Benched and free agent players: You can make a nuts team for $0
With the first Major cycle of 2024 in full swing, the benchings are coming in thick and fast.
The teams that faced disappointment at the RMR are looking to make changes, and many of them have already benched or released players in a bid to turn their fortunes around by the second Major of 2024.
There are a whole host of top players who now find themselves without a team, and you can even build a pretty insane team from the free agents alone.
Photo: Michal KonkolFree agent players
The biggest name to have been recently released by his team is Australian star, jks.
JKS was benched in late 2023 as Nexa was brought back to G2 and has since been without a team. However, he will now be free to find himself one as he has been released from his contract by the organisation.
Another huge name to be without a contract is sdy. The Ukrainian was instrumental in Monte's rise up the HLTV rankings after he departed from NAVI but has now left the team after the expiration of his contract.
Also released in the last month is FASHR, the former OG and fnatic player who will now need to find his third team inside the last 12 months as he has moved on from 00NATION.
There is also an incredibly experienced tier one coach now available, too. Following their 0-3 elimination from the European RMR, NIP released djL.
Elsewhere in the world, South American team LOS parted ways with their entire roster. This means that players such as JOTA, leo_drk, and history are now all on offer.
Photo: Michal konkolThere are, of course, also notable names who have been free agents for a while. There are such names as:
Benched players
The big news in the world of benched players is Astralis' decision to bench their captain blameF following their failure to qualify for the PGL Copenhagen Major in their home country.
blameF had been Astralis's IGL since the departure of Gla1ve last Summer. While there had been big hopes for Astralis in 2024 following the additions of Jabbi and Stavn, things haven't yet gone to plan.
Also making huge waves is NIP.
NIP crashed out of European RMR A following losses to Eternal Fire, AMKAL, and SAW, and as a result, they have benched three of their players.
k0nfig, es3tag, and headtr1ck now all find themselves sitting on the side-lines for the Swedish organisation after the cuts.
One of the most surprising teams to fail to qualify for the Major was Falcons, who responded by benching Jordanian rifler, BOROS.
BOROS burst onto the scene in the BLAST.tv Paris Major cycle for Monte, but we won't get to see him light up our screens this time.
Photo: Stephanie LindgrenInto the Breach, another Paris Major hero, have also made changes following their failure to qualify for the first Major of CS2.
They have benched both misutaaa and Bymas, as well as their coach, Juve.
The final team to make big changes to their team in the wake of disappointment in the Major cycle is BIG. The German organisation failed to even make the RMR and have replaced mantuu and s1n with JDC and syrsoN.
Photo: Jak HowardMaking a superteam for $0
With so many great players available for absolutely nothing, any incoming organisation could now make an excellent team for free.
Without a doubt, they'd need to start off by signing both jks and sdy. The duo have an incredible amount of top-level experience and both are capable of carrying a team to the top.
Although he has sometimes struggled in tier one, FASHR is also a surefire pick-up. A naturally aggressive player, he offers something tactically different to the other two names mentioned so far and could be very effective for a new team.
Photo: Michal KonkolWith three star riflers decided, that leaves us with a need for an AWPer and an IGL.
neaLaN's time on GamerLegion was short, but despite this, he did show potential at IEM Cologne 2023. He was also a big reason for Evil Geniuses performing rather well when they signed him in 2022.
Finally, we'll go with farlig as our AWPer.
farlig had a tough time on Astralis, but prior to that, he was phenomenal on GODSENT and FunPlus Phoenix. If a team can get him back to his best, they'll have a real, top calibre AWPer on their hands.