Issa "ISSAA" Murad stops his CS:GO career and will be journeying to VALORANT. He is yet another Professional player who makes the transition to the new FPS game after struggling in CS:GO.

"ISSAA" first started gaining international recognition when he was a part of the HellRaisers squad. With the team, he was able to win a couple of A-tier events, and he claimed the MVP at DreamHack Open Tours 2018 even though the team placed second behind North.

The Jordanian parted ways with HellRaisers in December 2019 to become a part of the original OG lineup alongside "Aleksib", "NBK-", "valde", and "mantuu". "ISSAA" fought as a part of OG for almost two years, but was benched after failing to deliver the expected results.

The last part of "ISSAA"s CS:GO journey took him to Turkey where he joined Eternal Fire. They quickly found out that this was not a great match and the veteran rifler traveled home to Jordan after two months.

After having been without a team for half a year, "ISSAA" then made the decision of switching to VALORANT.

ISSAA

In August this year, the two CS:GO superstars Özgür "⁠woxic⁠" Eker and Ismailcan "⁠XANTARES⁠" Dörtkardeş joined forces with a new five-man roster, under the new banner of Eternal Fire. However, after only two months together, the Turkish team has lost its first member.

Eternal Fire has put out a Tweet explaining that the two parties have decided to part ways, owing to the former OG player having troubles adapting to his new life in Turkey.

- Because he couldn’t adapt to Turkey and decided to return to his own country, we decided to separate ways. Thanks for your hard work. Good luck in your career, Eternal Fire state on Twitter.

It looks like Eternal Fire has brought in Sabit "mirbit" Çoktaşar as a temporary stand-in, in the absence of ISSAA. On HLTV, you can see that mirbit is set to play as a stand-in at Pinnacle Fall Series 2. The 24-year-old rifler has previously played for Sprout and Nordavind, and possess dual citizenship from both Germany and Turkey.

{cflag:TR} Ismailcan "⁠XANTARES⁠" Dörtkardeş

{cflag:TR} / {cflag:DE} Sabit "mirbit" Çoktaşar (Stand-in)

woxic

Eternal Fire

Eternal Fire who became official just a week ago is ready to fight for the battle of Turkey. Eternal Fire defeated Sangal in three maps before they could rejoice in being in the finals in the ESA Supremes Vestel Cup 2021.

Eternal Fire was the better team on the first map Vertigo and took the lead 16-5. On Mirage the playing field was much more even and Sangal made a comeback after trailing 14-11. It was tight until the end, but Sangal went all the way and got 5 rounds in a row.

On the last map inferno, it was pretty tight. The first half ended 9-6 in Eternal Fire favor. Issa "ISSAA" Murad was absolutely ruthless and dropped 28 kills during the fight on the upper final that ended 16-12.

MVP: {cflag:JO} ISSAA 67-49 K-D / 88.0 ADR / 1.31 rating

XANTARES

Calyx

imoRR

On Friday, it was announced that woxic and XANTARES will be representing a new, player-created organization, also joined by Calyx, imoRR, and ISSAA. They are all some of the most renowned Turkish players and will compete together as Eternal Fire in the future. The Turkish Superteam will be coached by Timur “bishop” Sengül, while the in-game leading duties will be taken by XANATRES.

[slugORMA:{"slug":"turkish-superteam-is-official","isNewTab":false}]

The oldest player in the lineup, 26-year-old XANTARES, has released a fragmovie with some insane plays by each of the players in the squad. Watch it right here:

With Ismailcan "⁠XANTARES⁠" Dörtkardeş being officially released by BIG earlier this day, the road was paved for a new Turkish Superteam.

For a long time the rumours had linked XANTARES with the other Turkish CS:GO Superstar Özgür "⁠woxic⁠" Eker. Today the rumors turned into reality.

- Hulk is real! We are coming to breathe new life into Turkey and the world, the team announced on its Twitter account.

Former OG player Issa "⁠ISSAA⁠" Murad will join as the team's fifth man. The other two spots are filled by the two Turkish players Buğra "⁠Calyx⁠" Arkın and Ömer "⁠imoRR⁠" Karataş.

