tabseN and gob b extend contracts with BIG

This news brings a sigh of relief for all CS:GO fans who support Berlin International Gaming and for German CS:GO in general. After numerous hints on Twitter, both the in-game leader Johannes “tabseN” Wodarz and the coach Fatih “gob b” Dayik have extended their contracts with BIG by 5 years.

The new, long-term contracts, which were signed on Friday, July 29, will see both CS:GO veterans stay with the organization until 2027. The extension is a statement by the organization that it’s not planning on giving up the tabseN and gob b so easily. TabseN in particular is considered to be one of the best in-game leaders on the current professional scene, and he has a lot to offer in terms of gameplay. Moreover, it seems that the two don’t desire to switch to other, possibly larger organizations for big money, but rather to write a BIG story in Germany.

BIG CEO Daniel Finkler shared in an official statement:

“After you have been with BIG as a founder and shareholder for more than five years, we have set the course for the next five years.”

The story and achievements of the two veterans

Since tabseN and gob b co-founded BIG at the beginning of 2017, they have been able to achieve numerous successes together as a team. Their appearance at the PGL Krakow Major 2017 deserves special mention, as they achieved a top-8 finish out of nowhere and made a name for themselves internationally. Of course, there is almost summer a fairy tale from the ESL One Cologne 2018, where they narrowly failed against Natus Vincere in the Grand Final, but gave the German CS:GO fans a fantastic experience.

In August 2019, gob b resigned as a player and then helped the team partly in management and partly as a coach. In mid-July 2020, he started his journey in Valorant. He opened a competitive line-up under the BIG tag and quickly showed success. In May 2022, his journey in Valorant ended when he saw that the CS:GO team and especially his long-time protégé tabseN needed help.

Since then, he has been the head coach of BIG CS:GO roster. After two satisfying offline events in Dallas and Lund, the team managed to win the Online Roobet Cup, the first big title for BIG in a long time. After a poor performance at the IEM Cologne this year, where they were eliminated in the Play-Ins, they are now on the deserved player break.

How is it going as a team?

In a few weeks, the new season will start with many important tournaments, above all the Major in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. However, it is not yet known whether there will be any roster changes to the team ahead of the new season. From the outside, one can say that no changes are actually necessary. With Josef “faveN” Baumann and Karim “Krimbo” Moussa, the team have two promising talents in their own ranks. Tizian “tiziaN” Feldbusch is also indispensable as a long-standing BIG member and with Florian “syrsoN” Rische, you have one of the best AWPs in the world.

The team seems to be untouchable anyway. The only person whose future with the team is not exactly clear is BIG Academy’s Nils “k1to” Gruhne, who helped out the main team in recent weeks on multiple occasions, as either Krimbo or faveN were ill. Meanwhile, the Academy team have started the season this week without the 23-year-old rifler. It is not known whether he will stay with the main squad as the sixth man or whether he is looking for a new challenge.

Header: BIG