CR4ZY CEO calls out G2 Esports for attempted player “poaching”
StarLadder/G2 EsportsAntonio Meic, CEO of CR4ZY, took to Twitter to call out G2 Esports and founder Carlos ‘ocelote’ Rodriguez on alleged poaching of players while in Berlin.
The StarLadder CSGO Major in Berlin isn’t finished yet, but the roster moves that will take place after are sure to be interesting. Teams such as Virtus.Pro, FaZe Clan, Natus Vincere, and Fnatic are rumored to be making big changes. 100 Thieves is returning to CS:GO. MiBR has already made moves.
But it’s important to go through the proper channels when approaching new players, and according to the CEO of CR4ZY, who made a surprising New Legends stage appearance in Berlin, someone’s not abiding by the rules:
It's hard to build esports with healthy eco-system when you are constantly muscled out by veterans of the industry.
Not the first time orgs are approaching our players behind our backs but it's hard when the one you look up to does it!
C'mon @CarlosR , I expected more from you pic.twitter.com/adyNuiDAfs
— Antonio Meic (@antoniomeic) September 6, 2019
Meic claims that G2 esports and ocelote have gone behind the CR4ZY owners backs regarding one of their players, and later in the replies appears to claim that it happened 30 minutes after he left the G2 office.
Meic is obviously upset, but as Scott “SirScoots” Smith of the CS Professional Players’ Association tells him, it’s typical for interested teams to go to players first, and SirScoots even says that it’s preferable that way.
Too many team owners get approached first and immediately shut it down and the player NEVER even hears about the possibility. This initial player first convo stops you from keeping the player in the dark.
— Scott Smith (@SirScoots) September 6, 2019
SirScoots and others in the replies weighed in that what’s allegedly happening to CR4ZY is just part of the CS:GO environment. In professional sports, and even other esports like the LCS and the LEC, there are anti-poaching regulations and rules that prevent this sort of thing. But those don’t exist in CS:GO.
G2 themselves were accused of tampering in the LEC, and Riot had to address them because their league has those anti-tampering rules in place.
Even if CR4ZY players were interested in G2 Esports, they’re not able to just cut and run and leave CR4ZY behind. If they signed contracts, they have to reach out to their owners about a buyout or a release or a trade.
G2 Esports after their elimination at StarLadderMousesports player Robin ‘ropz’ Kool apparently doesn’t buy what Miec is claiming either, saying “everything you’ve tweeted so far is just off brother.”
So far there has been no response from ocelote or G2 Esports.
Miec was in the news earlier when he claimed ESL’s new league would be Valve supported and feature franchised teams. ESL Pro Tour was announced that day, but not with Valve support or franchises.