The in-game leader role will fall on Ismailcan "⁠XANTARES⁠" Dörtkardeş. 

You can watch a video with the new team here.

OG is still looking for their new fifth man to the roster. Last month both NBK- and ISSAA was removed from the active roster, and only Nikolaj "

" Kristensen has been brought in as a replacement so far.

With the next tournament coming up soon, OG is under pressure to find their new player. According to HLTV, it could be Endpoint's Shahar "⁠flameZ⁠" Shushan, that could fill the last spot. The talented 17-year-old Israelian has with Endpoint since September 2020, where the English Organization has seen big improvements. 

Also Michał "⁠MICHU⁠" Müller is rumored to be on the OG shortlist.

[link:{"url":"https://www.hltv.org/news/31497/og-eye-flamez-as-potential-new-fifth-report","text":"You can read the full report from HLTV here."}] 

flameZ

NBK-

MICHU

Endpoint

It´s officially seven days since Nikolaj “niko” Kristensen joined OG. The organization had two open spots on their roster after they chose to bench Issa “ISSAA” Murad and Nathan “NBK-“ Schmitt within a month of each other.

[link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/news/og-part-ways-with-issaa/","text":"Read more: OG part ways with ISSAA"}]

[link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/news/confirmed-og-part-ways-with-nbk/","text":"Read more: Confirmed: OG part ways with NBK"}]

They chose to sign with their stand-in niko, and the excitement for the future couldn’t be higher at OG at the moment.   

[link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/news/og-confirm-niko-signing/","text":"Read more: OG confirm niko signing"}]

The organization is still looking for the last piece to the puzzle, as they are looking for the last player on their roster.

The organization hasn’t won any trophies since they won the BLAST Premier: Fall 2020 Regular Season against Natus Vincere, but they hope that they can change that with the new changes in the roster.

niko

The guessing game is on. Who will join OG?

After the news of ISSAA leaving OG, there are now two spots open on the team.

We have collected some of the players, that are being put into the pool.

[link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/news/og-part-ways-with-issaa/","text":"You can read the original news about the departure of ISSAA here."}]

Bubzkji

ropz

OG has decided to remove Issa "ISSAA" Murad from their active roster, the organization announce on Twitter. The Jordanian rifler will therefore join Nathan “NBK-“ Schmitt on the bench, as the two players clearly don’t feature in OG’s future project and plan. 

OG Head Coach, Casper “ruggah” Due is saddened by the departure but the Danish coach believes that the decision is the right one, for both ISSAA and OG.

- After evaluation over time, it became clear to both parts that for ISSAA to flourish and OG to keep improving, changes were needed and these paths had to continue separately. I’m a bit sad we couldn’t give ISSAA the optimal situation to bang heads, since he has proven throughout his career that he is a player capable of challenging the very best on the server.”

In the same statement, OG explains that they will enter an "internal rebuilding phase" which will contain tryouts for potential replacements, but at the same time assures that the goal still is to compete and establish themselves on the top of CS:GO. 

[link:{"url":"https://ogs.gg/a-new-page/","text":"OG statement"}]

Nikolaj "⁠niko⁠" Kristensen (stand-in) 

[link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/news/media-og-ready-replace-nbk-with-benched-heroic-player/","text":"Read more: Media: OG ready to replace NBK with benched Heroic player"}]

[link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/news/niko-loan-og-during-dreamhack-masters-qualifiers/","text":"Read more: niko on loan to OG during DreamHack Masters Qualifiers"}]

Issa 'ISSAA' Murad has been heavily criticized lately after a series of bad events, and some believe that it should have been him and not Nathan "NBK-" Schmitt, who were being benched at the international team.

However today, the rifler from Jordan were the X-factor for OG, as they cruised through Renegades in Group A at ESL Pro League. The 24-year old player presented a stellar level on Inferno where he led his team to victory, through a staggering 121.7 ADR and 1.64 Rating.

The ISSAA show continued on Nuke where he alongside Mateusz “mantuu” Wilczewski tore Renegades apart, both on the T-side and CT-side. OG were in control throughout the match and secured the series with a crushing 16-6 defeat.

