Can't believe this news has been up all day and nobody has written about it here... #_#
Strelok left Mouz and joins a new team -- imba, which consists of some pretty solid Eastern European players (LoWeLy, etc).
This is pretty big news IMO! Unfortunately, I tried to recruit him for Fnatic, but the imba team has too much money (they're sponsored by FXO)! Really happy for Strelok though because he deserves all the money he's going to get. Amazing player, really professional, and hope he's super successful at imba.
Sucks for mouz, losing such a strong player, but Thorzain should be good for them
DISCUSS~~
*PS: my random theory: while imba.FXO is not the same as the FXO team, I feel like this move will eventually put Strelok in the FXO team! JUST YOU WAIT
On May 14 2011 12:02 Baffels wrote: Thought deL or someone from FXO would post this.
Cool deal though, watching Moonglade vs Strelok now ^^
imba.FXO is not the same as FXO, therefore has nothing to do with deL or Moonglade. It's a different set of management of FXOpen if I understand correctly (their eastern european division).
On May 14 2011 12:02 Baffels wrote: Thought deL or someone from FXO would post this.
Cool deal though, watching Moonglade vs Strelok now ^^
imba.FXO is not the same as FXO, therefore has nothing to do with deL or Moonglade. It's a different set of management of FXOpen if I understand correctly (their eastern european division).
On May 14 2011 12:04 GTR wrote: any idea why na'vi weren't in contention to sign him?
Maybe because of his statement on mousesports:
Statement from Strelok: "It's very sad to leave mouz, but I needed a new challenge, new opportunities and imba.FXOpen is the team which is able to give all that. Thanks to all managers and players with which I was in mouz, I am sure we will keep good relations. Good luck to mousesports!"
On May 14 2011 12:04 GTR wrote: any idea why na'vi weren't in contention to sign him?
i guess they cant afford him.. afaik, that rich guy who sponsors na'vi does it only for the CS team and there are rumors that even that sponsorship will end this year
ah thiiis explains it. i went on streloks tlpd earlier and it was telling me he wasn't on mouz, on this team i hadn't heard of and i was wondering how out of date that was. i guess tlpd is actually up to date more than seems reasonable to me!
Surprised that Sterlok would leave such an established and highly talented team, not to say that fxo.imba isn't very good, but I thought mouz is definitely more established Best of luck to him and his new team.
I don't understand why he would leave mouz, they are an amazing team. Not saying that FXO isn't, I'm just saying that the move seems pointless unless he did it for either money or he had problems with how mouz was being run or something.
On May 14 2011 13:30 overshard wrote: I don't understand why he would leave mouz, they are an amazing team. Not saying that FXO isn't, I'm just saying that the move seems pointless unless he did it for either money or he had problems with how mouz was being run or something.
Well as Xeris said in the OP he tried too recruit him, but imba.FXO just has more money and more too offer. So that is why he joined them
Looks to me like Strelok just grabbed an offer to coach the players on imba.FXO. Knowing mouz we will probably be suprised by the crazy team they will assemble over the next months with their endless funds (joke and reference to their wc3 "mercenary" purchases here). In any case, GL to mouz, an organisation that has been a staple for eSports and of course the up and coming imba.FXopen!
Didn't mouz just pick up Thorzain? So not a huge issue, if you consider a Starcraft 2 so fragile in composition. This is because teams are really for support, as it's not like football where 11 players play at the same time. For example, Strelok mentioned Dimaga in his recent win in NASL as a great practice partner, although they aren't on the same team. Imo, until team leagues really develop, teams are more just for financial support, tags and ID purposes, as well as cool swag and gear.
Strelok is such a cool person and a great representative for E-sports. Also a beastly player, i think its only a matter of time until he wins something BIG (top score in NASL!)
Its good that FXO is able to sponsor so many players and still have so much money to throw around.
Dont know though, kinda seems too good to be true sort of thing. Not only do they have two teams, they also have two houses now as well.
Sounds like someone has alot of money to throw around. Lets just hope it all ends well
p.s. This is not meant to be disrespectful in any way to the players they have, they have amazing players, its just something that is throwing up warning signs for me, as if someone is trying to get rid of a lot of money really fast, lets just hope I am wrong and this is all for the greater benefit of esports.
