With legendary player Troy "Canadian" Jaroslawski now having left Spacestation Gaming (SSG) for good after his brief return for the Six Invitational 2021, the team has finally signed a permanent fifth player.
The Six Invitational 2020 champions had played in Stage 1 of the 2021 North American League (NAL) with analyst Luke "Luke" Slota as a stand-in due to the transfer window having closed before Canadian had retired. As a result, they had only finished seventh in the league.
Furthermore, while Canadian had come back for the Six Invitational 2021, SSG had been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.
However, the team has now signed former DarkZero Esports player Matthew "Hotancold" Stevens from Mirage after he had a scintillating Stage 1 performance.
Hotancold had been ranked second in the entire league with his 1.23 rating and had helped Mirage to a greatly impressive third place.
The statistic leaderboards for Stage 1 of the 2021 North American League.
Head coach Justin "Lycan" Woods spoke to SiegeGG about the move.
I imagine this move has been a long time coming, given that Canadian retired at the start of Stage 1. How did your team settle on Hotancold? Was there already an agreement to sign him before Stage 1 ended?
Will there be any role changes with Hotancold in the team?
How much can your team take away from that SI run, given how Canadian was integral to the team, left, and came back temporarily?
Do you anticipate it being rough for Hotancold to switch two teams in the span of three months, especially when it comes to learning each team's play style, call outs, and gelling with them?
How will your staffing now look like?
Hotancold had debuted in August 2016 with Got em Gaming, later joining Flipsid3 Tactics -- the team that would go onto be signed by DarkZero Esports.
Attending many events with the team, it was at the Season 10 Finals that he and DarkZero would finally prove their worth interntationally.
There, Hotancold had the joint-highest rating on his team as he helped DarkZero to a Grand Final appearance, all while playing Hibana and Maestro. His 1.14 rating was also the joint-fifth highest across all the players at the event.
A joint-fifth at the Six Invitational 2020, a Six August 2020 Major win, and second at the US Division 2020 Finals were not enough for DarkZero, however, and Hotancold was dropped from his longtime team in February this year.
He had then joined Mirage for Stage 1 of the NAL, but has jumped at the opportunity of signing with the former world champions for at least the remainder of the 2021 season.
Catch Spacestation Gaming in action next on June 15 at 6:40 PM ET (UTC-4), when they take on the Susquehanna Soniqs.