[twitchClip:ClearTangibleTeaBCWarrior-HxSEsN0f8_WTweUM]

OG – Renegades (2-0) | ESL Pro League Season 13

16-12 (Inferno) | ISSAA – 1.64 Rating / 31-20 K-D / 121.7 ADR

16- 6 (Nuke) | mantuu – 1.62 Rating / 22-11 K-D / 94.1 ADR

Issa 'ISSAA' Murad | 1.60 Rating / 49-27 K-D / 105.4 ADR

mantuu

Renegades

OG haven't managed to grab a significant title yet after having existed in over 14 months, even though having strong names as Valdemar "valde" Vangså and Mateusz "mantuu" Wilczewski on their roster. 

Several analysts and experts have now advocated for changes at the OG camp, after the promising roster yet again has posted a series of bad results, with their early exit at IEM Katowice being nothing more than a living proof of that.

The renowned expert has recently Richard Lewis has uttered his perception of OG and their bad start to 2021, and he believes that they have to replace their rifler Issa ISSAA” Murad, as he states “you could probably find a dozen of players that can do all the things he does, but better, and therefore you get an upgrade."

[link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/news/disappointing-performance-is-og-due-change/","text":"Read more: Disappointing performance - IS OG in a need of a change?"}]

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"teams/OG/Copyright_-_jak-howard-_OG_dra3tn","originalWidth":2048,"originalHeight":1152,"cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: Jak Howard Blast","alt":"CS:GO, Counter-Strike"}]

The IGL on OG Aleksi "Aleksib" Virolainen has also given his take on the ISSAA situation, in an interview with HLTV Confirmed. The Finnish captain has felt the need to defend his teammate, who he says has struggled with a high ping and visa problems due to him living in Jordan. 

[twitchClip:IronicUglySquirrelPipeHype-nUSMMq1V4oAlMWSX]

Aleksib continues by touching on the possibility of OG going for a 6-man roster or whether they looking to make roster changes inside the team in the near future.

[twitchClip:CoweringAthleticSpiderMoreCowbell-lSpJeHq1XMZkaTkQ]

Full HLTV Confirmed episode with Aleksib:

Aleksib

OG was one of the teams that unfortunately didn't last as long as they had hoped to in the IEM Katowice 2021 main event. After losing 2-0 in their BO3-series against Vitality they were set to play the newly formed FaZe roster for their survival. However, survival wasn't the case for OG as they had difficulties against FaZe and ultimately had to see themselves exit the tournament with another 2-0 loss. 

After the disappointing performance at IEM Katowice 2021, one could question whether a change is due in the OG roster. If you ask CS:GO analyst Richard Lewis the answer is a resounding yes. Putting emphasis on how admirable it is that OG has stuck together for such a long period of time, Richard Lewis also states that it is time for a change: 

"I think sometimes stability is admirable, I think it's so rare to see a roster stay together for as long as this, without making any meaningful changes, so you go okay that's great, but by now most rosters that have stuck together have shown improvement. That hasn't happened here, in fact, OG has got worse."  

If a change is needed within the OG roster, many people, despite the fact that he was the only player for OG to achieve a positive rating at IEM Katowice 2021, point towards Issa "ISSAA" Murad, as the player needed to be replaced. Richard Lewis seems to agree as he explains why "ISSAA" is the obvious choice for a possible replacement: 

"I just think he is the obvious guy, because with all the players in free agency, with all the players that you could go out and get right now, you could probably find a dozen of players that can do all the things he does, but better, and therefore you get an upgrade." 

Whether or not OG are looking for changes in their roster or not, and whether it will be in form of a replacement of "ISSAA" is difficult to say, however, they are in need of something new and fresh in the upcoming future. 

The OG roster currently looks as follows: 

To hear more about what CS:GO analyst Richard Lewis has to say about the topic - watch the entire video right here: 

valde

The last two matches at the opening round of IEM Katowice Play-in have been completed.

