OG benches valde

Following an underwhelming start to the new CS:GO season and a failed attempt to qualify for the currently ongoing PGL Major in Antwerp, OG decided to proceed with roster changes. The organisation has confirmed the departure of Valdemar “⁠valde⁠” Bjørn Vangså after the two sides agreed to part ways.

According to the announcement, both OG and valde were “in need of a change and a chance for a new adventure”. The 26-year-old Danish rifler, who has been a part of OG since its entry into CS:GO esports scene in late 2019, will remain with OG until he finds a new home. 

J.M.R. Luna, OG Esports CEO, spoke on the decision to part ways with valde: 

“This was a very hard decision from both sides, but we have a lot to be thankful for. We and I love valde, and he has been one of the cornerstones of our project since we started it. valde is such a loyal guy, a great teammate and has been a close friend to me since I joined OG. I love the kid and I will do all I can do for him. He is a player that any team would be lucky to have on their roster, and I know he will be a force to be reckoned with in his next team.”

Valde has been in competitive CS:GO since 2016 when he signed with the Russian team PRIES. Before joining OG in 2019, he played with multiple organisations including Team Singularity, Copenhagen Wolves, Team X, Heroic and North. Among his biggest achievements is the victory with North at the DreamHack Masters Stockholm 2018 and the second place at the Flashpoint Season 2, where he was also titled the MVP of the event.

In a separate Twitter post, valde commented:  

“I’ve been a part of OG for two and a half years and made a lot of good friends here but at the end of the day the results were just not good enough. My time here has been filled with ups and downs and sadly the downs got the better of us in the end. No matter what, I take all the experience with me and I also got the privilege to play with many amazing people during my time here.”

OG is now left with Nemanja “nexa” Isaković, Nikolaj “niko” Kristensen, Mateusz “mantuu” Wilczewski and Shahar “flameZ” Shushan, without any mentions of a new addition. 

The announcement followed the report by the French outlet 1pv.fr which predicted the benching of valde and niko. For now, it is unclear if OG will proceed with benching niko.

Header: OG