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BIG part ways with gade

Danish CS:GO rifler Nicklas “Gade” Gade and esports powerhouse BIG have mutually split ways, terminating Gade’s contract to allow... Shubh | 3. August 2022

Danish CS:GO rifler Nicklas “Gade” Gade and esports powerhouse BIG have mutually split ways, terminating Gade’s contract to allow him to pursue other opportunities as a free agent.

After spending six months on BIG’s active roster and the remaining six on the sidelines, the 27-year-old veteran’s year-long stint with the organization has finally come to an end. 

During his brief time with the team, the Danish rifler helped his team in securing a second-place finish at DreamHack Open 2021 and a 3rd-4th place finish at the V4 Future Sports Festival.

Gade’s journey with BIG

BIG’s consistently poor performance in the latter half of 2021 forced the organization to reshuffle its roster ahead of the new season. Gade was moved to the bench after BIG’s disappointing 9th-12th finish at IEM XVI Winter 2021. In his place, former Sprout rifler Josef “faveN” Baumann was brought in, and since then, the team’s performance has dramatically improved. Despite a slow start into 2022, BIG made it to the playoffs at IEM Dallas and Pinnacle Cup Championship, closing both events with a 3rd-4th place finish.

 

Following two fantastic offline tournaments in Dallas and Lund, the team managed to win the Online Roobet Cup, which marked the first significant victory for BIG in a very long time. To clinch the title, they defeated two-time Major champions FaZe Clan in the finals.

The squad also made it to the BLAST Premier: Spring Finals 2022 playoffs, but was eliminated soon after suffering a devastating loss against NAVI. The roster, unfortunately, fell short of expectations at IEM Cologne, finishing 17th–20th after failing to advance past the Play-In stage. 

BIG is all set for the new season

Since the new team had delivered notable results in the first half of 2022, it is unlikely that BIG will make any more roster adjustments ahead of the second season of professional CS:GO begins. On July 29, BIG renewed its contracts with the coach Fatih “gob b” Dayik and the in-game leader Johannes “tabseN” Wodarz. With the new contracts, the two CS:GO veterans will remain with the company till 2027. The organization’s decision to extend the contracts can be interpreted as a sign that they want to stick with their old guns and has no further plans to change the roster.

Gade, on the other hand, hasn’t competed for BIG once since December 2021, and he hasn’t been spotted streaming on Twitch since February, prompting fans to wonder what his next move in his decorated career will be. Gade hasn’t made any comments about leaving the organization, and he isn’t quite active on social media.

Header: ESL Gaming