OG got their revenge at fnatic after having lost to them last month. On Overpass ISSAA and mantuu had a blast with a combined +27 in K/D during the map. OG will now advance to the upper bracket where they will face Team Liquid.

The NA team won their match against MIBR. On Vertigo the two teams gave each other a hard fight, but in the end it was Team Liquid who took down the victory 16-12.

Later today the two teams will meet in the Quarter-Finals. The winner will advance to the main tournament.

Team Liquid

MIBR

Fnatic

OG’s ISSAA was first introduced to Counter-Strike at an age of just four years through his brother. His sibling stopped playing after a while, but ISSAA didn’t grow over the game. “At that time, I couldn’t stop. When I had school days my family would drive me to a school, but when I arrived there I would leave and go to an internet café. I was spending all of my time there, and all of the allowance from my family.”

Since then, a lot has changed for ISSAA and today he is one of the top elite players in the world of Counter-Strike. 

Enjoy this fragmovie with some of the best plays from ISSAA throughout his career.

The last team to advance to the semi-finals of cs_summit 7 was to be found between Heroic and OG. Both teams are currently ranked in the top 10, with Heroic ranking at 6th. in the world and OG at 7th. Despite “ISSAA” and OG’s best attempt to stop the Danes, Heroic managed to sweep OG 2-0 and thereby advance to the semi-finals.

The first map was the pick of Heroic and took place on Nuke. In the past three months, Heroic’s win-rate on Nuke has been 66.7% and is often their map of choice. The Danes showed exactly why that is and managed a 16-12 victory against an, otherwise great performing, OG roster with “ISSAA” on top of the leaderboard.

From an intense battle on Nuke to OG’s map pick Inferno, the two rosters began the second map. Whilst both rosters seemed fired up on Nuke it was a different story on Inferno. Heroic managed a rock-solid defense already from the early stages of the first half and was able to go to halftime leading 12-3. The second half saw OG trying to claw themselves back in the game. OG managed to make the scoreline more respectable, but ultimately Heroic pulled themselves together and closed out the series 2-0 with an impressive 16-10 victory on Inferno.

Heroic will have the chance to reach the Grand Finals when facing fnatic in the second semi-final of the day, tomorrow at 17:30 (CET).

16-12 Heroic (Nuke) | ISSAA 1.42 Rating / 97.9 ADR / 28-18 K-D

16-10 Heroic (Inferno) | niko 1.53 Rating / 109.3 ADR / 27-16 K-D

Nikolaj "niko" Kristensen | 1.44 Rating - 46-36 K/D - 91.1 ADR - 72.2% KAST

Heroic

There was little to indicate, that OG stood any chance against Fnatic. The Swedes started strong and won their map pick Train without breaking a sweat. Same result was on the books on Mirage after a 10-5 lead to the Swedes. But on OG’s CT-side the match took a turn. OG’s rifler Valdemar “Valde” Bjørn Vangså lead an assault on the Swedes. The Dane went 18-4 in the second half that ended with total domination and a 16-11 victory on Mirage.

Inferno was left as the decider. For the first time in the match, OG was ahead at halftime. The 9-6 lead was quickly lost though, and Fnatic again forced the match back on their hands. But at 15-12, the Swedes were not able to close the match off, and instead, OG made another comeback to take the match to overtime. Here the Swedes regained control and won the match after some tight rounds in the end. Fnatic is through to the Quarter-Finals, while OG will face the winner of Dignitas and Complexity.

Train: 16-9, Mirage: 11-16, Inferno 19-17.

Issa "ISSAA" Murad: 77-58 k/d, 91.4 ADR, 1.27 rating. 

In this series, we take a look at the teams that finished 2020 in the Top 20 rankings. Today we take a look at number 7.

The European based OG launched their CS:GO team in late 2019. The 2020 season was their first attempt to set their mark on the CS:GO scene. A mission that was successful in many ways. The newly formed roster mixed experience with raw talent. And even though it took some time for the roster to find their way, the last couple of months of 2020 gave some promising hope for the season to come.

Their $ 250.000-second prize win at Flashpoint 2 has got to be the highlight of the year. A big prize win in their first season is not bad at all. They also reached the Grand Final of IEM New York Europe but fell 3-0 in the Final.

