Chicken Coop swap one ahead of ECL debut

On January 8th, Chicken Coop announced the departure of Brady "Freaky" Cobb from the team's ranks before announcing the addition of Taggert "taggy" Baker on January 9th. The move marks the first changes to the lineup following the team's promotion to ESL Challenger League Season 49, with Chicken Coop being called up to fill one of a myriad number of spots left by the departures of ex-FLUFFY AIMERS, Wildcard, E-Xolos LAZER, and M80 from the league.

According to Illya "supa" Filanchuk, the team elected to part ways with Freaky due to feeling the player was not putting in as much effort into the game as the rest of the lineup, with differing views on the game also generating a rift within the lineup. This led the lineup to part ways with Freaky and pursue a new addition that better met their needs, especially as the squad is about to be thrust into ECL S49 for the first time in the players' careers.

To that end, the team elected to pick up taggy, a player who has shown his mettle in recent months after stand-in performances with Undone and Akimbo, including at Fragadelphia 18 where taggy stood in for Tyler "Skadoodle" Latham after the latter player suffered a back injury. He will likely be hungry to further prove himself after spending six months without a permanent lineup to call home.

In another notable and surprising addition, Chicken Coop's eponymous owner, Chicken, told Dust2.us that the team have enlisted veteran Kazakh coach Rustam "5TRYK#R" Alimkulov to help the squad secure a strong start to the year. According to Chicken, the former forZe coach is helping the team on a day-to-day basis and will be with the team for the next few weeks before reevaluating a longer term commitment with Chicken Coop.

For readers with good memories, this was a similar setup to that of FLUFFY AIMERS back in 2023 when the team brought in 5TRYK#R for around two weeks to help flesh out their start book ahead of ECL S45 playoffs. Notably, 5TRYK#R will not be joining the team for ECL S49 due to the squad only having one roster addition left, with the team saving it in case of a future roster change.

Chicken Coop are now:

• Joshua "LittleBEER" Stuckley

• Justin "FRIZZY" Gillis

• Kaan "BAGEL" Demircan

• Illya "supa" Filanchuk

• Taggert "taggy" Baker

• Rustam "5TRYK#R" Alimkulov (Coach)

This new Chicken Coop roster will make their debut on January 17th against Revel in CCT Season 2 North American Series #4.