As SiegeGG’s hub for all roster changes in the mid-season for Season 9 of the European Pro League, this page will be regularly updated with the latest transfer news. Check back here to keep up to date with all upcoming changes and you can check the EU, LATAM and NA for all other changes since the end of the first half of Season 9.
Summary of Changes So Far
ANZ Mindfreak - Kngz and Crescent dropped from roster, Jcz and Spruce officially join, roster leaves organisation, organisation signs ex-Dark Sided roster
0RGL3SS - Diesel joins, syliX becomes coach
Gentlemen in Underwear - Diesel leaves for 0RGL3SS, roster disbands after Stryder and Dino leave
Lowkey Cardinal - Roster and organisation part ways
Fnatic - NeophyteR released from contract, Speca joins as new sixth member
Dark Sided - Speca leaves, Kngz joins, organisation parts ways with roster, Mindfreak signs roster
SEA Aerowolf - Array leaves, SpeakEasy joins
Scrypt E-Sports - SpeakEasy leaves
Ferox E-Sports - Array and Xesoxs join, Zetosin and Rixx leave
JP FAV Gaming - Amenbo comes on as coach, Raiser leaves, Wendyzera joins
NORA-Rengo - Wokka moves to streamer role, JJ rejoins
Rsk Ninjas Gaming - Roster disbands
Roster Changes
Mar 14th: [ANZ] Mindfreak Signs ex-Dark Sided Roster
Mindfreak has signed the former Dark Sided roster just two days after they had announced their mutual split with the latter organisation. Clearly, the move had been finalised behind the scenes, with Mindfreak presumably buying out the Dark Sided roster's contracts. Mindfreak had earlier lost its own Rainbow Six roster after they had decided to look for greener pastures, and now make an immediate return to the scene with the currently third-placed roster after their heavy loss to 0RGL3SS the day prior.
Mar 13th: [JP] Wendyzera Joins FAV Gaming
FAV Gaming has announced their replacement for Raiser, with their new player Wendyzera set to feature in the team's match against Sengoku Gaming Extasy later in the evening.
Mar 12th: [ANZ] Speca Joins Fnatic as new Sixth Player
Former Dark Sided player Ryan "Speca" Ausden has joined Fnatic as their new sixth player -- the same role Jake "Virtue" Grannan was initially signed for (also from Dark Sided) at the beginning of Season 9. Fnatic had previously said that this "sixth member" role will not be a plain substitute, but will regularly take part in games throughout the season, but after Virtue's signing, now-outgoing player Daniel "NeophyteR" An did not play a single game for the team.
Now, with Speca joining the team in the same capacity, it will be interesting to see if Fnatic will rotate players in their lineup as they had claimed they would when Virtue had been signed. With the way they have been performing with Virtue in the lineup, though, and the role changes they have had, many might feel it unwise to unnecessarily tinker with the winning formula.
It will be interesting to track how the rest of Season 9 progresses for Fnatic. The Australians will also be taking part in the Six Oceanic Cup from the 16th of March to the 23rd, and that may be a prime opportunity for Speca to stake his claim for more regular play time.
Mar 12th: [ANZ] Dark Sided Parts Ways With Roster
Third placed ANZ team Dark Sided has had its organisation part ways with roster, with little clue as to why. It is entirely possible that the roster has been bought out by another organisation, such as Mindfreak who recently also lost its Rainbow Six roster. Dark Sided made it clear, though, that the split was mutual and may yet pick up another roster.
Mar 10th: [ANZ] Kngz Joins Dark Sided
Connor "Kngz" Wickham has joined the Dark Sided team as their fifth player for the second half of Season 9. Kngz had previously been dropped by Ex Nihilo (formerly Mindfreak) after the end of the first half of the season, while Dark Sided had been looking for a fifth since Speca had departed.
Dark Sided are third in the ANZ Pro League so far this season with 17 points -- just one point and position behind 0RGL3SS. However, that may soon change as the two teams will be going head-to-head as soon as the ANZ Pro League resumes on the 13th of March, and six (or even four) points will be a huge boost to either team in their pursuit for an appearance at the APAC LAN.
Mar 9th: [ANZ] Mindfreak Roster Leaves Organisation
In a simple Twitlonger, Josh "Warden" Wadham has announced that his team's roster has left the organisation Mindfreak. The team has not had a good first half of the season so far, and is yet to record a win, with their three points coming from as many drawn maps.
They find themselves in seventh place, and safe from auto-relegation, but only becasuse Gentlement in Underwear who had previously been in seventh had disbanded, thereby voiding their past and future scores in this season of the Pro League. If not for the disband, Mindfreak would have been dead last in eighth place.
