It’s official! Mercurial Brazilian Counter-Strike player coldzera has been benched by mibr going forward. The organization relayed the news with some explanation, which was then supplemented by coldzera’s own Twitlonger, shining more light on what transpired and the events that led to him asking to be benched.

In his Twitlonger, coldzera iterated that he is set to move to EU and train during the interval or his ‘bench period’ as he evaluates offers, perhaps hinting that he is likely to move away from North America and join a European lineup.

Official statement – Leaving Mibr



Read: https://t.co/BSeHCHXo6P — coldzera (@coldzera) July 12, 2019

Now, the obvious team that has been linked with coldzera is Faze Clan. The lineup that once dominated the Counter-Strike scene, continuously placing among the top four, is now a shadow of their glory days.

NiKo was found lacking in the IGL department and NEO was brought in to fill the void created by karrigan’s departure. While the performances and placings have improved somewhat, there still begs the question of a lack of firepower from the IGL, especially with stars like olofmeister and rain not being as clutch as they used to be.

coldzera is an obvious candidate, having done some calling at mibr for a brief period. But, the overwhelming sense of a superstar dream team along with Niko, Guardian, olofmeister and rain is surely a tempting proposition for both coldzera and Faze Clan.

On paper, the lineup will probably be one of the best, if not the best, iteration that has represented Faze Clan. But, a closer look throws up some potential ‘nays’ for Faze Clan, if they were to go for coldzera.

Why Faze Clan should not go for coldzera

The buyout for coldzera is likely huge, something the Brazilian confirmed, highlighting it twice in his Twitlonger. If Faze Clan were to buy coldzera, it would likely be through a dragged series of negotiations rather than just going in to buy the player out.

Photo Via: StarLadder

One thing that could be pointed towards coldzera’s attitude is perhaps, his inability to deal with a continued period of anonymity as far as top four placements are concerned.

He confessed his desire to leave the organization has been present for a considerable period, which coincides with the recent struggles that mibr faced, starting from the decision to stray away from a full-Brazilian lineup to going back to being an entirely Brazilian roster once again.

If coldzera does come in for NEO, without any other roster changes, it could present a similar problem of not having a proper IGL within the lineup, which saw Faze Clan struggle to post consistent results.

Natus Vincere’s early tenure with s1mple when Zeus departed is a very able example of how sometimes, firepower cannot solve all the problems. One more problem that could arise is that of conversation and adaptability.

coldzera hasn’t played in a lineup where English was the primary language and in the brief period that mibr had Stewie and Tarik, there were evident gaps in communication between the Brazilian core and the former Cloud9 duo.

coldzera hasn’t played in a lineup that did not have a Brazilian core either. While the entire lineup showed adaptability by moving from Brazil to North America for more exposure, that is easier than moving across to Europe, as has been shown by s1mple and mixwell – two mercurial stars who spent a considerable period in North America but ultimately moved to Europe to allegedly, be closer to home.

The grass mostly, seems greener on the other side. But, one must understand that it’s all about perspective.

On paper, the lineup seems to be a daunting prospect for the entire Counter-Strike Community to face. But, the scene has evident examples of how firepower alone is not enough for success and Faze Clan could be the next one, if they do go in and acquire coldzera from mibr.