Team Spirit part ways with degster

Russian esports organization Team Spirit announced it has parted ways with Abdulkhalik “degster” Gasanov. According to the official statement posted on June 11, the Russian AWPer has been removed from Spirit’s active CS:GO roster to the transfer list due to personal reasons. 

While no transition has been yet announced, Degster will step in for OG during the upcoming BLAST Premier Spring Final.

Personal reasons behind the decision 

Team Spirit noted that it wasn’t a unilateral decision and that training and management teams have talked to degster about the situation and possible solutions, however, they haven’t reached a consensus. 

One of the reasons for degster’s departure is mutual disagreement about how the training process should go, as well as different views on his future within the Spirit CS:GO roster. Nikita “Cheshir” Chukalin, CEO of Team Spirit, commented: 

“Abdul is a very talented player who has proven to be one of the best not only in the region but worldwide during his time with Spirit. That’s why the decision we made was so tough. However, we have a specific plan for the development of the project regarding CS:GO, and we will not disregard it, even for the most talented player. We could not come to an understanding with Abdul so it was mutually agreed to part ways. We understand what kind of player we need and will decide on a replacement in the near future. I thank Abdul for this year and a half of work in our team and I wish him good luck on his journey.”

Degster himself decided to shed light on the reasons for his departure. According to his Twitter statement, Team Spirit requires players to stay in Serbia for nine months in a year because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

At the moment, it’s close to impossible for Russian teams to perform on the worldwide scene because of flying limitations and overall sanctions on the country. Degster reportedly has his personal reasons to reject moving to Serbia, that’s why he decided to leave Team Spirit. 

Abdul played for Team Spirit since March 2021 and during his time with the team reached first placement at Pinnacle Cup II and entered the semi-finals of the recent PGL Major Antwerp 2022. Moreover, the AWPer became the highest-rated player across all stages of the last major in Belgium, so his gaming performance was likely not the case of his departure. 

Team Spirit has reportedly already formed a short list of players who can possibly substitute degster and is expected to reveal the new member of the team soon.

Here’s the current Team Spirit roster: 

• Boris “⁠magixx⁠” Vorobiev
• Robert “⁠Patsi⁠” Isyanov
• Leonid “⁠chopper⁠” Vishnyakov
• Pavel “⁠s1ren⁠” Ogloblin
• Sergey “⁠hally⁠” Shavaev (coach)

Degster to stand in for OG at BLAST Premier Spring Final

On June 13, OG revealed that degster will temporarily substitute Mateusz “mantuu” Wilczewski, who fell sick after his performance at the recently concluded Global Esports Tour Dubai 2022. Degster, who is now a free agent, will play for OG during the whole BLAST Premier Spring Final tournament in Lisbon.

Despite his recent departure from Team Spirit, it seems that degster won’t have a problem finding a home with a new organization, and the announcement about his transfer might come soon. 

BLAST Premier Spring Final 2022 is set to take place between June 15 and 19 in Lisbon, Portugal. The event will see eight teams fighting for a slot in the BLAST Premier World Final 2022 as well as a piece of the $425,000 shared prize pool. 

OG roster for BLAST Premier Spring Final 2022: 

• Nathan Jordan “NBK-” Schmitt
• Aleksi Antti Kaarlo “Aleksib” Virolainen
• Valdemar Bjørn “valde” Vangså
• Issa Sameer Issa “ISSAA” Murad
• Abdulkhalik “degster” Gasanov (stand-in)

Header credit: PGL | Joao Ferreira