G2 Esports allegedly close to signing jks

Everyone knows by now that G2 Esports are looking to make changes to their CS:GO roster. Something’s clearly not working and it’s not obvious why. But what is obvious are the team’s results at S-tier events over the last five months.

For other CS:GO teams, G2’s consistent top 10 finishes would be regarded as a success. With players like Nikola “NiKo” Kovac and Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov on the roster, one would expect them to play at the very least in the semifinals of every big tournament. But G2 have only done that twice this year.

What is wrong with G2’s lineup

A quick look at G2’s current lineup reveals that two players, Audric “JACKZ” Jug and Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen play notably worse than the other three. Their average ratings are nearly 20 points lower. In the case of Aleksib, this is in part understandable because he’s the IGL. But he still bears part of the blame for the failures.

Under his leadership, G2 Esports went from amazing to average. That might be a sign that the org’s decision to sign him for the role was counterproductive. At this point, it is almost clear that either Aleksib or JACKZ will leave the team soon. Some suspect that both of them are on their way out.

Who is jks?

Justin “jks” Savage is a 26-year-old rifler who has been playing CS:GO professionally for at least 10 years. During this time, his biggest triumphs came while he was competing for Renegades, back in 2017-2019. More recently, he played as a stand-in and helped FaZe Clan win the title at IEM Katowice 2022.

According to recent reports by Dexterto and 1pv.fr., jks is now set to sign with G2, however, at the time of writing, this information hasn’t been confirmed by either of the involved sides.

Overall, jks has had a decent career in CS:GO, but he doesn’t seem to have the qualities of m0NESY or NiKo. In fact, he’s hardly a proven player at the highest level. This opportunity to play for G2 for an extended period of time might be the best of his career. If G2 sign him and start winning, he’ll probably stay for more than a year. But if nothing significant happens until the end of 2022, he’ll likely be out before the new season starts.

In terms of his individual qualities and achievements, jks does look like the type of player who might be able to offer a lot to a strong lineup. In CS:GO, it’s hard to look good when the overall system of your team isn’t working. But in a team like G2, jks may prove that he’s better than people think. In 2019 and 2020, he finished in the top 20 best players of the season.

Header: FaZe Clan | jks