Already in their first year OG was dragged into the coaching bug scandal. Their coach Casper "ruggah" Due had encountered the bug in his previous job at Dignitas. He was sentenced to serve a five-month ban for the incident. A punishment that was later reduced by 25% after his confession was accepted by ESIC. OG chose to keep the coach, who is very close to being allowed back as a coach again.

With a solid 2020 in the books, it is time to look forward to a new year. The season starts in February for the team. Here BLAST Premier Springs Series takes place, while OG has qualified for the qualification tournament for IEM Katowice also in February.

ISSAA and company have secured a spot in the Flashpoint 2 grand final tonight against Virtus.pro in a match for $500.000 in the prize pool and the trophy after a big comeback on the first map and a dominant showing on the second map of the series against fnatic to wrap it up 2-0 in the consolidation final.  

The Danish valde from OG continued his stellar Flashpoint 2 form, finishing the series on top of the scoreboards with an overall rating of 1.59, 102.3 ADR, and a 51-31 score.

OG has with the victory against fnatic pulled off a legendary run through the lower bracket and can write history if they manage to win the grand final, while the Swedish side finish of the tournament with 3rd place and $100.000. 

The grand final will start tonight at 20:00 (CET) and will be streamed on Flashpoint’s official Twitch account: 

In an interview with RivalryCSGO, the newly joined Cloud9 player, Özgür "Woxic" Eker sits down and talks about his former teammates. When asked about the worst AWP'er among his former teammates, Woxic instantly answers Issa "ISSAA" Murad. He states in the interview when asked about the worst AWP'er: "Worst AWP'er? Ahh, that is ISSAA for sure. When I am watching him it is like a kind of nightmare, when he is using the AWP. Something is wrong when he has an AWP in his hands." 

Woxic, however, shortly afterward admits that he himself is among the worst of his teammates to wield the Desert Eagle, otherwise known as the "Deagle". The Turkish AWP'er, now playing for Cloud9, is known for his extremely high mouse-sensitivity when playing in-game, and whilst it is seemingly beneficial for him when using the AWP, he explains that it makes the usage of the Deagle more difficult: "Obviously you can understand from my sensitivity, that it is very hard to aim the right way and the Deagle is a hard weapon with recoil." 

When asked who Woxic thinks is the most underrated of his former teammates he once again points towards ISSAA, this time with compliments to give: "It could be ISSAA, he had very good talent and played his best, but was put against the wall by some people. Maybe because of his accent, maybe because of his religion, or maybe because of something else." 

Watch the full interview with the Turkish superstar Woxic here: 

Cloud9

In today’s game between FaZe and OG, two players popped off almost at the exact same time. In the 23rd round on the first map on Inferno, Broky displayed his incredible talents, producing a beautiful ace. But it didn’t go long before someone matched his achievement, because just two rounds after broky’s ace,  OG player ISSA managed to kill the entire FaZe team, in the second ace in just three rounds.

Watch the two aces here and decide which ace is the best.

	30 days	90 days
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ISSAA

Player stats

Articles mentioning ISSAA

ISSAA switches to VALORANT

ISSAA parts ways with Turkish super team

New Superteam wins the battle of Turkey

Eternal Fire introduction fragmovie

Turkish Superteam is official!

Media: OG looking at flameZ as new fifth man

OG: Promising future with niko

The OG guessing game: Who will replace NBK and ISSAA?

OG part ways with ISSAA

ISSAA shines in OG victory at ESL Pro League Season 13

Aleksib on criticized teammate: He will perform better on LAN

Disappointing performance - is OG due a change?

OG and Team Liquid ready for upper bracket at IEM Katowice

Video: The beast from the Middle East – ISSAA fragmovie

Heroic advance to semi-finals with 2-0 victory

Fnatic through to the Quarter-Finals after three map thriller

Spotlight on the Top 20: OG

OG beat fnatic with a clean sweep and reach the grand final

Woxic: "Something is wrong when he has an AWP in his hands"

Video: Two aces inside 3 rounds!

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