HooXi BENCHED IN G2
Rasmus " HooXi " Nielsen has been removed from G2's starting roster, the organization announced in a farewell video on Monday.
The in-game leader's removal is the second change in the G2 camp in the summer off-season. The organization replaced Nemanja " nexa " Isaković with former M80 up-and-comer Mario " malbsMd " Samayoa on Friday.
HooXi 's replacement is not yet known. It is however likely finalized given that the roster submission deadline for the upcoming Esports World Cup, where G2 are slated to play, is today (Monday, July 1).
HooXi joined G2 in the summer of 2022 from Copenhagen Flames . His two-year tenure got off to a poor start as the team failed to qualify for the IEM Rio Major, but the Dane went on to lead the organization to its first Big Event trophy since 2017 at the BLAST Premier World Final just two months later.
That victory kickstarted a brief run of dominance which saw G2 go on a streak of 13 consecutive Big Event match wins and claim the title at IEM Katowice in the process. In the second half of 2023, G2 also lifted another highly-coveted trophy at IEM Cologne.
But while they made nearly every playoffs, titles eluded HooXi following the triumph in Germany last August. G2's only victory came at IEM Dallas this May while Jake "Stewie2K" Yip was playing instead of HooXi , which came as a further indictment on the already heavily scrutinized in-game leader.
Exchanging Justin "jks" Savage for nexa at the brink of the year did little to change their fortunes, the Serbian was shown the exit door just six months later to make space for malbsMd , and HooXi now follows to the chopping block.
The only question that remains is who will come in to replace the Dane. Is it going to be another in-game leader, or will G2 give the reins to Nikola " NiKo " Kovač following his success as the temporary captain in Dallas?
After the series of changes, G2 are down one man:
Nemanja "huNter-" Kovač Nikola " NiKo " Kovač
Ilya " m0NESY " Osipov
Mario " malbsMd " Samayoa
Wiktor " TaZ " Wojtas (coach)
Nemanja " nexa " Isaković (benched)
Rasmus " HooXi " Nielsen (benched)
