Announced in three separate tweets, one of the top dogs of UK Counter-Strike have swapped out two players. Marco “MMS” Salomone and Jack “Gizmy” Von Spreckelsen have mutually parted ways with Viperio making room for Kirk “Tadpole” Stephens and returner, Javier “Ping” Griffiths. The moves follow a 17-loss streak on HLTV spanning over the past four months. UKCSGO understands that all the Viperio contracts had expired and the two players mutually agreed with the organisation not to renew.
Regardless of their recent struggles, Viperio made history, alongside Into the Breach, when they qualified to the RMR for the BLAST.tv Paris Major. The British side came out swinging in their opening matchup against fnatic where they took fellow countryman, William “mezii” Merriman, to double overtime before losing out 20-22. Viperio did not win a single series at the event, but were able to take a map off Sprout in dominant fashion.
MMS struggled to find form in Copenhagen which resulted in him being the team’s lowest ranked player with a 0.67 HLTV rating. The jump to the top of UK CS wasn’t the easiest for the 20-year-old who has not been able to show the same levels he did on Temperate. However, at such a young age and well-known for his work effort, it won’t be surprising if he finds that form again soon.
The other Brit leaving Viperio, Gizmy, did not have the same struggles at the RMR as he was the second highest rated player on the team with a 1.01 HLTV rating. The “Gizmodo Dragon” put up a stellar performance with a 1.45 rating in the first map against Sprout. The former EKO and Heaven and Hell player will be highly sought after in the weeks to come.
One of the two replacements for Viperio is certainly no stranger to the squad. Ping has played with this core on multiple occasions including SOS, FAMBIT, Coalesce, and he even played under the Viperio banner at EPIC38 just before the RMR. The Welshman has often been described as a “glue guy” which might be just what the 17-loss streak Viperio needs.
The second newcomer to the team is Tadpole, who recently “retired” from play after a stint on Dripmen. The rifler is also well-known to the Viperio core as he played with them during their time under EKO and UMX all the way back in 2020. Despite his youth, Tadpole will be bringing buckets of experience at a high level to the squad as he enjoyed a stint in ESL Challenger League with Into the Breach.
Viperio struggled in their debut match against rival Coalesce, but only time will tell if these changes can elevate the squad to a new level. Viperio are now:
Tom “arTisT” Clarke
Callum “Girafffe” Jones
Matas “Extinct” Strumila
Javier “Ping” Griffiths
Kirk “Tadpole” Stephens
Ciaran “biscu” King (Coach)
