DeKay Mailbag Part 2: ENCE Rumors, BIG Situation and What to Expect With TenZ

Welcome to Part 2 of the DeKay Mailbag, a semi-regular feature in which Counter-Strike reporter and insider Jarek "DeKay" Lewis answers questions from readers on Twitter. Do you have a question you'd like to see in a future mailbag? Tweet @dekay.

In Part 1 of this Mailbag, questions about the Dignitas and Gen.G projects were answered and discussed at proper length. In Part 2, specific players who still are without a team or will soon end up on the bench are highlighted in many of the questions. I do my best to answer those and many more in this part of the DeKay Mailbag.

I fully believe they will move forward with picking up the ATK lineup, but I haven’t heard any news since my report. TenZ would not be involved with the lineup though, from what I know.

For the most part we are set outside of Dignitas. Both TSM and Misfits showed interest in October and November but they didn’t pull the trigger. I expect one or both of them to come back into the game if the new league is a hit on an organization level.

I have no news to report but he is in the same situation as MSL unless something has changed. They are locked into contracts with IGC and I am unsure how long they are or how heavy their buyouts are. I don’t expect them to move until they are free or the cost to get them is very low.

I have not heard any news as to what is going on there, but one would assume they will make some moves. They cannot stay with Virtus.pro and compete in the next Minor Qualifier.

They did practice without Aerial on a couple of occasions, the word was that zehN played in his place. I have not heard if that has actually transformed into a roster move, but it was quite interesting to hear. It is a situation I’ve been paying attention to, but it has been difficult to keep an eye on things due to everyone disappearing for the holidays.

From what I know they are still under contract, but it only makes sense that they’ll get released. I don’t see who would actually pay to buy them out.

From what I know, they will not be there. Everything is signed and final already, even if they wanted to add both teams in later.

Lack of funding is not the issue. If players are good enough, they will get noticed. There are plenty of regions with next to no financial support that have produced great players. Work ethic, complacency and ego are just a few of the many issues that will always exist in North America and hold many of its players back. No one is at fault except for themselves.

I have no information there but there aren’t many places for him to go, unfortunately. Perhaps he could sneak onto a Pro League level lineup once more is known about which teams will play which leagues.

I believe they think he is a great brand asset that may have a chance to return to a lineup of theirs at some point. I would say it is mostly branding because he yields a ton of attention, for some reason. In a perfect world he plays super well in FPL and they sell him to an interested organization down the line, in my opinion.

I don’t see a reason why they can’t. They haven’t spent enough time at the top for everyone to have spent time attempting to counter them. I don’t see why their individual form would fall off either, they should all be fresh after the holiday break. Finally, I don’t see any teams coming through that will knock them off with ease.

I expect BIG to grab syrson and k1to, nothing has really changed following the discussions I reported. My guess is that they spend a significant amount of time on the bench. I hope that doesn’t happen though. As for Sprout, Oskar is the guy I expect to join unless things change.

I haven’t heard their names mentioned anywhere, so I can only guess they’ll be benched for the time being. BIG treats their players well, but that also means their buyouts are on the higher side. I fear they might sit on the bench for a while, but I hope I’m wrong there.

I have heard a couple teams wouldn’t mind recruiting him within North America, but nothing is in the works from what I know.

It is a bit early for me to know if something has happened there but I’m sure there will be some discussions via the CSPPA if there hasn’t been already.

He is dealing with the same issue that many players experience. He was very hyped and looked good on his way to North originally, but then under-performed for whatever reason. Then, he got a second chance in Heroic and looked good at times but didn’t string it all together before the lineup crumbled.

That paired with what his former teammates have said about him has probably kept him from getting any legitimate offers. He will have to start from the bottom again and force someone to give him another shot. This is all educated conjecture though, I have no real information as to why exactly he hasn’t joined a notable lineup.