back in october, optic india would be at the center of a huge cheating scandal that would rock the indian csgo scene. however, it looks like some of the former members have found a new home for 2019. a brand-new indian csgo team, signify, is acquiring two of the players for the upcoming year.
we would like to announce our signify – cs:go roster.
read: https://t.co/unopu8vd9t
— signify cs:go (@signifycsgo) december 21, 2018
two months ago, optic gaming would head off to the extremesland 2018 asia finals. they were a favorite heading into the tournament and were one of the first indian teams to be backed by a major organization. however, one of their members, nikhil “forsaken” kumawat, would end up getting caught with cheats on his pc. as a result, the organizers would disqualify them from the tournament.
in the week following extremeland, the consequences of forsaken’s actions would fall onto him and his team. firstly, the esports sites integrity coalition (esic) would end up giving kumawat a five-year ban from all esports related activity. secondly, the entire optic would drop the entire roster and close their csgo division in the country. it was a huge blow to not just the careers of the players, but for the indian csgo scene as a whole.
additionally, the integrity of everyone on the team was in question following the event. many people found it very hard to believe that none of kumawat’s teammates knew about his cheating. it was looking like the rest of the team wouldn’t find another team in the future. luckily for them, it looks like signify is willing to overlook their past and give them a second chance. agneya “marzil” koushik and lukas “yb” gröning will be joining signify this year
alongside marzil and yb, signify will be fielding a team with công “crazyguy” anh ngô, debanjan “deathmaker” das and tejas “ace” sawant. crazyguy is a vietnamese awper who is best known for his aggressive, unorthodox sniping style. deathmaker has only played for one other team in his career, entity gaming, which is another indian csgo organization. finally, ace is another indian csgo player who last played for executioners, an indonesian team.
on the other hand, there is only one more player who hasn’t found a new team yet. sabyasachi “antidote” bose was able to join 2ez gaming, another team in india. his teammate, vishal “haivaan” sharma, hasn’t made his way onto a new team yet. unfortunately, it is unlikely that haivaan will find another organization, as he is 25 years old. he also wasn’t the best player in his time with optic india, as so it is hard to see him making it onto another roster.
it is good to see that most of the former optic india roster has found new homes after the fallout of forsaken’s actions. it is also clear that forsaken’s future in csgo and esports is over, as a five-year ban is usually career-ending. he would even state, “i would probably delete the day when i first played counter-strike. nothing good has happened to me since the day i started playing this game. i thought this game was for me but since last year, i have not been loyal to it.”
what are your thoughts on signify picking up a couple of the ex-optic india players? let us know what you think in the comments below! if you want more csgo news, check us out here!
