HellRaisers have announced the addition of Alexey "xaoc" Kucherov to the Counter-Strike line-up.

The Ukrainian team failed to impress at the WCG Finals in Chengdu last week, being sent back home in the Round of 16 following a 2-0 defeat to Power Gaming.

HellRaisers have now confirmed that Alexey "xaoc" Kucherov has joined the team on a permanent basis, filling the boots of George "v0lt" Mazur.

Quizzed on the reason behind Mazur's release from the team, Ivan "Johnta" Shevcov indicated that such decision was not motivated by his WCG form, but by the lack of union in the team.

"This decision was not an easy one, we did not want to change the line-up because when it was created, we thought it would last for a long time," Shevcov told HLTV.org.

"But unfortunately it turned out that this line-up was not 'on the same wavelength'. All were excellent players, but it did not look like a team. After WCG we had a long conversation about what was happening and tried to find a solution.

"It is not that v0lt played bad, he was well prepared individually, but again, we did not look like a team. There was no team spirit, we just played hard individually. We are very sorry that we had to part with v0lt, but some times we have to make changes for vital reasons.

Kucherov, who had been without a home since the disbandment of Amazing Gaming last month, will now hope to improve HellRaisers' fortunes at Arbalet Cup Europe.

"xaoc is a great player and a highly skilled one, and he is good friend of ANGE1's and has previously played with markeloff," Shevcov added. "I do not know yet if this was the right decision or not, we hope we are not mistaken."

Ioan "Edward" Sukharev
Yegor "markeloff" Markelov
Kiril "ANGE1" Karasiow
Ivan "Johnta" Shevcov
Alexey "xaoc" Kucherov