win.gg
Win.gg Counter-Strike HellRaisers benches entire roster after poor major performance

HellRaisers benches entire roster after poor major performance

Olivia Richman
Olivia Richman Published 04/09/2019

Shocking the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive community, HellRaisers has benched their entire roster. 

This dramatic change comes after a poor showing at the StarLadder Berlin Major. HellRaisers ended the New Challengers Stage with a disappointing 1-3 record, losing to FURIA, AVANGAR, and Vitality. It didn’t seem like their new roster, finalized in April, had improved the team’s performance. 

Christian “IoWel” Garcia Antoran and Zygimantas “nukkye” Chmieliauskas will be benched just four months after being signed to HellRaisers. Tomas “oskar” Stastny, who was signed in March, also has an unclear future with HellRaisers. In their official announcement, HellRaisers noted that inactive player Bence “DeadFox” Borocz is now a free agent. 

These players were added to HellRaisers after unfortunate results at various LAN campaigns leading up to the Berlin Major. This included being knocked out of the Good Game League 2019 during the event’s group stage. 

Despite benching their entire roster, HellRaisers made sure to state that they were not leaving CSGO. In fact, they noted that they’ll be back with a new lineup soon. 

“This season hasn’t been easy for anyone who supports and believes in HellRaisers no matter what. All of the guys proved to be true professionals and talented players, but unfortunately we didn’t manage to build a team which every fan of HellRaisers could be proud of,” CEO Alex “Magician” Slabukhin said. “However, a new season means new opportunities. We’ll soon announce an updated CS:GO roster, as well as some other good news!” 

Magician went on to say that he is looking to “make HellRaisers great again.” 

Olivia Richman Olivia Richman
About Olivia Richman

Olivia has worked in media ever since graduating from college, with her coverage ranging from traditional newspaper reporting to digital coverage of all things gaming, online betting, and nerd culture. She has traveled around the world pursuing that coverage, from the far coasts of the United States to the busy downtown core of Tokyo, Japan. Olivia’s favorite games include Overwatch and Super Smash Smash Bros, and she has been published at Esports Illustrated, Inven Global, EsportsInsider, Upcomer, and elsewhere.

View full profile
Read Also
The Esports Nations Cup Has Been Postponed to November 2027 News
The Esports Nations Cup Has Been Postponed to November 2027 Ben Boland The 2026 Esports Nations Cup has been suspended until 2027. The Esports Foundation announced the delay on August 18, citing ongoing regional uncertainty. The inaugural competition was scheduled to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, comprising over 100 national teams and featuring 16 different games, including League of Legends. According to the Esports Foundation, this decision follows ongoing developments in the region and consultation with key stakeholders. Moving the event ...
MLBB is the most-watched game from the EWC, and it’s hard to see another game beating it Esports Betting
MLBB is the most-watched game from the EWC, and it’s hard to see another game beating it Michael Hassall The Esports World Cup 2026 has officially passed its midway point and viewership figures for the tournament have surpassed many expectations so far, as per Esports Charts. The viewership tracking site revealed new statistics for the event on Aug. 6, showcasing just how many games had set new records in viewership, including one name leading the way in views: Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. MLBB leads the viewership charts with the ...
CS2 at the EWC 2026 Preview: Odds, Details, Predictions and More Counter-Strike
CS2 at the EWC 2026 Preview: Odds, Details, Predictions and More Owen Harsono Top-tier Counter-Strike action returns at the Esports World Cup, as 32 of the best teams will take the trip to Paris to compete for millions of dollars. If you’re looking to watch the event, here’s everything you need to know and which teams to keep an eye on. The Esports World Cup is one of the largest CS2 events if we’re looking at prize pools, as $2,000,000 will be distributed ...
Opinion: Is Esports Tracing the Same Evolutionary Path As Traditional Sports? News
Opinion: Is Esports Tracing the Same Evolutionary Path As Traditional Sports? Cecilia Ciocchetti What happens when an industry compresses centuries of sporting evolution into less than a decade or two? Communities become global audiences overnight, rivalries spread through social media within minutes, and tournaments turn into entertainment products faster than ever before. And so what took traditional sports centuries to build has taken esports a fraction of that. From local communities to sold out arenas, and from informal matches to Olympic-style events, the ...
BLAST Bounty 2026 semi-final predictions: who’s making it to the grand final? Counter-Strike
BLAST Bounty 2026 semi-final predictions: who’s making it to the grand final? Owen Harsono The top four teams we’re seeing at the BLAST Bounty 2026 semi-finals are far from what anyone would expect before the tournament began, but here we are. We’re only three matches from crowning a winner, so let’s take a look at the best BLAST Bounty semi-final predictions for both upcoming matchups. Starting the semi-finals off is a banger of a series between FaZe Clan and Team Spirit, which is one ...
We Ranked The Top 5 Most Hated CS2 Maps Counter-Strike
We Ranked The Top 5 Most Hated CS2 Maps Owen Harsono If you’re a Counter-Strike player, you probably have that one map you always ban first in every Premier game — and you're not alone as almost everyone has one too. Below, we’ll take a look at the most hated maps in Counter-Strike history and explain why they are disliked by the community at large. Anubis is one of the newer releases in the Counter-Strike 2 map pool, but it has ...
The Top 10 Best Clutches in Counter-Strike History Ranked Counter-Strike
The Top 10 Best Clutches in Counter-Strike History Ranked Owen Harsono Pulling off an impossible clutch is one of the greatest hits of dopamine any Counter-Strike 2 player can ever feel. However, pulling them off at the highest level can be a little tricky since everyone is so coordinated. That’s exactly why mind-blowing clutches are remembered forever. Let’s take a trip down memory lane and look at the 10 best clutches in Counter-Strike history. We’re opening the list with former mousesports ...