Just over a week on from their elimination and subsequent failure to qualify for the Stockholm Major, Extremum have benched their roster, effective immediately.
The news came as a shock to those who expected the line-up to rebuild at the organisation following the Major, which normally sees teams adjust during a post-Major roster shuffle.
Instead, the team have been benched just a week after their loss to Evil Geniuses at the IEM Fall North America RMR — a loss which saw them tumble out of qualification for the Stockholm Major.
Extremum acquired “The Boys” following their exit from 100 Thieves at the beginning of 2021. With Justin “jks” Savage off to Complexity, the squad opted to pick up Hansel “BnTeT” Ferdinand following his release from Gen.G.
With much hype and fanfare surrounding the roster’s return to competition, this time based in Europe, fans were left wanting over the course of the calendar year.
The team attended a total of nine events and two qualifiers in the course of eight months. Their best finish — an important third at cs_summit, the first North American RMR event — was crucial in seeing the team compete for a spot at the Major.
But the team struggled to make waves in Europe, crashing out at Pinnacle Cup and Snow Sweet Snow 3, finishing outside the top ten in tournaments with tier two and three opponents.
IEM Fall NA would be the straw that broke the camel’s back. With the squad aiming for Major qualification to kick-start their 2022, losses to Team Liquid (16-19) and paiN Gaming (8-16) meant a best-of-three win against EG would be necessary to qualify.
Their 1-2 (6-16, 16-13, 7-16) loss evidently sealed their fate.
With the Major just weeks away, and the following post tournament roster shuffle expected as teams prepare for a restart to offline competition in 2022, it’s not out of the question that we see the line-up split.
A return to OCE for the Aussies (and Kiwi) would also not be unexpected, although with many opportunities likely to arise after the Stockholm Major, it’s unclear at best.
Should the team split, it would spell the end to over three years as a four-player core, after Liazz and Gratisfaction joined Renegades in October 2018.
Their reign included three organisations at Renegades, 100 Thieves and Extremum, as well as two Champion Stage finishes at the IEM Katowice Major and StarLadder Berlin Major, the latter of which saw the team reach the semi-finals.
Extremum – Benched Roster
Aaron “AZR” Ward (C)
Joakim “jkaem” Myrbostad
Sean “Gratisfaction” Kaiwai
Jay “Liazz” Tregillgas
Hansel “BnTeT” Ferdinand
