just sitting on the market. Twist, the remains of ex-Epsilon, and friberg could be a serious team for someone to pick up on the cheap. While it’s more likely they’re split up and added to NiP and Heroic or something like that, I’d love to see them form up and start playing some qualifiers.

If you intend to get serious with CS:GO Betting, this is all important stuff to know. Anyone of the rosters we’ve talked about here could be a championship contender in three months, and the earlier you can catch that, the more money you can make. Watch tier two CS, watch online matches, get a read on these players, and check back here regularly for all the best CS:GO Betting content.