- Hyped already has experience playing on BIG’s main roster
- This ends syrsoN’s three-year stint on BIG’s main squad
- It’s currently unknown what the player’s next steps are
BIG makes big roster shuffles ahead of the star of ESL Pro League Season 17 by replacing Florian “syrsoN” Rische with recent Academy graduate Marcel “hyped” Köhn.
BIG Shuffles Roster
The German CS:GO organization BIG’s most recent notable blunder was at the IEM Katowice, which the team exited at the 13-16th tier. Following the disastrous run in the Polish event, rumors started circulating that the organization is going to restructure. It seems these have become true recently as BIG announced it is promoting Academy member Marcel “hyped” Köhn into the main roster while simultaneously moving replacing Florian “syrsoN” Rische to the inactive roster.
“In a mutual agreement with Florian “syrsoN” Rische, we have made the decision together that he will take a place on the bench until further notice,” said Roman “Roman.R” Reinhardt, BIG’s Chief Gaming Officer. “As a replacement, Marcel “hyped” Köhn will take his place in the main CSGO team. With his excellent performance in the BIG OMEN Academy, he has earned the opportunity to demonstrate what he is capable of, especially after his key performances in the IEM Rio Qualifier.”
The choice of hyped to replace syrsoN is not random as the new player has already played in BIG’s main roster. The 21-year-old helped BIG navigate through the lower bracket of the European closed qualifier for IEM Brazil 2023, aiding the team to secure the second qualifier spot. Hyped shined across the online tournament, averaging a 1.25 rating across 12 maps played. Hyped will now be rejoining a fellow Academy graduate, Karim “Krimbo” Moussa, with whom he won ESL Meisterschaft Autumn 2022, beating Sprout in the final.
Meanwhile, syrioN’s move to the inactive roister ends a three-year stint in BIG's main squad. The 26-year-old was scouted by BIG and managed to help the team from the very start, propelling BIG to the top of European Counter-Strike during the online Covid tournaments.
Unfortunately, syrioN was not able to maintain the same level of performance when teams started returning to LAN events. He struggled against elite opposition and currently holds a 1.02 rating against the top ten-ranked teams at LAN. This is a sizable drop in quality compared to his previous 1.10 rating in the era of online tournaments.
Hyped’s first challenge now that he is a permanent part of BIG’s main roster is going to be against Spirit Academy, which the German team will face at the CCT West Europe Series 1.
BIG’s main roster now looks like this:
- Johannes “tabseN” Wodarz
- Nils “k1to” Gruhne
- Josef “faveN” Baumann
- Karim “Krimbo” Moussa
- Marcel “hyped” Köhn
- Fatih “gob b” Dayik (coach)
Florian “syrsoN” Rische (benched)
