After a tough run at the original ESL One Rio Minor championship, ATK has announced changes to its South African roster that include the release Rieghardt “flexeeee” Romatzki, and the additions of AWPer Aaron “SloWye” van der Walt and entry fragger Johnathan “Doru” Fox.
Both SloWye and Doru come to ATK from the South African team Big 5. SloWye spent just over a year with his former team and regional rival Goliath Gaming, while Doru’s tenure with BIG 5 lasted just over five months after spending the majority of his young career playing for the South African amateur team White Rabbit.
Since the team’s loss in the ESL One Rio Minor qualifiers, both the team and the organization have found some success, with the organization’s CSGO squad most recently wining the Inkosi Super Cup Season 1 qualifier against fellow South African team Goliath Gaming 2-1. The organization also announced its entry into another competitive shooter, Rainbow Six Siege.
SloWye and Doru should be solid additions to ATK’s newest roster. The organization has a history of growing talent, with it’s former squad being bought out in January by North American stalwarts Cloud9 to represent the organization in FLASHPOINT Season 1.
The team was also home to Canadian Tyson “TenZ” Ngo, who rose up North America’s semi-pro ranks before landing a spot on Cloud9 during the organization’s troubled end to 2020. TenZ, known for his snappy aim, became the first person in North America to place in Valorant rank in Riot Game’s new shooter, Valorant and now represents the organization as the first player on it’s professional Valorant roster.
While Cloud9 was unable to take home the win at FLASHPOINT 1, the team most recently defeated Team Liquid 2-1 in North America’s ESL One Road to Rio.
Valve’s decision to require teams to requalify for the ESL One Rio Major should have been a second chance for ATK, but with Major berths allocated according to placements at last year’s StarLadder Berlin Major, none were left to teams that competed in the Middle East region, where teams from South Africa compete in during Valve Majors.
After the addition of SloWye and Doru, ATK’s roster is as follows:
Aaron “SloWye” van der Walt
Johnathan “Doru” Fox
Josh “bLazE” Saunders
Gareth “MisteM” Ries
Rhys “Fadey” Armstrong
Daniel “sprayxd” Kogan (coach)
M Alzamora
About M Alzamora
There are few things that writer M Alzamora loves more in life than Pokemon. And there are even fewer things that she loves more than her favorite Pokemon, Eevee. But M’s appreciation for gaming isn’t just limited to Nintendo’s famous pocket monsters. She’s interested in every type of game across every genre of gaming, and she has the credentials to prove it. M’s work has also been seen on Working Classicists and gaming sites.
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