The Last Resort returns to Counter-Strike with a big splash, signing European team Wildlotus for the next six months.
Many unexpected announcements have surfaced in the lead-up to EPIC.LAN 45, but arguably the most surprising by far is Thomas “birdfromsky” Due-Frederiksen and co. signing with TLR.
EPIC.LAN 45 has become a hotspot for Tier-2 European teams on the hunt for VRS points. The reason for this is that the Valve Ranking system includes an extra modifier, increasing the relative power of LAN results over online results. Therefore, FUT, AaB (then Preasy), Alliance, Iberian Soul and Glitchtech will all be travelling to Kettering next week.
birdfromsky posted on X, offering to sell their tickets and PCs for EPIC.LAN 45 as TLR already has both for the quintet, UKCSGO can confirm that they sold them to Iberian Soul.
The orgless squad were the second European team to sign up to EPIC.LAN 45, and now will not be going alone, as The Last Resort has picked them up with some high expectations.
UKCSGO spoke to The Last Resort owner, Chefinal, about why they picked up WildLotus and what the expectations are for this team:
TLR Esports is ecstatic to announce the signing of the WildLotus Counter-Strike 2 roster, marking the biggest acquisition in our organisation’s history. This talented team will represent TLR for the next six months, starting with their debut at EPIC.LAN 45 this weekend. This monumental signing reflects our commitment to elevating TLR’s presence in the global esports scene.
We’re incredibly excited about the potential of this roster and have high expectations for a top-three finish at EPIC.LAN 45, as they compete for crucial Valve Regional Standings (VRS) points.
FUT sign up for EPIC.LAN 45 as Inner Circle, and ECSTATIC drop out
WildLotus started the year off with a core of Owen “smooya” Butterfield, Hristiyan “REDSTAR” Pironkov, and Nicolas “Keoz” Dgus, who brought in the VRS points from their time in Into The Breach and moneyF. They were joined by Arek “Vegi” Nawojski and Thomas “birdfromsky” Due-Frederiksen.
This core only lasted four events, as smooya and REDSTAR departed the team, and WildLotus replaced the duo with Johannes “b0RUP” Borup and Joey “CRUC1AL” Steusel. These five also didn’t last very long, as CRUC1AL only played three tournaments.
Heading into EPIC.LAN 45, Swedish AWPer Jonathan “b0denmaster” Bodenmalm has been confirmed as The Last Resorts’ fifth player and has already played two events with the team. The roster moves have been a bit messy for this squad, which is the bane of an orgless squad. However, now under The Last Resort, this team will certainly be looking for stability.
EPIC.LAN 45 will not be the first LAN this core has signed up for in an attempt to score some VRS points. The European squad recently travelled to Sweden to compete in the Glitched Masters 2025 alongside the likes of NIP, fnatic, Passion UA and Metizport. WildLotus ended up placing 9th to 12th with a win over Sangal and losses to fnatic and TNL.
Keoz qualifying for the BLAST.tv Paris Major finals with GamerLegion
The Last Resort are a long-standing organisation in UK CS, dating all the way back to 2004. Numbering Thomas “Thomas” Utting and Henry “HenryG” Greer among their alumni, the team competed at the World Series of Video Games: London 2006 event in London, and won SYchosis 2 in Doncaster in 2008.
This wouldn’t be the first time the British organisation has fielded an international lineup either, as they sent an Estonian team featuring Kristjan “fejtZ” Allsaar and Kevin “HS” Tarn to Insomnia 56 in 2015, placing third.
The Last Resort for EPIC.LAN 45 are:
Nicolas “Keoz” Dgus
Arek “Vegi” Nawojski
Thomas “birdfromsky” Due-Frederiksen
Johannes “b0RUP” Borup
Jonathan “b0denmaster” Bodenmalm
THE NEXT CHAPTER AWAITS…
We are absolutely delighted to announce that TLR has signed the former WildLotus roster 🤩
👉 @b0RUPCS
👉 @birdfromsky
👉 @KeozBEAST
👉 @Vegi1337
👉 @b0denmasterWe’re straight into the action with the team attending @EPICLAN, so keep an eye out… pic.twitter.com/GRFGBauu2R
— TLR Esports (@TheLastResort) July 16, 2025
