Imperial target HEN1 and felps for rebuild

As first reported by Douglas Demoliner of Esportes GZH on June 29th and seconded by Dust2 Brasil today, Imperial are targeting Henrique "HEN1" Teles and João "felps" Vasconcellos to replenish their roster following the departure of Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo and Marcelo "chelo" Cespedes to FURIA. The move would see the duo return to activity after being benched by MIBR and Fluxo, respectively, in the off season.

The most tantalizing implication of this report is that it would see HEN1 and felps reunite with Ricardo "boltz" Prass and Rafael "zakk" Fernandes, with whom they have an extensive history during their time together on Immortals and Luminosity. The quartet's first collaboration lasted the entirety of 2016 before felps was replaced by Lincoln "fnx" Lau, while their second stint lasted a few months before Luminosity pulled out of CS:GO.

While this new roster will to some degree be considered as treading old ground, HEN1 and felps still have strong form over the course of 2023, boasting 1.24 and 1.15 ratings, respectively. However, it is worth noting that felps' rating is a fair bit inflated as Fluxo irregularly competed on the international stage, and when they did they failed to notch a single win against NA or EU teams this year. As such, the pressure will be on for felps as he looks to chase the form that made him one of Brazil's most exciting players during his time on SK in 2017.

Dust2 Brasil also reported that Imperial are set to depart to a European bootcamp in short order ahead of IEM Cologne, which starts on July 26th.

Imperial are expected to be:

• Ricardo "boltz" Prass

• Vinicius "VINI" Figueiredo

• Jhonatan "JOTA" Wilian

• Henrique "HEN1" Teles

• João "felps" Vasconcellos

• Rafael "zakk" Fernandes (Coach)