Aaron “AZR” Ward is finally back in competitive CS:GO following a lengthy break on the sideline. With the transfer to Sprout, the Aussie veteran once again got the chance to lead a team to lead as we have seen him do at Renegades, 100 Thieves and EXTREMUM.

510 days to be exact had passed before we again saw him again compete in the higher tiers of Counter-Strike. A hiatus he’s used to visiting relatives and family down under and preparing for his long-awaited comeback.

- While it was nice to have a breather and reground myself, I’m really happy to be playing again, AZR says to Pley and continues:

- The break gave me a lot of opportunities to visit family in Australia for a longer period of time compared to the usual 1-2 weeks back home. I also spent quite a bit of time working on my mental health which was rewarding. So, after all this time, I’m definitely feeling motivated and ready to get back into the game.

On Sprout, AZR joins a super young squad embodied in the promising teenage trio of lauNX (17), Staehr (18), and Zyphon (18) with the Romanian AWPer XELLOW (22) rounding off the roster. Despite the age difference for the 30-year-old IGL, he still believes he has a thing or two to learn.

- It's a breath of fresh air that's for sure. They are all young, skilled and highly motivated which motivates me even more. I definitely think the potential is great within the team and with hard work and motivation I think we can take it very far… I almost feel like a youthful student of the game again which is quite reinvigorating.

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AZR explains in the interview with us that the deal between him and Sprout was decided after only a couple of practice days and a meeting with the team. Here all parties felt a good connection and “luckily we all wanted to move forward together”, he describes.

But he also notes that it’s a different task that awaits him now compared to his previous tenures at Renegades, 100 Thieves, and EXTREMUM.

- I first stepped into the role of IGL when I played on Renegades - A team that I had been playing with for years at that time. So, when I started in- game leading I had the advantage of knowing the players very well. I knew their strengths and weaknesses which is a key to being a good IGL in my book. This is the first time in my career that I’m faced with a new challenge of leading a new team who I need to get to know. I need to know how they play in order to lead most efficiently.

- This is also the first time I’m on an international team so I need to get used to the communication. All in all, excited to see what the future holds.

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/staehr_Sprout_klicrr","originalWidth":2048,"originalHeight":1152,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: PGL"}]

Where he previously has had the comfort of leading a majority of Oceanic players, AZR now has to navigate between having a couple of Danes and Romanians each in his arsenal (Staehr at PGL Major Antwerp RMR)

We also asked him about his own individual level and how he has kept an eye on the CS:GO meta while being back.

- Watching cs and playing cs are two vastly different things. While I have been able to watch and learn about the meta now, I need to be able to play it. I'm currently putting in a lot of hours playing and watching Counter-Strike. Also getting a lot of input from BERRY who is catching me up on the meta a lot. I definitely think I can learn a lot from the team and its players… it’s been interesting to see how the meta has shifted in just the last 18 months.

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lauNX

Staehr

Zyphon

XELLOW

Sprout

Renegades

EXTREMUM

100 Thieves

Sprout has officially announced their new player Adrian "XELLOW" Guță. The 22-year-old will be replacing slaxz as the AWPer going forward into the new season. 

XELLOW has over six years of experience from his old team Nexus. The AWPer will be joining Sprout with the hope of achieving new heights. The mixed Danish and Romanian team reached number #18 on the HLTV world ranking list back in 2022. With the signing of XELLOW coach Danny "BERRY" Krüger is sure that the team can reach new its full potential. 

- I am really excited that XELLOW will be joining us for 2023. XELLOW is a very strong player in every aspect of the game, and we can make very versatile use of his abilities.

The AWPer is averaging 1.32 Rating / 1.44 Impact / 85.7 ADR / 0.88 KPR during the past three months playing for his former team Nexus.

- I do believe he will fill in gaps we had last year and play a major role to our roster reaching the next level. - Danny "BERRY" Krüger says to [link:{"url":"https://www.hltv.org/news/35353/sprout-announce-xellow-signing","isNewTab":true,"text":"HLTV"}].

