



Sources have informed Rush B Media and flickshot.fr that Martin "STYKO" Styk may be joining Cloud9 as they participate in ESL One Cologne - if ESL allow the shock swap. The move, which occurred following the extended roster lock, comes as a surprise to many. Rush B Media initially reported that Oscar "mixwell" Cañellas was in serious discussions with the American side to join them for Cologne and ELEAGUE. According to our information, mixwell was going to be joining up with his former OpTic Gaming teammates as they ventured to Cologne. However, the recent departure of STYKO from mousesports prompted the team to reevaluate their options.





As first reported by DBLTAP's Jarek "DeKay" Lewis, STYKO was benched from Mousesports earlier this week and would be replaced by Jordan "n0thing" Gilbert. However, following several rule changes to the roster deadline, it was learned that STYKO would still be playing, but the team was pursuing the servicers of Janusz "Snax" Pogorzelski. The Polish star was purchased out of his contract from Virtus.Pro, and in the public release from mousesports, it was revealed that Snax would be joining up with his new team in place of STYKO, once again leaving the Slovakian player on the bench.





It is unclear if STYKO will be joining the team for future events or the terms of the deal were between mousesports and Cloud9 for a loan. While there is some possible conflict of interest in regards to the status of STYKO potentially competing against his parent team, that does not violate ESL One rules, providing that the transfer is recognized as a loan. The move is still contingent on ESL approving the move.





Even if allowed, Cloud9 will have to face some major penalties during ESL One: Cologne due to their roster instability and for withdrawing from ESL One NY for Blast Pro Series Istanbul. According to ESL rules, provided that Cloud9 committed a Major Penalty, they lose 10% of prize money, on top of the $2,500 they were fined for late registration. Additionally, if the team does use STYKO, they could also be penalized an additional 2 Minor Penalty Points, which would incur a 2% loss of prize money. So, in total, the Americans could lose a potential 12% + $2,500 of prize money for their placing.