OG Esports’ Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen and G2 Esports’ Nemanja “nexa” Isaković plan to swap teams, according to reports from 1pv.fr and Dexerto. Aleksib’s transfer to G2 comes after he expressed interest as early as November. The Finnish in-game-leader would become the final piece for G2, who recently confirmed the signing of 16-year-old Russian AWPer Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov.
The IGL swap would mark the end of nexa’s two year tenure leading G2. He arrived on the team alongside CR4ZY teammate Nemanja “huNter-” Kovač. If this swap goes through, two Balkan players will now part ways after years playing alongside each other.
Over the last two years, G2 have struggled to achieve consistent results. The team floundered during the online era and their best results came with the return to LAN competitions. They notched three significant second place finishes at IEM Katowice 2020, IEM Cologne 2021 and the PGL Major Stockholm 2021, falling short each time to Natus Vincere. With a new IGL, a new AWPing prodigy and a new head coach — in Rémy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam, according to 1pv.fr — this roster is looking to reach new heights.
As for OG, the team failed to find strong results in recent years. Under Aleksib, the international squad missed out on a medley of Tier 1 events, including the PGL Major. Their roster is still in flux as Danish rifler Valdemar “valde” Bjørn Vangså may end up on a revamped Evil Geniuses roster, according to 1pv.fr.
As of now, these changes would result in the following G2 roster:
- Audric “JaCkz” Jug
- Nemanja “huNter-” Kovač
- Nikola “NiKo” Kovač
- Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov
- Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen
- Rémy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam (coach)
And OG’s 2022 roster, if valde remains on the team, would be as follows:
- Valdemar “valde” Bjørn Vangså
- Mateusz “mantuu” Wilczewski
- Nikolaj “niko” Kristensen
- Shahar “flameZ” Shushan
- Nemanja “nexa” Isaković
- Casper “ruggah” Due (coach)