{cflag:DK} Rasmus "⁠Zyphon⁠" Nordfoss

{cflag:RO}Laurențiu "⁠lauNX⁠" Țârlea

Last week a [link:{"url":"https://www.hltv.org/news/35292/sprout-set-to-reveal-xellow-as-new-awper","isNewTab":true,"text":"report"}] by HLTV hit the news that the German organization Sprout was set to announce Adrian "⁠XELLOW⁠" Guță as their new AWPer, following the release of Fritz "⁠slaxz-⁠" Dietrich.

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Here five days later, a potential transfer of the Romanian star seems closer than ever before with Nexus having confirmed his departure from the team also stating that “you’ll see him VERY SOON in a good team, with insane flicks and AWP shots” on [link:{"url":"https://twitter.com/NexusGamingRo/status/1607396517295566852","isNewTab":true,"text":"Twitter"}].

The Twitter post from Nexus also confirms the farewell of Ersin “ERSIN” Chiriac, Valentin “SEMINTE” Bodea, and coach Cenk “Sunvita” Sevinç.

If the transfer of XELLOW goes through, the 22-year-old will join a very young Sprout squad under the leadership of Ismail “refrezh” Ali, which also consists of XELLOW’s Romanian countryman and former teammate Laurențiu "⁠lauNX⁠" Țârlea.

{cflag:RO} Laurențiu "⁠lauNX⁠" Țârlea

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slaxz-

Nexus

The Romanian AWPer  Adrian "⁠XELLOW⁠" Guță is set to join Sprout in the near future according to HLTV.

The newssite cited multiple sources claiming that Sprout and XELLOW's team Nexus had reached an agreement on the transfer.

XELLOW will replace Fritz "⁠slaxz-⁠" Dietrich, who was cut from the team this week.

22-year-old Adrian "⁠XELLOW⁠" Guță has played for Nexus from November 2016 - April 2022 before a short stint at ECSTATIC. Here he has delivered consistently on a high level far above his teammates. On Sprout, XELLOW will join his former teammate Laurențiu "lauNX" Țârlea, if the deal goes through.

Bad News Eagles and ECSTATIC took to the server for a chance to go to the semi-final at Pinnacle Cup IV. On paper, the Eagles were the favorites but ECSTATIC proved themselves in a big way.

ECSTATIC took the opening pistol round of the Eagles' pick of Dust2. The fun didn't last long though, as BNE only allowed them to take three more rounds throughout the entire game. It was almost not surprising that ECSTATIC only managed to take four rounds, seeing as "juanflatroo" and "sinnopsyy" were absolutely devastating them.

The second map of Vertigo was somehow even more one-sided than Dust2, but this time it was ECSTATIC who did the damage. "birdfromsky" started out very hot, and was soon accompanied by star player "FASHR" who played lights-out throughout the entire game. Noone from the Eagles really found their usual high individual level, which resulted in one measly round at the end of the map.

After that devastating loss on Vertigo, "juanflatroo" was once again ready to take the heads off of the ECSTATIC players. He led them to a 6-1 T side start, but suddenly they had their momentum broken by back-to-back aces, first from "XELLOW" and then from "FASHR". ECSTATIC pulled some rounds back before the break but were definitely not happy as they were down by one round at halftime.

After being down at the half, ECSTATIC pulled a rabbit out of the hat and started the second half with a six-round streak. They kept up the good play and by way of some great calls and "FASHR" doing what he does best, ECSTATIC took down the Eagles while only allowing them 4 CT rounds.

Bad News Eagles - ECSTATIC 1-2 | Pinnacle Cup IV

16-4 (Dust2) | {cflag:XK} juanflatroo - 1.90 Rating / 23-9 K-D / 121.3 ADR

1-16 (Vertigo) | {cflag:NL} FASHR - 2.11 Rating / 22-8 K-D / 139.6 ADR

12-16 (Ancient) | {cflag:NL} FASHR - 1.73 Rating / 33-18 K-D / 117.6 ADR

MVP: {cflag:NL} Dion "FASHR" Derksen - 1.54 Rating / 68-40 K-D / 104.9 ADR

	30 days	90 days
Fixture count	0	0
Maps count	0	0

XELLOW

Player stats

Articles mentioning XELLOW

AZR after joining Sprout: I almost feel like a youthful student

Sprout sign talented Romanian

Sprout prospect enters free agency prior to potential transfer

Sprout closing in on Romanian AWPer

ECSTATIC get past the Bad News Eagles in Pinnacle Cup IV!

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