D4rtyMontana stands-down; Strife hunts for new fifth

Matthew "D4rtyMontana" Paplawskas' time as a stand-in for Strife has come to an end as the Canadian organization are set to look for a permanent fifth. D4rtyMontana joined the team on March 16th to help them finish the season following Danny "cxzi" Strzelczyk's fractious removal from the team that night.

Despite his addition being on extremely short notice, D4rtyMontana performed admirably on Strife, helping the team narrowly make playoffs before clinching a respectable fourth place finish in ESL Challenger League Season 40.

Overall, the 17-year-old player posted a middle of the road 0.91 rating over seventeen maps while standing in with Strife, which is still laudable considering D4rtyMontana has limited experience against top-level ECL opposition and had to slot into new spots.

Looking towards the future, Strife are set to look for a more experienced player who can fill the gap left by cxzi. Interestingly, based on a leaked conversation from stamina's stream, Third Impact player James "JAM" H. revealed that stamina was seemingly inquiring with Erik "truth" Hansen Dyrnes about Estonian player Kristjan "fejtZ" Allsaar.

Dust2.us has confirmed the authenticity of the screenshot. When reached for comment, stamina told Dust2.us that any talks with new players were in the preliminary stages and the team has yet to make formal contact with any new players.

Should the team go with fejtZ it would mark the player's third time on an American team as he started his journeyman wanderings with the ill-fated Denial lineup in 2017 and also briefly played for boxr (ex-Splyce) in early 2018.

While Strife look for a new, possibly European fifth, their roster is for the moment:

• Keller "SLIGHT" Nilan

• David "J0LZ" Jolin

• Bobby "stamina" Eitrem

• Paul "aris" Wilson

• Christian "crisby" Schmitt (Coach)

• Thomas "klank" Mennemeyer (Assistant Coach/Analyst)

Strife are currently playing in ACE Masters with Marco "Pol0" Hernandez as a stand-in. They will look to complete their roster with a permanent addition before ESL Challenger League Season 41 begins on April 26th.