Prominent CS:GO AWPer and in-game leader Owen “Smooya” Butterfield and Marco “Snappi” Pfeiffer are set to join TIGER, according to reports from DBLTAP and HLTV.org.
TIGER, which fields a full-Mongolian roster, will reportedly remove Bold “ncl” Batsuh and Yesuntumur “nin9” Gantulga from the starting roster to make way for the pair, according to HLTV.org.
Smooya, previously of Chaos Esports Club, was forced to step-down from the team during FLASHPOINT 1 because of visa issues. TIGER has acquired Smooya on a free-transfer since he is teamless. Snappi, who moved to the bench last month, has been bought out of his Heroic contract for an undisclosed fee.
Although TIGER is a relatively new team located in the Asian region, they have proven to be a talented side. The team finished first in the ESL One: Road to Rio Asia, beating Chinese giants TYLOO in the final, barely edging the victory 2-1. The win was unprecedented, since TIGER is a new team and was ranked below most other teams participating in the tournament, which concluded May 10.
Before the Minors for the Rio Major were cancelled, TIGER qualified alongside Mongolian side Mazaalai from the closed qualifier in March, with Korean side MVP PK barely missing out. With the recent victories, however, the team is one step closer to qualifying for the Major in November.
With these changes, Smooya and Snappi are set to play alongside Gan-Erdene “dobu” Batbold, Batbayar “kabal” Bat-Enkh, and former Grayhound player Erdenetsogt “erkaSt” Gantulga.