In this transfer window so far, the team had already dropped Kngz and Crescent, replacing them with Jcz and Spruce. Now, with the roster leaving Mindfreak, they will be playing the rest of the season as Ex Nihilo, and will presumably be looking for an organisation.
Mar 6th: [JP] JJ Replaces Wokka on NORA-Rengo
One of the best known players from the Asia-Pacific region, NORA-Rengo captain Yudai "Wokka" Ichise, has moved to a streamer position, with his ex-teammate of Takumi "JJ" Iwasaki replacing him on the lineup. Wokka's temporary but currently indefinite is sure to be a body blow to his team, and comes right off the back of some incredible success.
Wokka had been in the NORA-Rengo lineup since APAC was inducted the Pro League back in Season 6, however only rose to fame during the Season 7 Finals. Then, his team's Japanese lineup got very close to defeating the top North American seed of Rogue, with Wokka achieving an Esports Award-winning ace in the very second round. Since then, he has been seen as one of the very best fraggers in the world, helping his team reach the Paris Major, become the first ever APAC team in a semi-final at the Season 8 Finals and, most recently, finish joint-third in the world at the Six Invitational 2019.
He now leaves his player role in NORA-Rengo for seemingly personal reasons, with both him and the team's manager, kizoku, stating he may return in the future. For the meantime, his role will be filled by JJ, a player who played alongside Wokka up until the beginning of Season 9. Now, following a three-month absence from the team, will rejoin the famous Japanese lineup.
NORA-Rengo's next matchup will be in the Pro League against CYCLOPS Athlete Gaming in six days' time when the APAC Pro League resumes.
"[@Wokka_nR Retirement Announcement] @Wokka_nR has retired from the competitive scene, and moved to the streamer division, and will continue to act as a talent of NORA-Rengo from now on."
Mar 5th: [ANZ] Speca Leaves Dark Sided
Ryan "Speca" Ausden has left the Dark Sided roster, leaving them with one player short for the rest of Season 9. The team does not have a substitute listed, and this move means that they will have to look for a player outside the Pro League to fill in their now-open fifth slot.
Speca, on the other hand, was very charitable about his time with Dark Sided, but did not mention if he would be moving to another team -- and which, if any -- or if he would be calling time on his playing career. Given his strength as a player, it is likely that a team will sign him sooner than later.
As for Dark Sided, this departure means that they only have two players left from their Season 8 roster and they will now have to scramble to find a new player.
Mar 4th: [JP] Amenbo Joins FAV Gaming as Coach, Raiser Leaves
Ryota "Amenbo" Wakabayashi has rejoined the FAV Gaming roster in the first Japanese movement in this mid-season. Previously, when the team had been known as eiNs, he had been on the roster as a player for a brief month in 2018.
At the same time, Ken "Raiser" Takazawa has left the team, which means that Zako -- their substitute -- will have to fill in for the rest of Season 9. FAV Gaming has, so far, not had the best 2019 and will be hoping this change sparks the fire they need. They find themselves in fourth place in Japan, five points behind Sengoku Gaming and tied on points but behind on head-to-head with Cyclops Athlete Gaming. The team also failed to get to the Six Invitational 2019 after falling to mantisFPS at the Qualifier LAN in Sydney.
Feb 28th: [ANZ] NeophyteR to be Released from Fnatic Contract
Fnatic player Daniel "NeophyteR" An has announced that he is set to be released from his Fnatic contract and will be looking for a new team, both in and out of ANZ.
NeophyteR had joined Mindfreak from Athletico Esports (now 0RGL3SS) just after the Six Invitational 2018, replacing Kngz. Playing with the team for over two seasons, he had participated in the Season 7 Finals (after Fnatic were crowned as APAC champions), the Six Major Paris, the Six Masters 2018, and the Season 8 Finals. In the latter, Fnatic had pulled off the biggest upset to date in Siege, defeating Evil Geniuses, with their coach Dizzle standing in for captain Magnet.
Since then, though, the team had signed Jake "Virtue" Grannan, ostensibly as a "sixth player" that they had claimed would neither be a substitute, nor would be a replacement for anyone on the team. However, since his signing, Virtue played in every single Fnatic game in place of NeophyteR, including at the Six Invitational. Clearly, things were working, for Fnatic made it to the main stage yet again, and Virtue ended the event with the highest overall rating.
Speaking to SiegeGG, NeophyteR shared about his time with the team:
My time on Fnatic was a pleasant experience, everyone on the team and org are great people. I've learnt a lot during my time there and I don't really have anything negative to say about it. My plan going forward right now is to see what kind of offers come my way, maybe even reach out to a few teams I'm interested in.
