The tumultuous and unpredictable journey of G2 Esports in Counter-Strike 2 has taken another fascinating turn as the team has decided to bench one of its starters just weeks after claiming its first CS2 trophy at IEM Dallas.
G2 has moved Serbian player Nemanja “nexa” Isaković to the inactive roster, the organization announced today. Nexa, who previously played with G2 from late 2019 through the beginning of 2022, returned for a second stint with the club this past November.
The team finally broke through in CS2 earlier this month at IEM Dallas, claiming their first trophy in the new game in front of a raucous crowd that was firmly behind G2 thanks to the stand-in performance of returning NA legend Jacky “Stewie2K” Yip. Dallas was one of two straight events G2 competed in with a stand-in as Stewie2K played instead of HooXi. At the BLAST Premier Spring Final this past weekend, coach TaZ stepped in on day one for AWP star m0NESY.
The decision to bench nexa comes at the tail end of what’s felt like months of community discourse about in-game leader HooXi’s place on the team, which escalated after G2 won IEM Dallas without him. There is a consensus among fans that in-game leaders, especially great ones, are harder to find, which explains why G2 sought to swap out their anchor player instead.
As for who will replace nexa, a predominant name that’s been circulating is Guatemalan breakout star Mario “malbsMd” Samayoa, who’s been incredible for North American team M80 Esports over the past few months. According to HLTV, he’s had the highest individual player rating in the world over the past six months: 1.32 across 113 maps played. HLTV reported last week that G2 is currently in the process of negotiating a transfer for malbsMd.
Both G2 and M80 are scheduled to compete next at the Esports World Cup in July.
