micro out of Wildcard

Wildcard have parted ways with Jack "micro" Ryan around a month after they entered CS:GO by signing the former Detonate roster. micro was a long-time member of the lineup's core, having joined the team when they still played under the kariESPORTS tag in October 2022.

Wildcard recently made playoffs of ESL Challenger League Season 45, taking down the star-studded Party Astronauts lineup in the first lower bracket round. Their next opponent, however, was paiN who handed Wildcard a respectable 5-6th finish. Over the past six months, micro has averaged a 0.97 rating across 90 maps, so the choice to replace him does not seem without merit. It is worth nothing, however, that micro was the team's in-game leader for the past few months, generally a role expected to hamper a player's performance.

The removal of micro follows a recent addition to the team of a coach and an analyst. João "horvy" Horvath and Ashlynn "Valkenn" Brady officially joined the team in their respective roles on May 23rd, though they had been working with the roster for sometime before then. According to a tweet by micro, Matthew "Cryptic" Whitmore had taken over IGL duties for the playoffs as micro was feeling "burnt out."

In the tweet, he continues that the team had "problems with [him]", his "attitude and lack of being [mentally] present", especially in the last two weeks. This is why he had asked for Cryptic to take over leading in the playoffs, so that he could "regain [his] enjoyment and take a mental step back". He says he wished to return back to leading the team after the break, however, he was not given that chance.

Wildcard currently do not have any tournaments lined up, with the exclusion of ECL Season 46, which starts in early July. However, there is still one more ESEA Cash Cup, on May 31st, before the Circuit Finals where the team will likely debut with their new player.

Wildcard's roster is now:

• Matthew "Cryptic" Whitmore

• Adam "freshie" Paterson

• Brett "brett" Rhein

• Keller "SLIGHT" Nilan

• João "horvy" Horvath (Coach)

• Ashlynn "Valkenn" Brady (Analyst)

The announcement of micro's replacement is expected soon, with Cryptic likely continuing as in-game leader.