Rise Nation to release Jonji; transfer talks for other players stall

After failing to make it to ESL Pro League twice and placing last at the ESEA MDL Global Challenge, the Rise Nation squad that not so long ago seemed destined to make Pro has elected to dispense with the services of Jonathan "Jonji" Carey, Dust2.us has learned.

With the organization not having made an announcement, the reasoning for the move is unknown, but Jonji was statistically the team's worst player in their critical ESL Pro League Relegation matches, which saw them losing to Ghost and Rogue. After the defeat to Rogue, Jonji assigned himself perhaps an undue portion of blame:

With the change, Rise Nation's roster would be as follows:

• Andy "vSa" Xu
• Brandon "Ace" Winn
• Kaleb "moose" Jayne
• Will "dazzLe" Loafman
• Jared "osorandom" Hartman (Coach)

The move marks the end of the initial Rise Nation era, as both the organization and players look to move forward and recover from their crushing weekend in New York. Part of this process has involved current Rise players exploring options with other organizations.

Dust2.us has learned that Ghost, who did manage to return to ESL Pro League, had expressed interest in acquiring Rise’s Andy “vSa” Xu and Will “dazzLe” Loafman. The move would have seen Ghost solidifying their roster and having a full five-man squad for the first time in a long time, while also reuniting vSa with his former Bee’s Money Crew teammates.

Complicating matters, however, were the facts that the Rise Nation players contracts do not expire until May, and none of them include set buyouts. According to sources, Rise Nation had asked between $15,000 and $30,000 for each player — prices which far exceed the annual salaries of the players, and which Ghost have seemingly balked at.

Also pursuing options outside the organization has been Kaleb “moose” Jayne, with the Canadian rifler having an offer from SoaR to act as a stand-in for Ryan “Snakes” Amann until he turns 16. The player has also been linked to the remains of ex-CLG (such as it is). moose has been tagged with a similar price as the previously mentioned duo.

With the organization seemingly unwilling to let players go without receiving their pound of flesh, the team have decided to remain together for the time being. Part of the organization's reticence to sell off pieces of their squad could be attributed to uncertainty surrounding the ESL Pro League spot currently held by Counter Logic Gaming — it is thought that if former players of that team are unable to put a competitive team together, the spot may fall to Rise.

NOTE: The article has been updated to reflect that Jonji is currently still under contract with the organization