At the start of this month, Dripmen and sakana123 merged to create a new roster under the Dripmen name that is aiming to compete in the upcoming FACEIT Advanced season and regional tournaments, both online and offline.
Sakana123 made waves when they qualified for the playoffs in ESL Premiership Spring 2023, but the underdog run was cut short when they were bested in the Quarter Finals by Endpoint, who would go on to clinch second place. They also found success offline as they won Insomnia 70 under the eMasters banner. The Dripmen were not as successful this season as they failed to make ESL PRemiership and had a rather lacklustre ESEA Advanced season.
At the beginning of the off-season Dripmen changed their roster, deciding to keep Frazer “frazehh” Sollom and Anthony “BehinDx” Luscombe whilst bringing back Jack “DeXter” Hepple and Josh “JAUSTERE” Philpott. These four would be joined by a fresh face in Harry “moshi” Raines. frazehh has experience playing alongside JAUSTERE and DeXter from their time on BLVKHVND. That roster was known for it’s upset potential, but also its inconsistency. Now with the players having more experience, and two new faces, they will be looking to reach new heights.
However, they will not be doing this alone. Verdant a UK-based organisation that has mostly specialised outside of CS:GO and now they will enter UK CS with a splash. A persistent issue in the UK scene is a lack of investment, something that stunts team growth and doesn’t allow for players to fully dedicate themselves to competition. With Verdant behind them, hopefully this is an issue that the Dripmen will no longer have to face.
UKCSGO spoke to Verdant’s IGL, frazehh, about the team’s future after signing to the new organisation:
I am really happy to join the Verdant boys and represent this org, they will give us the resources we need in the scene and are proud to represent them going forward. I am confident this new team will succeed, I believe I have made a team full of hard working, skilful players with the right attitude and mentality to win in Europe and in the UK scene.
Verdant will compete in the upcoming season as:
Frazer “frazehh” Sollom
Anthony “BehinDx” Luscombe
Jack “DeXter” Hepple
Josh “JAUSTERE” Philpott
Harry “moshi” Raines
