Report: Rogue in talks to sign MSL
Rogue are looking to replace their recent acquisiton of Kevin 'kRYSTAL" Amend with former North in-game leader Mathias "MSL" Lauridsen, according to a report from DBLTAP's Jarek "DeKay" Lewis. Rogue lost their own in-game leader, Casper "cadiaN" Møller, to the Danish team shortly after the Major, and now the move has come full circle as MSL seems set to take cadiaN's former slot on the Rogue roster.
MSL has been inactive since being benched from North at the end of September after the team exited the FACEIT Major New Challengers stage with a 2-3 record. Just prior to the Major, MSL helped to lead North — both as an in-game leader and an AWPer — to their first premier tournament victory in over a year, taking down Astralis 2-1 in the grand finals of DreamHack Masters Stockholm, claiming the HLTV MVP medal in the process. Alas, North's exit from the Major prompted change, and has left MSL on the sidelines ever since.
Despite a surprisingly strong performance at the FACEIT Major, Rogue have been unable to impress since their return to North America after changing in-game leaders. kRYSTAL has been unable to fill the void left by cadiaN with little time to practice before the start of the online season, with Rogue managing just nine wins out of a combined 28 maps played in ECS Season 6 and ESL Pro League Season 8, leaving little chance to make it to either of the leagues' LAN finals.
Rogue also currently sit in 10th place for EPL with just two matchups remaining against compLexity and INTZ, where losses would almost certainly force the team to play against MDL upcomers at the end of the season for relegation. Their final matches for ECS won't be any easier as they have yet to face MIBR, Renegades, and compLexity, but a double-header against the last place Spacestation roster may be their saving grace to remain in the league for the next season.
With the addition of MSL, Rogue's roster would look as follows:
Daniel "vice" Kim- Spencer "Hiko" Martin
- Hunter "SicK" Mims
Ricardo "Rickeh" Mulholland
Mathias "MSL" Lauridsen
Rogue are set to go up against MIBR for ECS and compLexity for ESL Pro League on October 30th, with the first map set to kick off at 8 PM EDT. It is currently unknown whether the team will field MSL or kRSYTAL in their upcoming online matches.
