Boltz headlines new MIBR roster as TACO, fer cut ties

In a surprise announcement, MIBR revealed that it had signed Gustavo “⁠yel⁠” Knittel, Ricardo “⁠boltz⁠” Prass, Marcelo “⁠chelo⁠” Cespedes, Bruno “⁠shz⁠” Martinelli, and Daniel “⁠danoco⁠” Morgado to its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster. The former Boom Esports players had been released to seek other opportunities on January 15, before appearing on Twitter just an hour later clad in MIBR’s patented black jerseys.

Boom’s former fifth, João “felps” Vasconcellos, won’t join his teammates on MIBR. Instead, MIRB has picked up danoco to fill his place on the lineup as felps is rumored to be involved with former MIBR head coach Ricardo “Dead” Sinigagli’s new project. MIBR’s new lineup will debut in February, but the breakup with the former roster remains a hit to the MIBR brand.

MIBR brand weakened by perceived mistreatment of players

MIBR hasn’t fielded a team in CSGO since early September, when it benched Epitácio “TACO” de Melo, Fernando “fer“ Alvarenga, and dead in the wake of a poor 2020 performance. Soon after, in-game leader Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo, now of Team Liquid, benched himself from the team in protest. 

Last week, MIBR officially dissolved all the contracts belonging to their legendary squad. In a tweet from January 8, TACO made it clear that it wasn’t an easy process, revealing that he had to hire professionals for help with getting out of his deal with MIBR’s parent company, Immortals Gaming Club.

“By the way, I managed to get out of the [MIBR] contract this week. Thank you very much to the Guedes Group for everything. I’m READY to sign with the next one! News soon!” said the tweet.

The Guedes Group is a California law firm specializing in business and intellectual property law.

Regardless, it looks as though the former core of Boom Esports is looking forward to the opportunity to wear the jersey of South America’s most accomplished organization. MIBR’s roster is expected to make the move to Europe for its first tournament under the organization during BLAST Premier’s Spring season. In the meantime, competitive CSGO returns to Twitch this coming week with BLAST Premier’s Global Finals on Tuesday, January 19. MIBR can get a head start on scouting out its regional competition when FURIA plays G2 Esports on the tournament’s first day. They’ll need all the preparation they can get as they head into BLAST Spring’s $150,000 tournament, which starts on February 4.