CS:GO News Week in Review: March 28th

Update: Negev, Revolver changes

In the latest patch this week Valve decided to pull both the Negev heavy machine gun as well as the R8 Revolver out of Competitive Matchmaking in tandem with the numerous changes made to both weapons. Of the two, the Negev has seen the most improvements with the introduction of new firing sounds for the gun and a radically different recoil pattern, which becomes extremely tightly grouped after firing the gun for a few seconds. Check out the full details in our patch analysis.

OpTic parts ways with Hiko

The North American superstar revealed on Twitter this week that he has decided to step down from his substitute position with OpTic Gaming after a little over a month of play with the team. Hiko and former Team Liquid coach, Luis "peacemaker" Tadeu were brought onto the team in early February when OpTic lost their in-game leader Peter "stanislaw" Jarguz to Liquid, with peacemaker saying goodbye to the organisation just days prior to this latest news.

yam withdraws from Renegades

One of the longest standing members of Renegades' Australian CS:GO team, Yaman "yam" Ergenekon has unexpectedly announced this week that he will be stepping down from the team and returning home, leaving the team down a man in their US-based gaming house. Although the specific reasons behind this sudden decision are yet unknown, both the organisation and Ergenekon himself said it was "due to personal reasons," with a full explanation to be forthcoming.

Rogue signs academy team

Taking a cue from Fnatic and GODSENT, North American eSports organisation Rogue revealed this week that they have signed on secondary "academy" team, spearheaded by Swedish veteran Kristian "KriLLe" Ekroth. Read a snippet of his full statement below:

This is an amazing opportunity for my team and I. When Hampus first approached us about the opportunity, we got hyped. They have explained to us about the plans of the future and we couldn't be happier joining an organization of this caliber. It will help us play at a full-time capacity and develop ourselves as players and individuals.”

Epsilon loses chrille

The Swedish team has lost yet another member this month following the loss of William "draken" Sundin to the Ninjas in Pyjamas, this time with the announcement that Epsilon's coach and team manager Christian "chrille" Lindberg has been removed. The Swede has served as a coach with them for over a year, having been brought on board in March of last year after a relatively unsuccessful career as a player with Desperados, and has seen the team through to a number of wins including first place finishes at WCA and Pro Gamer League Summer.