MOUZ turn to another CSGO academy graduate

Luís Mira

MOUZ have announced that Dorian ‘xertioN’ Berman has been promoted from their highly successful CS:GO academy team.

The Israeli player will step into Aurimas ‘⁠Bymas⁠’ Pipiras’ shoes in MOUZ’s starting lineup after the German organization decided to shake things up just a few weeks into the season.

xertioN, 18, is the latest player to come through MOUZ’s academy pipeline, following in the footsteps of Ádám ‘⁠torzsi⁠’ Torzsás and Jon ’JDC⁠’ de Castro, both of whom were promoted earlier this year.

xertioN (second from the left) reunites with JDC and torzsi

During the trio’s time together, MOUZ NXT won the first two editions of the WePlay Academy League. xertioN, who went on to win two more WePlay Academy League titles (one of which alongside JDC), was expected to be the next in line to earn a step up to the main squad.

Bymas caught off-guard

The announcement came as a surprise to many as MOUZ seemed to be on the upswing. The team ended the previous tournament season with a second place at Global Esports Tour Dubai 2022 and a playoff run at IEM Cologne. After coming back from the player break, they qualified for the IEM Road to Rio Europe RMR on their first attempt.

On Twitter, Bymas revealed that he did not see the change coming.

“It was very unexpected and saddening to hear the news a few days ago,” Bymas said. “I joined TeamSpeak for a practice day and was told I was getting replaced.

“It was very unexpected because I thought things had been going well for us lately after reaching the Cologne playoffs and qualifying for the RMR. But the team decided to make changes and I fully respect their decision and wish them nothing but luck.”

xertioN will make his first appearance for MOUZ at ESL Pro League Season 16, which kicks off on August 31. MOUZ have been placed in Group C alongside ENCE, Heroic, Astralis, Complexity and HEET.

MOUZ CS:GO roster:

  • David ‘⁠frozen’ Čerňanský
  • Christopher ‘⁠dexter’ Nong
  • Jon ‘⁠JDC⁠’ de Castro
  • Ádám ‘⁠torzsi’ Torzsás
  • Dorian ‘xertioN⁠’ Berman
  • Dennis ‘⁠sycrone⁠’ Nielsen (coach)