shalfey Free, BESTIA Drop nacho, Riga Open 7 Coming
Three quick CS2 roster and event updates from HLTV's Week 33 roundup: a veteran IGL hits the market, a South American squad shakes up its lineup, and a Latvian LAN opens registration next week.
shalfey Hits the Market After a Long Bench Stint
Aleksandr “shalfey” Marenov has officially declared himself a free agent, according to HLTV’s Week 33 short news roundup published August 18. The 24-year-old is looking for a new home primarily as an in-game leader, though he noted he is open to other arrangements.
Shalfey’s situation has been a prolonged one. He was benched alongside the rest of 9 Pandas more than a year ago after the organization reportedly lost a key sponsor. Since then he has kept busy, appearing in mixed rosters and filling in as a stand-in for other teams. The numbers back up his continued relevance: HLTV reports he has averaged a 0.97 rating over 54 maps in the past three months, with his player card also listing a Rating 3.0 of 0.98 across 56 maps in that same window. Those are respectable figures for someone without a permanent roster to call home. For any team hunting an experienced IGL who has been grinding through adversity rather than sitting idle, shalfey looks like a reasonable option worth a call.
BESTIA Part Ways With nacho After Six Months
BESTIA have benched Ignacio “nacho” Rodriguez, the Argentine organization announced, with the team describing the decision as part of a “redefinition of roles.” As reported by HLTV, the 22-year-old had been with the squad for six months before the split.
The timing reflects a difficult stretch for BESTIA as a whole. The team missed qualification for both BLAST Open Porto and StarLadder StarSeries Fall, and the organization has slid outside the top 50 of the VRS rankings. nacho’s stats over the past three months tell a similar story: HLTV lists him at a Rating 3.0 of 0.99 across 52 maps, with a kills-per-round of 0.62 against a deaths-per-round of 0.63. Marginally negative, but not dramatically so. BESTIA’s current active roster includes cass1n, buda, tomaszin, timo, and tge, according to HLTV.
The “redefinition of roles” language is the kind of corporate softening that rarely tells the full story, but the broader context is clear enough. A team missing major qualifier after major qualifier eventually makes changes, and nacho drew the short straw this time.
Urban Riga Open 7 Registration Opens August 24
On the smaller-event side of the ledger, Urban Riga Open 7 is on the horizon. Registration for the eight-team LAN opens August 24, per HLTV. The event itself is set for September 29-30 in the Latvian capital, with $5,500 on the line.
Riga has quietly become a consistent stop on the grassroots CS2 calendar, and a late-September LAN gives teams in Europe a live-competition opportunity as the fall season begins to take shape. Five-and-a-half thousand dollars is not a life-changing purse, but for developing rosters chasing VRS points and stage time, a two-day event in a real venue still carries weight that online play simply cannot replicate.
Why did shalfey become a free agent?
According to HLTV, shalfey has been without a permanent team since he and the rest of 9 Pandas were benched after the organization reportedly lost a critical sponsor. He announced his free agency during Week 33 and said he is open to new opportunities, primarily as an in-game leader.
Why was nacho benched by BESTIA?
BESTIA cited a 'redefinition of roles' when announcing the benching of Ignacio 'nacho' Rodriguez, as reported by HLTV. The move came after a slow stretch of form that saw the team miss qualification for BLAST Open Porto and StarLadder StarSeries Fall, and drop outside the top 50 of the VRS.
What is Urban Riga Open 7 and when can teams register?
Urban Riga Open 7 is an eight-team LAN event scheduled for September 29-30 in Riga, Latvia, with a $5,500 prize pool. According to HLTV, registration opens on August 24.