The struggles faced by Polish Counter-Strike continue into 2019, with the news that one of the oldest and most established brands operating in that part of the world is set to pull out of the scene. Kinguin have reportedly decided to end their ownership of the esports team, dropping both their Fortnite team and the CSGO line-up that featured former Virtus.pro and Golden Five legend Wiktor ‘TaZ’ Wojtas.
Kinguin are based in Hong Kong and describe their main business as "providing sellers and buyers from all around the world with the possibility to trade digital game keys and in-game items at a fair price with no hassle through an innovative platform". They entered the CSGO scene in 2015, and since then have been represented by such luminaries as Håvard ‘rain’ Nygaard, Adil ‘ScreaM’ Benrlitom, Michał ‘MICHU’ Müller Christopher ‘GeT_RiGhT’ Alesund, Patrik ‘f0rest’ Lindberg, the latter pair as stand ins only.
Tough times for Polish CSGO
While it’s been a tough time for Polish CSGO with the loss of their one truly elite team, the growth of AGO and Kinguin had suggested a revival at grassroots level, something that was desperately needed after stagnation. Team Kinguin had been relatively successful, winning season 17 of the ESL Polish Championships, DreamHack Open Montreal 2018, and advancing to ESL Pro League, with the side led by TaZ, and featuring Mikołaj ‘mouz’ Karolewski, Karol ‘rallen’ Rodowicz, Jacek ‘minise’ Jeziak and Paweł ‘reatz’ Jańczak.
Fortunately for the scene, the brains at the top of the old team are set to continue under their own banner going forward, with TaZ apparently planning to set up a new eSports organisation with journalist and co-owner of the media house Foszer Sawicki - Maciej Sawicki and Viktor Romaniuk Wanli, founder of Team Kinguin itself.
There may be changes to the line-up, too, with players such as Jarosław ‘pashaBiceps’ Jarząbkowski currently in free agency, although reports in Poland suggest they will continue to try and develop new talent, with rumours 21-year old Paweł ‘dycha’ Dycha is set to be a part of the new team. This could also mark the start of TaZ’s transition from player to owner/coach, after a career that saw him win everything there is to win in CSGO, and leave the top level with the respect of his peers despite a drop in form.
Picture: Kinguin
