Movistar Riders have announced a roster change to its CS:GO squad, replacing Raúl “DeathZz” Jordán Nieto with Pere “sausol” Solsona Saumell. This will be the second roster change to the team following their miracle run at IEM Cologne 2022, after losing AWPer Alvaro “SunPayus” Garcia and replacing him with Antonio “Martinez” Martinez Sánchez. The loss of SunPayus has so far proved to be an insurmountable blow for the Spaniards, as to say that Movistar has been struggling as of late would be an understatement.
Looking at the past couple of months, Movistar has really had it rough. The team first failed to qualify for IEM Road to Rio European RMR, before bombing out of ESL Pro League Season 16 without a victory in their respective group. For the duration of the team’s slump, DeathZz was the second lowest-rated player with an average rating of 0.86. While DeathZz was not the only factor in the Riders’ decline, he certainly blended into the mediocrity Movistar Riders displayed. With their fundamental-based style of play looking in shambles, it seemed like a roster change was more of a question of when rather than if it was going to happen.
His replacement in the squad comes from the Serbian team Partizan. Sausol first emerged onto the professional scene as a member of MAD Lions, for whom he competed for a full year up till 2022. After parting ways with MAD, the lurker mostly competed on the fringes of the regional scene before getting picked up by Movistar.
Be as it may, Movistar definitely has a lot of work in front of them if they want to reclaim their past heights. While a run akin to the one they had at Cologne seems like a distant dream, the Spaniards might still surprise many.
Current Movistar Riders CS:GO Roster:
- Alejandro “mopoz” Fernández-Quejo Cano
- Alejandro “ALEX” Masanet Candela (C)
- Antonio “Martinez” Martinez Sánchez
- David “dav1g” Granado Bermudo
- Pere “sausol” Solsona Saumell
- Galder “bladE” Barcena (Coach)
