Find out which players the likes of FaZe, G2, and Natus Vincere have put down as backups for the Major qualifier.
ESL has revealed the rosters that have been submitted for the Regional Major Ranking tournaments, which have been locked in since September 8th, allowing insight into teams' substitute players.
Academy players, benched members, as well as veterans such as Jonas "Lekr0" Olofsson, Ricardo "fox" Pacheco, and Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer can be found on the roster sheets. A name that jumps off the list is Janusz "Snax" Pogorzelski, who impressed in his stand-in stint with ENCE at IEM Dallas, but is a sub for Vitality — not the Finnish organization he represented in June.
Vitality listed Snax as their substitute
If Eetu "sAw" Saha's squad needs a stand-in for the RMR, they won't be turning to loaned out Olek "hades" Miskiewicz either, but towards their 20-year-old academy player Henri "HENU" Ylilehto. The same strategy was employed by quite a few teams including Astralis, Cloud9, BIG, Natus Vincere, Ninjas in Pyjamas and OG, who listed players from their secondary squads.
The importance of a good substitute was highlighted by Kristian "k0nfig" Wienecke's injury, which sees the Danish star miss out on the qualifier and Astralis with an uphill battle, trying to qualify for the IEM Rio Major with Astralis Talent player Mikkel "MistR" Thomsen.
Read more k0nfig to miss Major qualifier following injury
It comes as no surprise to see FaZe put down olofmeister as their backup, but seeing his countryman Lekr0 as G2's reserve player will certainly raise some eyebrows. The 29-year-old has been competitively inactive since April, when Dignitas failed to advance from the RMR and subsequently disbanded the team.
Similarly, 00NATION have listed 35-year-old fox as their substitute, the player that helped Epitacio "TACO" de Melo and Marcelo "coldzera" David make the semi-final of the ELEAGUE 2017 Major as a temporary replacement for Lincoln "fnx" Lau.
Lucas "Lucky" Chastang, Jayson "Kyojin" Nguyen Van, Aurimas "Bymas" Pipiras, and Timur "buster" Tulepov are signed up as substitutes for organizations they are benched from, while former North man Nicklas "gade" Gade can be found on HEROIC's team list.
A number of teams have not listed a substitute, which means they will be forced to use their coach as a stand-in in case of an emergency. The most prominent team to not list a sixth player is Liquid, whose coach Damian "daps" Steele would come in as a player if needed.
Below you can find the list of all RMR teams and their substitutes:
Europe A:
1WIN: Artem "mouseTT" Karyagin Astralis: Mikkel "MistR" Thomsen Aurora: No substitute B8: No substitute Bad News Eagles: No substitute Cloud9: Daniil "alpha" Demin ECSTATIC: No substitute Eternal Fire: Yasin "xfl0ud" Koç FaZe: Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer fnatic: Peppe "Peppzor" Borak G2: Jonas "Lekr0" Olofsson Ninjas in Pyjamas: Max "maxster" Jansson Sprout: No substitute GamerLegion: No substitute Spirit: Myroslav "zont1x" Plakhotia FORZE: No substitute
Europe B:
Benched Heroes: Thomas "Thomas" Utting BIG: Elias "s1n" Stein ENCE: Henri "HENU" Ylilehto FANTASY: No substitute HEET: Lucas "Lucky" Chastang HEROIC: Nicklas "gade" Gade K23: No substitute MOUZ: Aurimas "Bymas" Pipiras Monte: No substitute Natus Vincere: Daniil "headtr1ck" Valitov OG: Max "Marix" Kugener SAW: No substitute Sangal: Marko "kressy" Đorđević Falcons: Jayson "Kyojin" Nguyen Van Vitality: Janusz "Snax" Pogorzelski Outsiders: Timur "buster" Tulepov
Americas:
00NATION: Ricardo "fox" Pacheco 9z: Gustavo "tge" Motta ATK: No substitute ARCTIC: No substitute Complexity: No substitute Evil Geniuses: Wesley "viz" Harris FURIA: Lucas "decenty" Bacelar Imperial: No substitute Infinity: Stephane "Guepard" Cazzotes Isurus: No substitute MIBR: No substitute Nouns: No substitute O PLANO: No substitute Liquid: No substitute TeamOne: No substitute paiN: Gabriel "nython" Lino
Asia:
Rare Atom: ZhiHong "aumaN" Liu Grayhound: No substitute IHC: No substitute JiJieHao International: No substitute
For more information on all things Major related, check out our IEM Rio Major Coverage Hub.