SAW has officially revealed the decision to bench Ricardo ‘roman’ Oliveira and José ‘Shr’ Gil, marking the conclusion of a chapter for the Portuguese team as they transition to an international lineup with the inclusion of former Endpoint duo Jan ‘cej0t’ Dyl and Oscar ‘AZUWU’ Bell.
SAW Announcement
The alteration also signals the conclusion of one of the longest-standing partnerships in Counter-Strike, as ‘roman’ and Christopher ‘MUTiRiS’ Fernandes had been teammates for more than five years under the SAW banner — both were members of the original squad of the organization — and their collaboration dates back even further to their time together in Giants starting in September 2018.
‘roman’ achieved a significant milestone for Portugal, assisting SAW in becoming the first Portuguese team to qualify for a Major after several years of unsuccessful attempts at three RMRs before finally reaching the Copenhagen Major, while ‘Shr’ was introduced as an emerging talent, but despite changes in roles, the team ultimately chose to take a different path after only two months.
Following a final farewell at PGL Cluj-Napoca, where SAW advanced to the playoffs despite being aware of impending roster changes, ‘AZUWU’ and ‘cej0t’ are now set to join the team.
The pair arrives as free agents after Endpoint revealed it would be stepping back from Counter-Strike, citing the “significant changes in the CS landscape” after Valve implemented the VRS invite system and the decline of funding in the UK’s esports sector.
The new players have a short history, with their experience primarily in lower-tier online tournaments, during which Endpoint experienced a decline after reaching its peak in the top 30, featuring players like Guy ‘NertZ’ Iluz and Nikita ‘HeavyGod’ Martynenko in 2023.
‘AZUWU’ achieved a rating of 1.10 while playing for Endpoint, whereas 18-year-old ‘cej0t’ had an average rating of 1.03 during his ten-month stint with the team, which is a slight decrease from his 1.06 rating while he was with Sprout.
SAW roster is as follows:
- Christopher ‘MUTiRiS’ Fernandes
- João ‘story’ Vieira
- André ‘Ag1l’ Gil
- Oscar ‘AZUWU’ Bell
- Jan ‘cej0t’ Dyl
- Maikil ‘Golden’ Selim (coach)
- Ricardo ‘roman’ Oliveira (benched)
- José ‘Shr’ Gil (benched)
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