There will be no more magic made by Order on the Counter-Strike server — at least in the interim — following the organisation’s shock withdrawal from the esport on Wednesday.
The sudden announcement on late Wednesday afternoon took many by surprise — especially given the team had just added Tyler “tucks” Reilly to the starting roster.
“It is with a heavy heart that today we announce that we have made the tough decision to part ways with our current CS:GO roster,” said the official roster update on the Order website.
Order’s exit marks the end of a four and a half year tenure in Counter-Strike for the Melbourne-based organisation.
Matthew “Valiance” Hartrick, the longest-serving member of the Order roster, thanked the organisation he called home for over three years.
“It’s been a fun three years with Order. I can’t thank them enough for supporting [myself] and the team along the way.”
Order’s captain Jireh “J1rah” Youakim also thanked the organisation and staff at Order. “[I’m] sad to see it all end but it was an awesome journey and I’m happy I did it with these guys.”
“As for myself, I am still very keen and motivated to stay in CS:GO in some capacity, but I will take some time to reset and think about my options.
The team will not continue to compete together, with part of the roster choosing to also step away from Counter-Strike to evaluate their positions going forward.
A question on many pundits’ minds will undoubtedly be where young gun Declan “Vexite” Portelli will end up. A move overseas is not out of question for the 17-year-old, but for now he remains a free agent.
“I appreciated every minute of it,” said Vexite on his time with Order.
“I’m unsure what’s next but am very driven and motivated to keep playing.”
Founded in 2017, it wasn’t until January 2018 when Order entered Counter-Strike through the acquisition of the Kings Gaming Club roster, then consisting of Simon “Sico” Williams, Jay “Liazz” Tregillgas, Jordan “Hatz” Bajic & Chris “emagine” Rowlands.
Alistair “aliStair” Johnston rounded out the line-up a week later, transferring from Chiefs, and the line-up picked up where they left off at kings, qualifying for IEM Katowice 2018 & the WESG 2017 APAC Finals.
The 2018 Order roster would claim eight event/qualifier wins, and attend five international tournaments in the calendar year, as well as IEM Sydney 2018.
Order followed up a sound 2018 with two ESEA-P titles in 2019, an ESL ANZ Season 9 championship win, and another international opportunity at ESEA S32 Global Challenge.
2020 was a silver year for Order; following the departure of captain Emagine, the team finished as runner-ups in nine events, losing out to Avant and Renegades over the course of the year.
Order kicked off 2021 with wins at ESEA-P Season 36 and ESL ANZ Champs Season 12, but followed with numerous second places again in a year ravaged by COVID.
Unfortunately, their end in Counter-Strike came following defeats to Paradox, LookingForOrg and Vertex in three consecutive events — missing out on the PGL Antwerp Major Asia RMR, IEM Dallas qualifiers and, crucially, a spot at the EPL Conference through ESL ANZ Champs Season 14.
Order’s Chief Gaming Officer Chris “GoMeZ” Orfanellis reiterated that Order’s CS:GO departure on Wednesday was not forever, but gave nothing away as to how long it would take before the org returned to the esport.
“This isn’t necessarily the end of CS:GO here at Order. We are just taking a step back to evaluate the scene and our options and make a decision on how to proceed.”
It’s a worrying sign for a scene just back on it’s feet after the COVID pandemic ended Oceanic squads’ dreams of competing overseas for the past two years.
Order are the third major OCE org to withdraw from Counter-Strike in the last nine months, following The Chiefs and Dire Wolves back in August & September of 2021.
The former Dire Wolves roster, competing as LookingForOrg, remain orgless to this day despite a multi-month bootcamp in Europe and stand-out results at home.