Feb 27th: [ANZ] Gentlemen in Underwear Disbands After Stryder and Dino Leave
With Stryder and Dino now leaving the team, after the departures of Rippy and Diesel caused them to reconsider their future with Gentlemen in Underwear (GiU), the team has now effectively disbanded. Diesel had left the team just a few days after the Pro League had taken a break for 0RGL3SS, and now with Stryder and Dino both departing the team is unable to field a majority 3/5 core.
With APAC running an asymmetric season, however, it is going to be interesting how the rest of the season pans out -- especially given the fact that GiU were the only team aside from Fnatic to have played six matches to the rest of the league's eight. Fnatic's matchup with GiU had been postponed to after the break as the ANZ representatives at the Six Invitational 2019 had been in London for their bootcamp prior to the Invitational.
Sitting in seventh place, GiU had won one map and drawn another to give them 4 points so far. It has been confirmed now that every team in the league who already played and is yet to play GiU will be awarded a victory, meaning that Dark Sided will gain three valuable points to 0RGL3SS' two, putitng the former in contention for an APAC LAN spot.
Feb 18th: [SEA] Array and Xesoxs Replace Zetosin and Rixx on Ferox E-Sports
Indonesian player Allessandro Billy "Array" Adi Dwiputra has followed his old teammate Reveck in moving from Aerowolf to Ferox E-Sports, albeit half the season later. Jasper "Xesoxs" Tay, also on Aerowolf for a brief while before real-life commitments had forced him to leave before playing in an official game, will also be following him. The two will be replacing Zetosin and Rixx on the Indonesia-based team.
Feb 17th: [SEA] SpeakEasy Joins Aerowolf
Matin "SpeakEasy" Yunos has been announced as the latest fifth player for Southeast Asian side Aerowolf, and the team will -- for the first time -- have every player based in Singapore. Previously either Quantic (Malaysia) or Array (Indonesia) had been the player living outside the small island.
SpeakEasy makes his move from Scrypt E-Sports, the Season 7 SEA runners-up, leaving them with a big hole to fill. One of the best fraggers in the region, Aerowolf are sure to receive a big boost with his signing, especially after there had been allegedly some internal issues with Reveck and Array.
When asked about the move, and the choice of SpeakEasy, and the current Aerowolf roster, team captain Glen "Lunarmetal" Suryasaputra had the following to say:
The lineup I had pictured roughly a year ago was this one with Hysterix, Ysaera, Mentalist and Speakeasy, but without me on the roster. I would've preferred to be coaching by now but circumstances haven't allowed me to. SpeakEasy was an obvious choice; he looked to be the most consistent player in any lineup he played and was consistent across every season, which is exactly the kind of player we needed.
SpeakEasy's signing will also mark the end of a significant period of volatility in the Aerowolf roster which started some ways back prior to the start of Season 8, when Quantic had been dropped in favour of Array. At the end of Season 8, Reveck had left, and Xesoxs and SPirited had both joined before Xesoxs had been forced to step down due to personal circumstances. SPirited had then filled in for a few games -- first as the team's fifth, then during Lunarmetal's medical absence, and finaly when Array was benched -- and MentalistC had then been drafted straight in for the Six Invitational Qualifier APAC LAN.
On the back foot after their upset map loss to Ferox E-Sports, Aerowolf will be hoping this change will be able to propel them to victory against Xavier Esports at the end of the season to secure the first seed at the ensuing APAC LAN. Scrypt E-Sports, on the other hand, will be looking for a new fifth player.
Feb 15th: [ANZ] Jcz and Spruce Join Mindfreak
After dropping Kngz and Crescent from the team, and then proceeding to trial Jcz and Spruce in the Summer Series, the latter two have been confirmed as official members of the Australian squad.
Feb 11th: [SEA] Array Leaves Aerowolf
Aerowolf's Indonesian player Allessandro Billy "Array" Adi Dwiputra has left the roster after one-and-a-half seasons with the team. The move comes as not much of a surprise as he had been benched for the final Southeast Asian Pro League play day game against Team DAD1 just a week after Aerowolf had suffered their first-ever loss in the regular Pro League.
His departure comes after "a lot of disagreement (sic) between us due to different viewpoints regarding the game", but he made sure to thank the team for the opportunities given which involved going to three APAC LAN events. He had, however, already been to an APAC LAN prior to being signed by Aerowolf -- in Season 7, with Scrypt E-Sports. Interestingly, Array's reasoning for his departure is very similar to why Warren "Reveck" Lim had left the team prior to Season 9 as well.
Array will now be looking for a new team, and Aerowolf now have the dilemma whether to integrate their substitue SPirited into the main lineup or look for a new fifth. It is not entirely impossible that Array will return to his old side prior to the resumption of Season 9, with Singaporean Matin "SpeakEasy" Yunos possibly moving the other way to join his countrymen on Aerowolf.
