The British organisation have benched their roster after a string of disappointing results in the last few months. The news comes after a loss for the team in the semi-final of ESL Premiership Autumn and its failure to gain promotion to ESL Challenger League.
Into the Breach has had the same core since they first joined CS:GO in June 2021, with Adam “Adam9130” Ahmad, Cai “CYPHER” Watson and William “dobbo” Dobson remaining on the roster as they rotated their fourth and fifth player. The most recent change the team made was parting ways with stand-ins Owen “smooya” Butterfield and Thomas “Thomas” Utting to bring in the Swedish duo of Alfred “RuStY” Karlsson and William “draken” Sundin back in July 2022.
Since the move the team quickly improved, winning the Assembly Summer title and coming 1-2nd in Elisa Invitational Fall 2022. However, the honeymoon period didn’t last forever and the side quickly started to plateau.
At the beginning of 2022, Into the Breach was pegged to be the next best thing in UK CS but by September it became clear that they were not reaching their full potential. The British squad had failed to make the HLTV top 30, peaking at 41 October and then plummeting down to 83 in November.
The team weren’t able to reproduce their previously good form as they failed to qualify through the Elisa Invitational Fall or the ESL Challenger Rotterdam Europe Open Qualifier. It has only been in the last month that the rosters results have improved, most notably in ESEA Advanced Playoffs where they went 3-2 and were one win away from making ECL relegation.
UKCSGO have been informed that the Into the Breach roster will be playing the following events; Thunderpick Bitcoin Series 2, CCT Central Europe Series 4, ESEA Advanced and the Beyond Invitational Winter 2022. After these events the future is uncertain from the roster. UKCSGO was able to catch up with CYPHER about his future, where he said; “I want to further my career in an international roster and prove myself beyond my current level.”
UKCSGO also reached out to Into the Breach for an official comment on whether they will remain in the UK scene. Sam Macedonio, an owner of ITB, stated, “We tried, and we’ll keep trying. However, likely through different means than a UK majority, and means that enable the results and attraction to sponsors we need. This is becoming especially prevalent in an increasingly difficult market.”
Into the Breach has now released:
Adam “Adam9130” Ahmad
Cai “CYPHER” Watson
William “dobbo” Dobson
Alfred “RuStY” Karlsson
William “draken” Sundin
Gustavo “Juve” Alexandre (coach)
ITB are sad to announce the departure of our active CSGO roster.
From all of us here at ITB, thank you all for your hard work and dedication! @Adam9130 @dobbocs @cyphercsgo_ @Rusty_csgo @drakenCSGO @Juve_csgo
We will cheer for you wherever you go next! #UpTheKnights pic.twitter.com/j82zKd7blm
— ITB SHUFFLE 🇺🇦 (@ITBesports) December 10, 2022
