Endpoint are a team well-known for being able to find diamonds in the rough, being able to find that insane wonderkid who has the crosshair placement of Valerii “b1t” Vakhovskyi and the buyout of an ESEA Main player. Last week a large part of that Moneyball system parted ways with the organisation as they officially announced that Ross “RossR” Rooney had stepped down as General Manager. His departure from Counter-Strike affects the entirety of the UK scene as the influence he had as a coach and general manager was widespread.
Amongst the various gems that RossR found was Shahar “flameZ” Shushan, now that is not to say that he was unheard of when he was picked up by Endpoint but since being picked up his career has skyrocketted. The young Israeli star is now a key part of OG but it was his 1.12 rating and incredibly aggressive play during his time on Endpoint that turned people’s heads.
Along with many talents that RossR either had a hand in nurturing or finding, he also gave a fallen star a chance to prove himself by grinding at a tier two level. For William “mezii” Merriman Endpoint gave him the perfect opportunity to show the player he could be and now that he is the IGL of FNATIC, I think it’s fair to say that his time on Endpoint gave his career an upwards trajectory.
As he departs it’s unknown whether he will ever return to Counter-Strike, but whatever he ends up doing, we here at UKCSGO wish him all the best.
We were able to catch up with RossR who gave us his parting statement to Endpoint:
I am grateful to everyone at Endpoint. The support staff, Ownership, and Players.
Co-owners Pete and Adam were an absolute pleasure to work with and will make a smashing success of the organisation. The growth across every cohort of the business has been a true testament to their ability as CEO and COO respectively.
I was extremely fortunate to get to work with so many gifted players. Max, Kia, Joey, Thomas, Robin, Shahar, Will, Guy and Mohammad showed me all the respect and courtesy I could ask for. So many great moments together and tons of Laughs. Specifically Max, Kia and Joey I will be indebted to indefinitely. Not only were they part of the initial group (along with Thomas and Robin) that accepted me into the team but we were together through so many resets but managed to keep finding successes. A true testament to the three of them.
I look forward to following all their future endeavours.
