Orgless team dripmen are once again looking for a new player after parting ways with Richard “Zulu” Wood. They announced the news in a tweet, adding that former CeX rifler and perennial stand-in Arkadiusz “ifan” Dabkowski will play with the team until the end of the ESEA season. ifan already stood in for the opening game of dripmen’s ultimately doomed BLAST Paris Major Open Qualifier run, so should be familiar with the team.
The dripmen have decided to part ways with Zulu, and we will be playing with @ifanb0b for the rest of the season.
We start the process to saving the spot with the new roster tonight at 8pm vs @janoesports.#daaabkowski— dripmen (@dripmen_) February 20, 2023
The side built around IGL/AWPer Frazer “frazehh” Sollom last made changes in October when they added Matas “Extinct” Strumila and Kirk “Tadpole” Stephens. Initially the team struggled, falling to a last-place finish in ESL Premiership Autumn 2022, as role changes took their toll. At the season-ending UKIC Beyond Winter Invitational, however, the team defied expectations and defeated 1PIN in the Grand Final to win the event.
Since then it has been a case of ‘close, but no cigar’ though, with dripmen missing out on a spot in both CCT West Europe Online Series 1 and the BLAST Paris Major Closed Qualifier, while the team currently sits at 4-5 in ESEA Advanced.
Zulu joined the roster, then playing under BLVKHVND, just under a year ago from Lucent Esports. BLVKHVND made the semi-finals of ESL Premiership Spring 2022, narrowly losing to Endpoint in the semi-finals, and qualified for Fragadelphia 17 through the Last Chance Qualifier, where they came placed 13th-16th. They also finished as runners-up at EPIC.36 losing to Emp’s Kids in the Grand Final. In terms of individual performance, Zulu began strongly with a 1.17 average HLTV rating at the UKIC Beyond Spring Invitational and a 1.14 at EPIC.36, however those numbers fell off as the year progressed – although it should be noted the team also began to take on tougher opposition. He leaves the team with a 1.02 average rating.
dripmen, who are continuing to look for an organisation, are now:
Frazer “frazehh” Sollom
Josh “JAUSTERE” Philpott
Kirk “Tadpole” Stephens
Matas “Extinct” Strumila
Arkadiusz “ifan” Dabkowski
