North American Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CSGO) team Swole Patrol will play under FunPlus Phoenix (FPX) for Flashpoint’s second phase. This is the latest event in two weeks of peaks and valleys for Flashpoint. After high viewership and positive reception from the CSGO community, reorganizing the league format and FPX’s mishaps have thrown a wrench in the system.
When FPX member Patrick “es3tag” Hansen confirmed his move to Astralis starting in July, Flashpoint forced FPX to forfeit their match versus Orgless. Forfeiting the game landed the team in their group’s last place. Flashpoint’s reaction to es3tag’s news garnered negative feedback from the community. Shortly after, HLTV confirmed FunPlus Phoenix had left the league. Their leaving left an open spot in the competition, with little time for the organization to find a team to take their place.
Swole Patrol joins the ranks
Reports from HLTV confirm former eUnited roster Swole Patrol has accepted FPX’s spot in Flashpoint season 1. Swole Patrol will compete under the FunPlus Phoenix organization, while cadiaN and co. will likely return to Heroic. Currently, Swole Patrol is competing in season 11 of ESL Pro League. The announcement comes in the middle of their first league match versus 100 Thieves. Swole Patrol, now FPX, is the second team to compete in both Flashpoint and ESL Pro League.
Picking up FPX’s spot in Flashpoint leaves the team in an undesirable situation. The original Danish roster had an unfortunate showing during their run in the tournament. Additionally, forfeiting their last match left them with a meager 15 points entering into phase 2. The new FPX roster needs to hit the ground running and show its strongest performances if they hope to have an opportunity to make playoffs.
Moving forward, FunPlus Phoenix’s active Flashpoint roster is Austin “cooper” Abadir, Edgar “MarkE” Maldonado, Victor “food” Wong, Ryan “freakazoid” Abadir, Jordan “Zellsis” Montemurro, and coach Armeen “a2z” Toussi.