Well, pretty huge coup for Imba imo, Strelok is a fantastic player who's really stepped it up in the last month or so and would be a valuable asset to almost any top tier team.
Statement by mouz.MaX: "With the early contract extension by Morrow and the seperation with Strelok we could fit in two more important pieces for a sustainable and succesfull future. Strelok has always been a commendable member for our team and became a very good friend over the years. The decision was extraordinary difficult to make but in the end we both agreed. It is our goal to have a younger team and to long -term bind our key players to mousesports. We approached this goal today. Thanks to the sponsors and partners for the great support and good luck to strelok on his way."
Statement von MaX: "Mit der vorzeitigen Vertragsverlängerung von MorroW und der Trennung von Strelok konnten wir zwei weitere wichtige Bausteine für eine nachhaltig erfolgreiche Zukunft legen. Strelok war immer ein vorbildliches Mitglied unseres Teams und ist über die Jahre ein sehr guter Freund geworden. Die Entscheidung ist uns außerordentlich schwer gefallen, aber am Ende in beidseitigem Einverständnis. Unser Ziel ist es, das Team weiter zu verjüngen und unsere Schlüsselspieler langfristig an mousesports zu binden. Diesem Ziel sind wir heute einen bedeutenden Schritt näher gekommen. Vielen Dank an unsere Sponsoren und Partner für die großartige Unterstützung und alles Gute für Strelok auf seinem weiteren Weg!"
hopefully he won't stop playing and be "only a manager / coach", although I think he would be very good at that. He has a very clear-cut thinking and always talks strong and convincing. But lately he showed much potential and when he puts his mind to it, he is easily one of the best terrans out there (which he already is). As he said himself it's always a question whether he finds motivation and the willingness to be the best. When I talked to him in Cologne he told me there is no real "middle way" for him, so it's either giving 100% and be the best or nothing.
Thorzain in and then very soon Strelok is out. Just when i was starting to appreciate the terran line up at mouz damn! Looks like Mouz is looking for some long term stability; which is never a bad thing.
On May 14 2011 14:44 p4NDemik wrote: LoWeLy has been beasting these days, him and Strelok make up a pretty good 1-2 punch, just wonder how the rest of their lineup will shape out.
I know Control and Roll have been impressing within the team, and max, Snake and Adolf have posted good results in the past in either smaller Eastern European team leagues (of which I think imba.FXOpen has a gold medal or two) or have had solid BW careers. While they are not 'ACE' players they should be good support for the tag team you mentioned of Strelok and LoWeLy
On May 14 2011 15:46 drooL wrote: strelok belongs into FXO, not into any kind of sub-team. odd move imo but it probably won't be long until he gets there.
As previously mentioned here it's not some kind of sub-team to FXO. The Russian staff at FXOpen saw fit to sponsor a team called imbalance to form imba.FXOpen while the NA/Australian team you are familiar with called FXO or FXOpen e-Sports is not 'sponsored' so much as a team owned by the company. FXOpen's relationship with the two teams could be compared to TLAF-Liquid` - with FXOpen being to imba.FXOpen as TLAF is to Liquid while FXOpen is to FXO as Team Liquid is to Liquid :3
Best of luck to Strelok, he has impressed me from the first game I've seen of him and while I always knew he had a LOT of potential I never thought I'd consider him at once stage to be as impressive as he is! One of the best Terrans outside of Korea, and I'd fancy his chances inside Korea too.
hmm, reading some comments, i wonder if they will pick up the other Ukranians. I mean Whitera is a solo team, and Dimaga is alone in mtw for quite some time now
My opinion on him leaving is that Thorzain got to go to MLG Columbus so soon while Strelok still didnt, so he decided to quit because he doesnt want to be sub for Thorzain and wants to be a star himself (not that he isnt already). I mean it has to be something with Thorzain why he left. Kind of a weird coincidence that he left as soon as Thorzain joined. Im actually disappointed he left mouz, loved their new line up and thought they'd be favorites for EG Masters Cup alongside Dignitas. Anyways best of luck to you.
On May 14 2011 17:58 Geo.Rion wrote: hmm, reading some comments, i wonder if they will pick up the other Ukranians. I mean Whitera is a solo team, and Dimaga is alone in mtw for quite some time now
White-ra never leave Duckload. Or just leave a couple of years ago. Dimaga, maybe... And dont forget about Kas. He not alone.
