Iron Blood part ways with team

Iron Blood have parted ways with their lineup following the expiration of their contracts on December 20th. Iron Blood had entered CS:GO ahead of the start of Fragadelphia 17 on September 10th, signing timbermen before the squad made their debut against Victorum.

Iron Blood's decision to not renew with timbermen comes as something of a surprise, as the squad have been fairly successful in the past three months. Notably the squad finished Fragadelphia 17 in 5th-8th place and claimed back-to-back 5th-6th finishes in ESL Challenger League Seasons 42 and 43.

Regarding the decision, Iron Blood's owner Michael "Senshi" Jenkins told Dust2.us that despite the team performing "incredibly well", the organization elected to "go in a different direction of eSport [sic]" heading into 2023. Jenkins also noted that despite the team's troubled past, the squad had no professionalism issues that he was aware of. While Jenkins did not commit to a timeline for a return to CS:GO, he stated that "at some point Iron Blood would continue in CS:GO."

Despite the positive words directed towards the team, Dust2.us understands that there was some friction between the organization and the squad. Reportedly, the organization felt timbermen did not do enough to promote Iron Blood's social media or keep management in the loop with their schedule, leading to a lack of marketability for the squad. Importantly, despite the organization's success in CS:GO and Call of Duty, they are less than a year old and don't appear to have any major sponsors, likely exacerbating the marketing issue as Iron Blood look to try and cement themselves in the difficult esports ecosystem.

timbermen are now:

• Shane "shane" Dressler

• Derek "dare" Brown

• Wyatt "snav" Phillippi

• Fern "intra" Hak

• Damian "droid" Boulware

timbermen will now look for a new home ahead of the start of ESL Challenger League Season 44.