Feb 4th: [ANZ] Lowkey Cardinal Roster and Organisation Part Ways
The Lowkey Cardinal roster and the organisation have parted ways.
The split seems to have been organisation-initiated, and was primarily performance motivated. Lowkey Cardinal finished the first half of the season in sixth place, just one point above Gentlemen in Underwear who are in the drop zone alongside Mindfreak in eighth. The team only won one map so far, drew two others, and lost five across a run of eight maps.
The team will also, curiously, not be actively looking for an organisation and has essentially told organisations to steer clear until after the end of the season in late-March, presumably due to issues with the "team direction".
Feb 1st: [ANZ] Diesel Joins 0RGL3SS, syliX Becomes Coach
The ex-Athletico Esports squad, now known as 0RGL3SS, has welcomed Kyle "Diesel" Renton from Gentlemen in Underwear to the team. Making way for him will be Vinnie "syliX" Tam, who will now become the second coach for a team alongside Bharath "Fluxx" Sukesh.
The moves comes after a comparatively tougher first half of Season 9 for the team, where they finished in provisional first, but only a point ahead of regional rivals and APAC titans Fnatic, who have two maps across one game in hand. Fnatic, for their part, have not played the game to get to parity with the rest of the league (except Gentlement in Underwear) as the team has been bootcamping in London prior to this week.
On the other hand, syliX's move to coach does not come as a complete surprise after rumours had cropped up more than a few times prior. The speculation was significantly large after the Six Major Paris APAC Qualifiers LAN saw syliX suffer from a poor performance, and intensified just last month when the former Dark Sided player Fletcher "Fletch" Hickling filled in for syliX during the online ANZ Six Invitational 2019 Qualifiers.
Speaking to Fluxx, we got a fuller picture of the reasoning behind the move.
After a few trial scrims with Diesel, we all unanimously agreed that he fit in with our team and everyone got along very well. He's a knowledgable player and his playstyle meshed with ours, so we're happy to welcome him aboard the Orgless roster. Diesel brings his explosive supportive play to the lineup and it's exactly what we were looking for in a player. Sylix has an amazing mind for this game and it's astounding what he finds in his own time. His work in the past as a player is invaluable and we wish to further utilise his skills in a coach position alongside myself. We believe that the move to pick up Diesel accompanied with moving Sylix to coach, will help us keep up our form from our last Pro League match, furthermore into the season.
The team has evidently chosen to go with Diesel instead, despite a decent performance from Fletch that saw his team qualify for the offline LAN Qualifier -- although Fletch did not play there, and syliX did instead.
The Gentlemen in Underwear now lose a key player that had been no doubt a vital part of their team, but -- barring a search for another player -- are presumably going to continue with the remaining five members of Crude, Dino, Stryder, Rippy, and Rolphy. 0RGL3SS, on the other hand, now have a roster consisting of Ethan, EmoRin, Derpeh, pre-Season 9 pick up JoeyG, Diesel, and have Fluxx and syliX as coaches.
Feb 1st: [ANZ] Kngz and Crescent Dropped From Mindfreak
Connor "Kngz" Wickham has been dropped from the Mindfreak roster yet again, almost an entire year on from the first time in 2018. The captain and in-game leader has parted ways after a terrible first-half of the season where his team went winless from eight maps across four games.
Kngz had first been on the old Mindfreak roster until prior to Season 7 of the Pro League, and had gone to the 2018 Six Invitational where he was part of the team that made history when they became the first APAC team to win a series against an international team. Soon after, though, he had been dropped and NeophyteR had joined the team three weeks later.
Following that, he had joined SYF Gaming as a player for the Season 7 Pro League before a departure saw him join up with a few other pros looking for a new team to play in Season 8 of the Challenger League. Then named TBD, they sucessfully achieved promotion to the Pro League for Season 9 and were soon signed by Mindfreak who re-entered the Rainbow Six scene after their old roster had been bought out by Fnatic.
Also leaving the team is Jye "Crescent" White. While little information was given about his departure too, it is presumably also related to the team's Season 9 performance so far.
Mindfreak will now be looking for a fourth and fifth player to complement the remaining trio of Warden, Cursedwings, and Shadeydays, and will be eyeing other teams' players as well as pros currently without a team. With just three points in the season so far, and no wins, they have a long road ahead of them if they want to escape the relegation zone.
Jan 30th: [JP] Rsk Ninjas Gaming Disbands
Eighth-placed Japanese Pro League team Rsk Ninjas Gaming has announced that its Rainbow Six roster is disbanding. This comes after the team failed to avoid a loss in all eight of its maps played in the first half of the season. As they were yet to gain a point, this means that the rest of the Japanese Pro League table is not affected.
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This article will be updated with changes as they happen, check back here or keep track of updates from SiegeGG’s Twitter account.