Report: ATK find Fadey replacement

An international roster becomes even more world-renowned as ATK has reached an agreement with Pakistani Saad "Pluto" Siraj to become their new rifler as Rhys "Fadey" Armstrong is sidelined for the indeterminate future due to surgery. The South African player has returned to his home country to have the surgery and take time to recover.

Sources have informed Dust2.us that ATK had Pluto as their primary target to replace the outgoing rifler, with the team decided against continuing with Ian "motm" Hardy, who was initially cut from the roster in favor of former EG White member Jonathan "djay" Dallal back in late November.

In a picture posted on twitter, the player showed his wrist and arm tightly wrapped, which definitely prevents - or at least makes it incredibly difficult - to play any sort of competitive video game for the time being.

The move for Pluto is seen as somewhat permanent, with both the player's status on the team in question regarding the surgery coming at an unfortunate time. ATK are scheduled to participate in ESL Pro League and the upcoming BLASTtv Paris Major RMR NA Closed Qualifier. With the player sidelined for so long, it's thought that the move for Pluto will be permanent.

The move also leaves Danny "cxzi" Strzelczyk and his Vendetta teammates in a lurch as they are scrambling to find a replacement for the emphatic Pakistani. The squad have seen themselves begin to dominate the beginning of 2023, earning a surprising victory over the Bobby "stamina" Eitrem-led Nouns in the first IEM Brazil NA Open Qualifier. Vendetta's victory sees them head into the IEM Brazil NA Closed Qualifier where they will face off against NA heavyweights Complexity and paiN, as well as the victor of the second open qualifier.

Also interestingly, ATK now have members from four separate regions across the world with players from North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia competing on the same team. In regards for the Major, the team will continue to be allowed to compete in North America as their permanent residence lies within the region.

With Pluto's addition, ATK are expected to be:

• Gareth "MisteM" Ries

• Jonathan "b0denmaster" Bodenmalm

• Michael "Swisher" Schmid

• Jonathan "djay" Dallal

• Saad "Pluto" Siraj

• Rhys "Fadey" Armstrong (Inactive)

• Daniel "sprayxd" Kogan (Coach)

As for ATK, they are heading to ESL Pro League in March, where they will face off against the Europeans from ENCE in their Group D opening matchup. Now with Pluto, the squad will have to buckle down and get everyone up to speed if they want to have a fighting chance in the revamped Pro League format, which is now a triple-elimination bracket instead of round-robin group play.

Dust2.us writer Mnmzzz also contributed to this report