In 2015 Bravado Gaming said goodbye to arguably one of the more talented CS:GO players in South Africa. Robby “BlackpoisoN” Da Loca, who attended Dreamhack with Bravado in 2014, decided to make the move to Sweden where he’d hope to continue his CS:GO career abroad, in a country where CS:GO lives and breathes. BlackpoisoN turned heads at Dreamhack as the international community got a taste of the raw talent available in South Africa. Da Loca’s was supported by the community as this presented an opportunity for a talented player to expand his game overseas.

Da Loca soon joined a semi-professional team called Nerd Rage where he continued to impress the international community, all while appearing on professional player’s streams showing them a thing or two.

Unfortunately, like most of us, Da Loca could not afford to dedicate all his time to CS:GO as his journey continued and was forced to resign from the more competitive side in Sweden, and work full time. Well, BlackpoisoN is back, and who better to join, than his former comrades over at Bravado Gaming. The unfortunate news is that he will be replacing CS:GO sweetheart Richard “Deviant” Groves, whose charm and good manners will be missed in the competitive team, but this is not the last we’ll see of Deviant, as he will remain on the roster as a 6th and still grace us with his warmth.

Da Loca offered the following statement regarding his return on the official Bravado Gaming press release:

“My goal was to go to Europe for a maximum of 1 year and gain as much experience as possible so that I could come back home and help the boys out as much as possible. Unfortunately I was not able to play for any official teams, but continuously scrimmed with individuals in mixed games of a high caliber. This was a problem for me as I was working full time from 07:00 to 18:00, so it was impossible for me to put more than 3/4 hours a day in CS. I managed to get quite a few offers but the only problem was these teams needed a player who can at least pay 6-8 hours of CS per day which was not possible for me, so my only option was to gain as much experience as possible through the Faceit Pro League (FPL). I made tons of great friends and I learned many new dynamics and I am very happy that I did this.”

Bravado owner, and coach of the CS:GO squad Andreas “cent” Hadjipaschali detailed the decision as well:

“It’s really hard to see a player like Richard step down from the active roster. We’ve been through all the sad & happy times together and experienced a ton (as team-mates as well as friends) – whether it be in the bar or playing side by side in South Africa’s biggest events – lets not forget the experience we had together internationally at Dreamhack & ESWC. I understand Richard is in a position in his life (because I was in that exact same one) where he needed to step down for the squad, it’s not easy to dedicate yourself to Counter-Strike for 6-8 hours a day and I can totally relate to that. Richie, I wish you all the VERY best in the future, we’ll be friends forever and the team and I will not let these experiences be forgotten. For now, Richard will be the official 6th of our squad, until he decides what route he would like to take. Welcoming Robby to the squad, I have no doubt that the individual will bring some valuable experience. He’s been involved in tons of matches with some of the best players in the world, understanding exactly what makes them tick – and I’m glad he’ll be joining the squad and further help the team to achieve our objectives. We’ve definitely had our conflicts and differences in the past, but at the end of the day we need to let all of that go and help each other improve, as individuals and as players. Welcome back Robby”

Da Loca now joins an already scary lineup put forward by Bravado Gaming in what is turning out to be one of the most exciting years for CS:GO in South Africa.

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