AZR leaves Sprout

After teams failed to qualify for the Paris Major, it was obvious that many would make different changes to their lineups. However, no one expected Sprout to make such a quick decision regarding Aaron “AZR” Ward, who they have decided to terminate his contract.

Many teams make lineup changes after their goals were not completed in a major tournament. Also, the fact that it is a major at stake makes organizations come up with many ideas. But, for you to hire an IGL and in less than two months decide to part ways with it is a bit of an oddity in the scene.

Sprout and AZL part ways

Sprout made a somewhat lengthy statement via their Twitter account a few minutes ago, announcing AZR’s departure from their CS:GO lineup. However, it’s worth noting that the experienced Australian player didn’t even last two months being the team’s IGL.

As we mentioned, this announcement comes after a week where Sprout failed in their attempt to qualify for the upcoming Paris Major through the European RMRs. In the press release, Sprout states that they will try out different players in the IGL position, either in practice or in official matches. In addition, they note that there will be changes to the team’s lineup each week.

Sprout didn’t work out the best with AZR

Undoubtedly, AZR knew what they were up against when he signed with Sprout. This team had made several different changes at the IGL position and was looking for a player who could fill the shoes left by Ismail “refrezh” Ali.

Sprout first decided to use Mikkel’s “Maze” Sparvath. Then, they returned to Rasmus “Zyphon” Nordfoss instead of refrezh. Finally, they had to play without an IGL as their coach Danny “BERRY” Krüger, had to put on the player’s jersey to play in the CCT Central Europe Malta.

With AZR as Sprout’s IGL, the team had a 6-10 record. Furthermore, during AZR’s nearly 45 days with the team, Sprout could not perform at their best, as they failed in every major event they attended. To all this, AZR posted a TwitLonger describing the reasons for their departure from Sprout.

According to the experienced Australian IGL, it was more than clear that things were not going to work out from the start. AZR points out that roles within the games clashed, and there was no sync with teammates.

Changes in esports are a Russian roulette wheel

When an organization decides to make one or more changes to lineups, be it CS:GO or other esports, they are Russian roulette. No one knows if these will work in a week, two months, a year, or never. Moreover, this doesn’t just happen in esports, as changes in any area in people’s professional lives may not work out as expected.

That is why Daniel Paulus, the organization’s CS:GO director, said that making player changes in esports lineups is challenging, as it is not easy to get all of them right.

On the other hand, the organization plans to create an academy team; Danny “Berry” Krüger, the Head Coach of CS:GO, said he is delighted to participate in this kind of project. In addition, he points out that this new team will not be a separate one, as he considers that it will complement each other to add value to the main team.

Header: ESL