On May 14 2011 16:29 bkrow wrote: Thorzain in and then very soon Strelok is out. Just when i was starting to appreciate the terran line up at mouz damn! Looks like Mouz is looking for some long term stability; which is never a bad thing.
Good luck Strelok!
true , still happy to see mouz be able to compete with the best unlike a lot of the better bw sponsors.
Maybe it's not all about the money but also for the sake of his own comfort since imba.FXO is pretty much an all Russan speaking team. And it seems to me that the Russian speaking players (players from the CIS, former USSR) are more or less friends with each other and that could have influenced his decision as well.
Hopefully we will see some good things from him in the future - he always matches to post good games, but i somehow always see him as the underdog haha
I'd like to welcome Strelok to imba.FXOpen. I look forward to the FXO boys being able to practice against the imba.fxopen boys soon!
I heart strelok!!! Very muchly! So I approve of this decision 100%.
To those who are unsure about who imba.fxopen is, there have been a few of their players in the FXOIS. Notably Lowely, who is a fantastic zerg player and a big up and comer. Strelok will compliment the team wholely. Team imbalance was sponsored by our Moscow office and their operations are a little different than the FXO team. For instance, they play a very little part in the event management of FXOpen e-Sports and are more focused on the team and gaming.
I hope this move will help expand e-Sports in the ex-soviet nations.
Well congrats to both him on joining a new team, and for imba getting such a great player. Hopefully this won't affect mouz, it seems like they are losing a lot of players.
FXO is a company is just baller. I feel bad about Mouz, they just lost their Terran ace but I am happy for Strelok and wish him a better eSports future.
I would like this recent trend of good players spreading out to different teams to get more exposure/attention if it wasnt mousesports he left Anyway good luck Strelok.
It's not unusual in sports sponsorship for one sponsor to support more than one team in the same sport.
Look at Red Bull, who sponsor the main Red Bull Racing team (Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber) and also sponsor Scuderia Torro Rosso (Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari) with two completely different teams, engines, designers etc. It's true that Torro Rosso was/is supposed to be the feeder team for Red Bull racing, but they are still completely independent of each other. Red Bull also sponsor a lot of up and coming racers in Karting and a number of other motor sports.
In SC2 Razer sponsor both Team Liquid and Team Dignitas Edit and also Mousesports I see http://team.razerzone.com/index, which is similar to Honda and Yamaha sponsoring multiple teams in Moto GP.
I see no reason why FXO sponsoring multiple teams should be a bad thing.
Good luck to Strelok and everyone in team imba.fxo
On May 14 2011 12:25 ZidaneTribal wrote: so fxo sponsors two teams? why not just sponsor one super team
They obviously have more money than they know what to do with x.x
1. Yes 2. It is different divisions with independent budgets 3. It is a different relationship, with FXO owning FXO esports and FXO Moscow sponsoring imba.FXO.
Now, the much bigger question would be:
When will other FXO divisions finally step up their game and aquire teams themselves? This would allow for the biggest world spanning in-house-league ever seen
Am I the only one who thinks that starting new teams like that is kinda silly? Especially when the same sponsors already have a mildly successful team (FXO) that they should focus on and try to make better...
I'm just under the impression that there are plenty enough good and established teams for the amount of sc2 talent. In fact, I don't feel there's enough really great players to fill all the available high caliber (sponsored) teams. So what's the point??? =/
On May 14 2011 22:03 No-Killer-Instinct wrote: In SC2 Razer sponsor both Team Liquid and Team Dignitas Edit and also Mousesports I see http://team.razerzone.com/index, which is similar to Honda and Yamaha sponsoring multiple teams in Moto GP.
On May 14 2011 22:13 CursedFeanor wrote: Am I the only one who thinks that starting new teams like that is kinda silly? Especially when the same sponsors already have a mildly successful team (FXO) that they should focus on and try to make better...
I'm just under the impression that there are plenty enough good and established teams for the amount of sc2 talent. In fact, I don't feel there's enough really great players to fill all the available high caliber (sponsored) teams. So what's the point??? =/
for the tenth time, FXO owns FXO e-sports, whereas the moscow office is simply SPONSORING imbalance, a russian team.
