500 Bench SHiPZ, Coach Grashog Will Be His Temporary Stand-in

500 remove 22-year-old rifler Georgi “SHiPZ” Grigorov from the active roster
The organization’s coach Denis “⁠Grashog⁠” Hristov will serve as a stand-in for now
The player announced on Twitter he is now looking for a new organization

500 have been performing poorly the past couple of months, which resulted in the team removing rifler Georgi “SHiPZ” Grigorov as they look for a new player.

ShiPZ Is Benched

CS:GO organization 500 has announced that 22-year-old rifler Georgi “SHiPZ” Grigorov is being moved to the team’s inactive roster. The announcement comes just a few weeks after the squad failed to qualify for the BLAST Paris Major via the Europe RMR B. For the time being, SHiPZ’s spot in 500’s lineup will be filled by coach Denis “⁠Grashog⁠” Hristov.

🔺Our player @SHiPZCSGO is being moved from the active roster to the bench.

🔺Our coach @Grashog, being a great and capable player himself, will fill the slot while we evaluate our options.

🔺We would like to thank Georgi for all the highlights he's given us!
— 500 (@500esports) April 29, 2023

SHiPZ’s career in professional CS:GO started with the ex-SKADE roster. It was signed by 500 in October last year when the Curaçaoan organization entered the competitive scene. Under 500’s wing, SHiPZ and his teammates performed well initially, winning back-to-back EPIC GOCL seasons and making a playoff run at Elisa Masters Espoo. They even managed to defeat much more high-ranking teams, such as Astralis and Complexity in the process.

However, the 22-year-old player’s performance was not consistent and this trend continued into early 2023. Despite that, 500 managed to qualify for the BLAST Paris Major Europe RMR B via the last-chance qualifier. They even scored an impressive victory over Spirit, but were unable to continue that momentum, as losses from Heroic, BIG, and ENCE dashed the organization’s hopes of participating in the BLAST Paris Major.

Unfortunately, 500’s performance only got worse after the RMR. The team recorded a score of 8 matches won and 14 lost in the months of March and April and was relegated from ESL Challenger League to ESEA Advanced. 500’s latest match saw them being eliminated by HEET from the CCT Central Europe Series Season 6.

Now, 500 will continue forward with coach Denis “⁠Grashog⁠” Hristov temporarily filling in for SHiPZ, as the organization scrambles to find a new permanent player. The team’s next matches will be against iNation and Coalesce at Elisa Invitational Spring 2023 and CCT West Europe Series Season 3. Respectively. SHiPZ went on to Twitter to wish his now-former teammates good luck and advertise he is looking for a new roster.

Benched in @CSGO500, best of luck to the organization and the players :)) If you are interested reach my agent @AshyTheAgent.
— Georgi Grigorov (@SHiPZCSGO) April 29, 2023