Damian “daps” Steele will step down from NRG Esports’ Counter-Strike lineup, according to multiple sources close to the player and team.
Daps will remain with the team as a coach, and NRG has added Dylan “RIKO” Arnce in his place. It is unclear if RIKO is a permanent replacement.
Daps played almost exclusively as in-game leader during his CS:GO career until Jacob “FugLy” Medina took over the role early last month. NRG announced Monday the addition of Bulgarian AWPer Cvetelin “CeRq” Dimitrov, though he has practiced and played with the team since August. CeRq had originally agreed to join Rogue prior to the start of ESL Pro League Season 6 before being recruited by NRG.
After spending the last year playing for Prospects, subtLe, and Denial Esports, RIKO will get his first opportunity to play in ESL Pro League. He has very little LAN experience, with his most notable appearance coming during Fragadelphia 11 in July. Assuming he stays with the team, he has a legitimate chance to play his for international LAN. NRG is seventh in the ESL Pro League standings with an 8-6 record, and its remaining matches are all against teams worse in the standings. The top six teams each from North America and Europe will attend the LAN finals in December in Odense, Denmark.
NRG declined comment