FlipSid3 Tactics will field Nihilum Gaming veteran Spencer "Hiko" Martin as a stand-in at the ESWC finals, HLTV.org has learned.

The former Cloud9 talent will step into the shoes of Georgi "⁠WorldEdit⁠" Yaskin, whose visa application was denied by Canadian authorities.

Russian players are having a hard time to secure visas to enter Canada, with Natus Vincere duo Denis "⁠seized⁠" Kostin and Egor "⁠flamie⁠" Vasilyev also being in doubt for ESWC, which kicks off on Friday.



Hiko will play for FlipSid3 Tactics in Montreal

FlipSid3 Tactics, who secured a spot at ESWC after winning the CIS qualifier, have been drawn alongside Cloud9, Keyd Stars and Ze Pug Godz in the group stage of the tournament.

It certainly came as a blow that WorldEdit's visa was not processed in time by the embassy for us to play with our full roster. While we are saddened to not have our starting 5 at ESWC, we are beyond grateful that Nihilum has been gracious enough to lend us Hiko for the tournament. Seriously, a huge thanks to both Hiko and the Nihilum Organization for stepping up in the clutch and helping us out on such short notice!

"It certainly came as a blow that WorldEdit's visa was not processed in time by the embassy for us to play with our full roster," FlipSid3 Tactics Dana Kawar told HLTV.org. "While we are saddened to not have our starting 5 at ESWC, we are beyond grateful that Nihilum has been gracious enough to lend us Hiko for the tournament. "Seriously, a huge thanks to both Hiko and the Nihilum Organization for stepping up in the clutch and helping us out on such short notice!"

The Ukrainian team will attend ESWC with: