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Rogue pick up new CS roster, including former Liquid IGL Hiko

The North American organisation has signed Hiko along with a former CLG coach, with one spot on the roster yet to be confirmed.

With the dust still settling from the conclusion of the PGL Major in Krakow, we have entered full shuffle mode, and today saw the first move in what is likely to be a busy few weeks for the Counter-Strike world. Team Rogue, the Overwatch giants owned in part by house DJ Steve Aoki, today opened the book on a new chapter in their CS history by signing a roster to be headlined by former Team Liquid IGL Spencer ‘Hiko’ Martin.

The line-up will be led by Josh ‘shinobi’ Abastado, with Spencer 'Hiko' Martin, Daniel 'vice' Kim and Collin 'wrath' McSweegan, coached by Garett 'Grt' Bambrough. Curiously though, the former Team Liquid leader will not be the controlling voice on this new roster, with Josh ‘shinobi’ Abastado set to lead the team. The current Rogue IGL and former Enigma6 group gun doesn’t seem concerned by this powerful new addition to his team though, judging by the statement he gave on the team’s website.

“Having an opportunity like this does not come around often; Vice, Wrath, and I have worked extremely hard to get to this point and under the Rogue banner we will accomplish great things,” shinobi said. “Hiko and Grt are legends in the North American scene and their experience and veteran presence will help develop the incredible talent this team possesses into future stars. This is the strongest line-up I have ever been a part of and I am excited to tackle new challenges and help lead them to the top echelon of the CS scene.”

The org has had a presence in CS for a while, but recently saw a number of players depart, including Jesper ‘tenzki’ Mikalski, who subsequently went to Team Dignitas, Kamen ‘bubble’ Kostadinov and Viktor ‘v1c7oR’ Dyankov, who went to Mortal Kombat, and Danish player Nicolai ‘glace’ Jensen, who ended up at the North Academy. Hiko at least is a step up from those players, although it will take time to see if his new teammates can match his level.

The former Rogue CS roster, now replaced by Hiko and co

Rogue themselves are more known for their presence in Overwatch, with the organisation being strongly linked with a place in the forthcoming Overwatch League, although their name did not appear in the first list released by Blizzard. Some of the speculation is fuelled by the fact their owner Aoki has the sort of cash to make most esports owners look like very small fish indeed, and this move into CS may take their existing fan base by surprise.

Former CLG and Splyce coach Garrett ‘Grt’ Bambrough will be doing the work behind the scenes, with the rest of the side made up of Daniel ‘vice’ Kim, Collin ‘wrath’ McSweegan and a fifth, still-to-be unveiled final signing. This slightly confusing four-man roster is made even more confusing by the fact Rogue don’t appear to have acknowledged the lack of a fifth, even going so far as to talk about “a team that was willing to put in the effort and hours to become a contender”, which might be tough if they start 4v5 each time.

Of course we expect the fifth to be announced soon, with speculation swirling on social media, but we will have to wait to find out more information. Hiko has promised to talk more about the move on his stream this week, this is an interesting addition to the NA scene, with the sort of financial backing that could see them make waves in the coming months.

Images courtesy of Rogue.gg

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