According to an unconfirmed report from VPESPORTS, The SK Gaming Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster is apparently set to leave the organization and move to Immortals in the next few months.
The current Brazilian lineup of Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo, Fernando “fer” Alvarenga, Marcelo “coldzera” David, Epitácio “TACO” de Melo, and Ricardo “boltz” Prass is currently one of the best lineup/team in the world after taking down João “felps” Vasconcellos from the current lineup by replacing him with boltz, the team has gained astounding success, during that span of time SK managed to pull off four championships, including the ESL Pro League Season Six Finals to round out 2017.
Since, Immortals last sale of their roster to Nadeshot’s 100Thieves, which include Lincoln “fnx” Lau, Lucas “LUCAS1” Teles, and Henrique “HEN1” Teles, the Immortals has been without a full Counter-Strike roster since December.
Although the report states that “First rumoured before Christmas, the potential deal to take Gabriel ‘Fallen’ Toledo, Fernando ‘fer’ Alvarenga, Epitácio ‘TACO’ de Melo, Ricardo ‘boltz’ Prass and the world’s best player Marcelo ‘coldzera’ David to Immortals has been unofficially confirmed by a number of sources. As a move, it makes sense for both parties, with the main motivation from the SK team being dissatisfaction with the management at the organization, and the owners of SK needing to divest themselves of conflicting investments in the CS scene, as well as having doubts about the long-term profitability of team ownership.”
However, both parties are motivated to make the move happen and Immortals recently invested in the legendary Made In Brazil (MIBR) brand in December 2017, further adding fuel to the fire. According to sources, the team is still under contract at the time of writing, but their contracts are set to expire in the near future, making the deal potentially cheaper for Immortals than it might otherwise have been.
According to the report from ESPN, SK parent company ESForce is also the parent company of Virtus Pro, and the former owner of Natus Vincere. ESForce was reportedly acquired by Mail.ru for $150 million on Jan. 21.
If the move does go through it will create waves in the world of CS:GO, and reaffirm Immortals’ commitment to a game and scene that has not treated them kindly in the last few months. What it means for SK Gaming is another matter, both in terms of the loss of profile that will ensue and the withdrawal of ESForce’s financial support, although a smart venture capitalist looking to invest in the scene would be wise to consider a brand that has been in esports for more than twenty years, were it to go up for sale.
If the roster makes their way to immortals, Immortals will have a complete Brazilian Counter Strike lineup after 3 months to compete at the highest level of Counter-Strike.
