It’s official: yesterday Swole Patrol announced that they are disbanding their team to allow the players to move in different directions as they see fit.
Yet an interesting aspect was that Zellsis pointed towards the current condition of the Counter-Strike scene as a big reason in the factor in his tweet, leaving speculations as to which catastrophe, specifically, has affected the young team that was globally ranked at #35 with an average player age of 23.
Swole Patrol has recently been beginning their fevered climb upwards, as well; in August they were at #52 and began their leaps upward on the back of clinching victories against Triumph in a clean sweep, Yeah Gaming, and New England Whalers.
Two recent losses in a Bo1 against TeamOne (GS #28) and ImPerium (GS #92), on the 15 and 17 of September respectively, seemed to have been the tipping point that resulted in the sudden disbandment of the competitive team within the Counter-Strike scene.
While we’ve been reporting at length the recent controversies that many teams have found themselves in, ranging from match-fixing to spectating exploits, Jordan ‘Zellsis’ Montemurro’s statement as to the condition of the scene becoming one of the singular points in his Tweet has arisen some speculation.
Unfortunately Swole Patrol is disbanding permanently, the CSGO scene is in a rough spot currently and players want to move in different directions. There should be some announcements from everyone explaining their future moving forward. Thank you for the support while we lasted.
— Jordan Montemurro (@Zellsis) September 17, 2020
Further speculation begins to climb when one connects the match-fixing scandal that ESIC is currently looking at, and Swole Patrol being a relative staple in the Moutain Dew League (MDL) where the allegations are coming from.
This isn’t to point specifically at Swole Patrol nor the members of the organization as a proverbial red-herring of match-fixing, merely that they have likely directly been impacted by the controversy that Valve and Counter-Strike is currently mired within.
only pain 🙂
— Jordan Montemurro (@Zellsis) September 17, 2020
An interesting aspect to also consider is that the team has had members step forward to discuss frustrations within the team Swole Patrol: namely, ANDROID that joined shortly after Swole’s triumphant DreamHack Open Summer 2020, then stepped away from the team after a week of practice stating that he’s ‘never seen so many issues’ within an organization.
I won't be playing with zpg after DH
Never experienced so many issues within the first week of practice. Wish them all the best going forward.
Not sure what is next for me. I kept telling myself if this team didn't work I would full commit to valorant
tough decisions ahead
— Bradley Fodor (@androidfps) August 7, 2020
As is readily becoming the norm with arguably washed talent from CS:GO (and premier talent from the Overwatch League), it’s likely that many members will attempt to find respite within the burgeoning and the grassroots scene of professional Valorant, which Riot noticeably still hasn’t outlined how the official league will operate.
Swole Patrol offered a comparatively short-lived stint within professional Counter-Strike while they simultaneously managed to bring home a few titles; it wasn’t a landslide knock-out of competition by any means. Here’s hoping the players all find themselves in comfortable spots in the future.
