timbermen begin overhaul with LAG duo

Yesterday Nick "nicx" Lee announced the beginning of a major overhaul of timbermen's roster as he and Raymon "rayxts" Mando have jumped from LAG to join the orlgess roster alongside Wyatt "snav" Phillippi and Derek "dare" Brown. With the duo joining timbermen and the squad looking for a new fifth, the move also sees long-time timbermen member Shane "shane" Dressler leave the team alongside Matthew "nero" Seymour and Christopher "aleph" Froden.

The departure of shane from timbermen is on its own an unprecedented shakeup in timbermen's rank as it marks the end of a 6+ year partnership between shane, snav, and dare that has seen the trio entangle their fortunes and weather many storms as a successful but controversial core.

These changes come amidst a low point in the team's fortunes as timbermen only narrowly made ESL Challenger League Season 48 playoffs with an 11-17 record before being swiftly knocked out by E-Xolos LAZER. More broadly, since the team's departure from the Elevate organization the lineup have struggled to find results against the upper echelons of the NA scene, with the team struggling to gain ground against the likes of M80, Party Astronauts, and NRG in recent weeks.

On the other end of the equation, nicx and rayxts' decision to jump ship from LAG comes after an exceedingly disappointing season from the team, with LAG set to play the Relegation tournament after a 6-22 season while the recent addition of Alperen "TR0JN" Kilic failing to make up for the loss of Bogdan "ogwizard" Savula to Party Astronauts.

With nicx and rayxts leaving to join timbermen, it puts the remaining LAG players in a precarious spot for the future needing to now replace two more players regardless of the outcome of Relegation. nicx told Dust2.us that he and rayxts will help the team through Relegation, however that does little for the squad's long-term prospects. LAG's coach, Kadir "ElPrincipe" Sivri, told Dust2.us that the future of the team is up in the air currently with the team and organization unable to comment on future plans at the moment.

Also of note, is Wyatt "snav" Phillippi's comment to Dust2.us saying that timbermen intend on rebranding in the near future, seemingly aiming to put the tag's controversial legacy behind them.

With nicx and rayxts, timbermen are now:

• Wyatt "snav" Phillippi

• Derek "dare" Brown

• Nick "nicx" Lee

• Raymon "rayxts" Mando

timbermen will look to find a new fifth ahead of the start of the next ESL Challenger League season in 2025.