Team Vitality Reportedly Eyeing Spinx

Team Vitality are reportedly looking to make roster changes to its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive division. As claimed by sources close to the French esports organization, Vitality is looking to replace Kévin “misutaaa” Rabier with Lotan “Spinx” Giladi.

Team Vitality is reportedly getting ready to make roster changes to its CS:GO division, six months following a major roster overhaul, which saw the addition of former Astralis members. Shortly after the major roster change, Vitality also parted ways with Jayson “Kyojin” Nguyen Van, who left the French esports organization in February.

And now, five months later, Vitality is getting ready to freshen up the team once more, this time with ENCE superstar Spinx, who is said to join the team to replace misutaaa. Spinx would become the first Israeli CS:GO pro to ever play for Vitality and turn the former all-French team into a team where French members will represent a minority.

Although a massive roster change, it makes a lot of sense for Vitality, who have been struggling since pivoting to an English-speaking lineup at the start of 2022. The team has failed to leave much of an impact in most big events they’ve attended and haven’t reached the heights expected of them.

Since the addition of former Astralis trio Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen, Emil “Magisk” Reif, and coach Danny “zonic” Sørensen in January, Vitality have not achieved much in the CS:GO competitive scene. The team kicked off the year with a strong performance at BLAST Premier: Spring Groups, where they won the Play-In stage, but have since not produced much.

Later the same month, Vitality attended IEM Katowice, where they could only manage a ninth-12th-place finish. They were even more disappointing at ESL Pro League Season 15, where Vitality crashed out of the group stage with a 2-3 record, behind FaZe, ENCE, and FURIA Esports.

Things wouldn’t improve in the following months, as Vitality placed fifth-eighth at Pinnacle Cup III, and barely made it through the PGL Major Antwert European RMR A. There they finished sixth and qualified for the Major as Challengers.

At the Antwerp Major, Vitality enjoyed a good start and made it seem like they’ve found their stride. The French-Danish squad won the Challengers Stage with a 3-0 record and wins against Complexity, Astralis, and forZe. However, their success since then has been fairly limited.

In the Legends Stage, Vitality failed to look as dominant, and they lost their opening two series against Ninjas in Pyjamas and Outsiders. They’ve found some momentum by winning the next two against Liquid and BIG, but were eventually eliminated from the Major by Heroic.

After placing ninth-11th at the Major, Vitality appeared in IEM Dallas, only to produce another shaky showing, finishing the event in seventh-eighth place. Midway through June, Vitality found some momentum at BLAST Premier: Spring Finals 202, where they reached the finals but have recently ended their IERM Cologne journey in ninth-12th.

According to recent reports, Vitality will look to bounce back from their dry streak by adding Spinx, who is the team’s primary target this offseason. However, it was stated that Vitality are also exploring other options knowing that the transfer from ENCE might be difficult.

The 21-year-old Israeli CS:GO star is currently one of the top players in the world who has been turning heads since the turn of the year. He has proven a key player for ENCE and their success over the year, namely reaching the no.2 spot in the world rankings.

Spinx has been averaging one of the team’s highest average ratings and holds an impressive 1.17 performance rating on LAN. Whether Spinx will join Vitality remains to be seen, but if the French team seals the deal, he will likely replace misutaaa, who has struggled to perform since Vitality transitioned to an English-speaking lineup.