After over two years playing alongside the successful line-up that won 13 trophies – including two Majors in 2016 – Brazilian rifler Epitácio "TACO" de Melo announced on a Twitlonger post that he will be stepping down from the team with immediate effect.

“Today I am closing the last chapter of the most beautiful book I’ve ever written. Today was the day I’ve decided for myself, taking the hardest decision in my life,” said the player, before explaining the reasons behind his departure: “a few weeks ago, I noticed I wasn’t happy anymore. A few days ago, I decided to look for that same happiness I used to feel before playing, and I wasn’t feeling that anymore, even though it’d cost me the decision of leaving the team I helped succeed and turn into one of the best teams to play this game. The weight of shield is heavy, and it’s not for everyone to wear it for too long. With proud and no regrets, I’ve done this for 2 years and 4 months,” concluded the Brazilian, who will soon start considering offers from other organizations.

Now left without one of the core members of the (then) Luminosity line-up that took the world of CS:GO by assault - Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo, Marcelo “coldzera” David and Fernando “fer” Alvarenga are the three original members remaining, alongside loaned player Ricardo “boltz” Prass – the German organization is moving quickly to find a suitable replacement. And they might be coming quicker than expected – and may shake the scene to its foundations.

According to French website Flickshot, none other than Natus Vincere’s Aleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev and Egor "flamie" Vasilyev are in talks to join SK Gaming, with the situation with the Ukrainian AWPer seeming “very close to an agreement” according to the report, while the negotiation with the latter is more complex, having right now “a 50/50 chance of happening.”

If at least one of the rumored transfers proves to the true, it will come as a true shock for most analysts and fans alike, considering none of the SK players has ever played with someone not hailing from their native Brazil – which for starters would force them to communicate in English instead of Portuguese.

But at the same time, having an all-star line-up could be the change the organization seems to need, especially if taken into account their relatively weak results – for their standards – in 2018 so far, which included a disappointing early exit at the World Electronic Sports Games last week in China, as well as a 7th-8th place finish at Intel Extreme Masters World Championship in Katowice earlier this month.


(Photo courtesy of HLTV)

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