Week in review: Everything you need to know about the recent North American shuffle

It has been a hectic week for the North American CS:GO scene after a series of roster changes took everyone in the community by surprise.

Earlier this week we reported on a rumour regarding a North American "shuffle" following a cryptic Tweet from former Denial eSports player (spoiler alert) Todd "anger" Williams.

Some interesting roster changes in na are going to happen. Curious on how many changes there actually are. — Todd Williams (@Denial_anger) December 8, 2014

These rumours have turned to be true, starting with Shahzeb "ShahZaM" Khan replacing longtime player Spencer "Hiko" Martin in Cloud9. Hiko will still be a part of the Cloud9 organization for a short period time due to his contract, but will not be playing on the official roster.

“ I am sad to announce that I will no longer be a part of the Cloud9 CS:GO team. This decision has been one of the hardest in my entire life. I am grateful from the bottom of my heart the amount of support and belief that not only the fans have given us, but that Cloud9 had in us as a team. Over the last two years the team has seen great ups and downs and have accomplished a lot more than anyone thought we would, maybe even ourselves at times.

We have been through good times and bad times, and have had the same core for almost two years now. In the end, time is not wasted as I have grown and learned so much playing and traveling the world with this group. I am very fortunate to still call them my brothers as well as our manager Tres "stunna" Saranthus who was placed with the unrelenting task of ensuring the best possible for everyone involved, both in and out of game. ” - Spencer "Hiko" Martin

Cloud9 team manager Tres "stunna" Saranthus had the following to say about the roster change:

“ This entire ordeal is really something no one on this team wanted to see have to happen. We were reluctant to make any changes going forward as we always truly felt that it was something we could play through the pain on and come forward with the proper solutions. I am nothing less than overwhelmingly grateful for all the time and effort Hiko put in with this unit and with me thus far. Even now as Hiko moves to a different position we are excited about what the future is to bring.

With the acquisition and addition of ShahZam, I feel that the roles of this team become more defined in certain areas in game while continuing to expand on the team atmosphere out of game. We know ShahZam has had an interesting and sometimes even questionable series of interactions within the community in the past. Per Cloud9’s policies and history, we will continue ensuring that all our players will behave like true professionals and represent the CSGO community properly. Moving forward, we hope that allegations of any kind can be put behind and support can be given to return an NA presence to the highest tiers of competitive play worldwide.

We have assembled a lineup capable of giving it’s all in the spirit of competition. It is my job to build the team and the players themselves, and in 2015 I plan to continue to do that starting with the reintroduction of Shahzeb "ShahZam" Kahn. ”

The roster change left an open spot in Denial eSports' roster, allowing former Stream Team player Eric "AdreN" Hoag to join the team.

But this was just the beginning of the North American shuffle. Shortly afterwards, former iBUYPOWER player Nick "nitr0" Cannella announced on Twitter that he had parted ways with the team. His replacement? None other than Spencer "Hiko" Martin, who will be standing-in for iBUYPOWER in the MLG X-Games qualifiers. It is still unclear whether or not he will join the team as a permanent member after his contract with Cloud9 expires.



Hiko will be standing-in for iBUYPOWER during the MLG X-Games qualifiers



This roster change left Nick "nitr0" Cannella without a team, in which he turned to newly formed team Torqued. Cannella was with the team for just one day, until Denial eSports recruited him to replace Jacob "FugLy" Medina. But a disappointing loss against Lunatik eSports in the MLG X-Games qualifier saw Denial eSports make yet another roster change, bringing back Jacob "FugLy" Medina to replace Todd "anger" Williams. This essentially means that nitr0 replaced anger in Denial eSports.

TL;DR: ShahZaM replaces Hiko in Cloud9, Hiko stands-in for iBUYPOWER, replacing nitr0. Nitr0 first goes to Torqued but is later picked up by Denial eSports to replace FugLy. Denial eSports changes their mind and decides to bring FugLy back, replacing anger.

A complete updated list of all the new North American team rosters can be found below:

Cloud9:

Jordan "n0thing" Gilbert

Sean "sgares" Gares

Kory "Semphis" Friesen

Michael "Shroud" Gresziek

Shahzeb "ShaZhaM" Khan

Denial eSports:

Eric "adreN" Hoag

Nick "nitr0" Cannella

Keith "NAF-FLY" Markovic

Damien "daps" Steele

Jacob "FugLy" Medina​

iBUYPOWER:

Keven "AZK" Lariviere

Tyler "Skadoodle" Latham

Braxton "swag" Pierce

Spencer "Hiko" Martin (stand-in)

Sam "DaZeD" Marine

*as of 12/21/14

With even more roster changes still a possiblity, GosuGamers will keep you updated with all further information as soon as it arises. Stay tuned.