"imba" is old but very weak russian team with poor and unprofessional management, most of it players are low active or inactive. I hope that something would change though. Don't let to mislead yourself - it has nothing in common with "FXOpen esports" except being sponsored (last 6 months) by russian branch of FXOpen company. Mouz is way more stronger and professional team, they are absolutely incomparable in every way. Strelok's decision looks very strange for me. Money is not only thing you need to be a successful player.
This is surprising, I don't think its a big loss for mouz since they just signed Thorzain. I kinda understand though, "the world revolves around Money". I still think that Mouz is better and all FXO can provide is Financial support which is not bad.
Strelok has been playing for a long time and I would like to see his improvement when he goes to his new team. Altho~ I think that mouzSports is a really nice clan. I like mouz better than imba or FXO
Would have been great if strelok stayed at mouz and became coach, but this sounds good for everybody since at the moment they had 5 world class player who compete for 4 spots in teamleagues. on the other side, imba doesnt participate in those^^ anyway gl strelok!
On May 14 2011 23:20 Unnamed wrote: "imba" is old but very weak russian team with poor and unprofessional management, most of it players are low active or inactive. I hope that something would change though. Don't let to mislead yourself - it has nothing in common with "FXOpen esports" except being sponsored (last 6 months) by russian branch of FXOpen company. Mouz is way more stronger and professional team, they are absolutely incomparable in every way. Strelok's decision looks very strange for me. Money is not only thing you need to be a successful player.
I totally agree with this!! the only reason I see in ths contract is a friendly russian-speaking atmosphere in imba.Strelok can train with team Empire and have great results, especially in TvT)))
On May 15 2011 00:59 MorroW wrote: good luck in your new team buddy strelok is such a good teammate, im sure fxo will be happy to have him
You'll still have two pretty darn accomplished terran practice partners in TLO and sjow though Hopefully thorzain will eventually join your "God Squad" as well!
Mouz is a really strong team with a lot of talent. I think losing him is a fairly big deal, but adding Thorzain makes up for it. Good Luck to imba and Strelok
Strelok's a great player, big pickup for imba here! Nothing wrong with spreading great players out to different teams, more competition is a good thing!
Here's my question. How is qxc on FXO straight up, but Strelok is only in imba? I feel like FXO is more well known/a "better" team, and Strelok can game circles around qxc.
On May 15 2011 06:10 mbr2321 wrote: Here's my question. How is qxc on FXO straight up, but Strelok is only in imba? I feel like FXO is more well known/a "better" team, and Strelok can game circles around qxc.
i think that FXO absorbed imba and they just kept the name or something, its still FXO
On May 15 2011 06:10 mbr2321 wrote: Here's my question. How is qxc on FXO straight up, but Strelok is only in imba? I feel like FXO is more well known/a "better" team, and Strelok can game circles around qxc.
i think that FXO absorbed imba and they just kept the name or something, its still FXO
Imba.FXO and FXO are two seperate and distinct teams, read the start of the thread. Imba is not some B-Team for FXO like you make it seem mbr2321.
On May 15 2011 06:10 mbr2321 wrote: Here's my question. How is qxc on FXO straight up, but Strelok is only in imba? I feel like FXO is more well known/a "better" team, and Strelok can game circles around qxc.
i think that FXO absorbed imba and they just kept the name or something, its still FXO
imba.FXO isn't the same team that qxc is on-- We don't train together or even talk to each other regularly. Completely different management teams. Same company though.
On May 15 2011 15:49 L3g3nd_ wrote: wait so FXO is in the tag of two different teams, this is confusing :S
I actually think their official tag include the entire FXOpen as it's a sponsor. FXO is the tag for the team owned by FXOpen. That means it's imba.FXOpen.Strelok compared to FXOqxc, hopefully that will prevent some confusion if the convention is followed
On May 15 2011 06:10 mbr2321 wrote: Here's my question. How is qxc on FXO straight up, but Strelok is only in imba? I feel like FXO is more well known/a "better" team, and Strelok can game circles around qxc.
i think that FXO absorbed imba and they just kept the name or something, its still FXO
EPT
It's a different set of management of FXOpen if I understand correctly (their eastern european division).
![[image loading]](http://www.gosugamers.net/general/images/2011/february/imbafxopen-strelok-480.jpg)
damn! Looks like Mouz is looking for some long term stability; which is never a bad thing.![[image loading]](http://rakaka.se/images/9566-strelok001.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/xmhsZl.jpg)
