Gambit have announced that they have completed the signing of Vladyslav "⁠bondik⁠" Nechyporchuk on a free transfer.

The former HellRaisers player will undergo a two-month trial as a replacement for Dmitry "⁠dimasick⁠" Matvienko, who has been moved to a backup position without having attended a single LAN event with the team.

The Ukrainian player had been a free agent since November, when he was released by HellRaisers to make way for Abay "⁠Hobbit⁠" Khasenov. Later that month, he stood in for Gambit at SuperNova CS:GO Malta as dimasick was ruled out due to visa issues, averaging a 0.87 rating in the team's defeats to HellRaisers and BIG.

bondik joins Gambit as dimasick is benched

In a statement, team coach Andrey "⁠B1ad3⁠" Gorodenskiy revealed that dimasick is unable to realize his full potential in the team's current system, adding that the squad cannot afford the luxury of waiting for the player to change his game style.

"He is experiencing discomfort, and it is difficult for him to alter his way of thinking, since his own style is based on individual play," the Ukrainian coach said.

"We'd love for Dima to perform at his best, but he is currently unable to do it within our system. Unfortunately, we do not have an option to wait for him to undergo this transformation, whereas altering an entire system to suit his needs is suboptimal.

"Dimas has potential that he can realize in a team that is willing to play around him."

Gambit will make their first appearance with bondik as a full player at the CIS Minor, which will be held from January 16-20 in Katowice, where two spots in the Major's New Challengers Stage will be on the line.

With these changes, the Russian team now have: