Official: RUBINO replaces es3tag in Heroic squad

The Norwegian player had previously been announced as a substitute for ESL Pro League despite reports linking him with a starting berth after cs_summit 2.

At the North American event, Patrick "⁠es3tag⁠" Hansen averaged a 0.98 rating, Heroic's second highest, in the team's deep playoff run, which came to an end in the Lower Bracket final following a 0-2 defeat to eventual champions Liquid.

RUBINO is Heroic's new fifth player

But that did not keep the team from putting him on the chopping block, with coach Luis "⁠peacemaker⁠" Tadeu stating that the squad "need other qualities" and that Ruben "⁠RUBINO⁠" Villarroel "can bring more" of those things to the team.

RUBINO had been a free agent since January, when he was released by dignitas after a ten-month association.

The 23-year-old will be hoping the achieve the same level of success with Heroic that he had during his first stint with dignitas, when he helped the Danish team led by Mathias "⁠MSL⁠" Lauridsen to win EPICENTER 2016.

"The team has already taken some major steps towards the ambition of becoming a top team, and I will work hard to contribute to that development," RUBINO told Heroic's website.

"It will take some getting to know each other and a lot of work, but already today they’re able beat some of the best teams.

"We want to become one of those teams that others hope to beat, and with patience and hard word – plus a lot of firepower – we will get there!"

RUBINO will make his debut for Heroic at 17:00 , against Space Soldiers, in the ESL Pro League. He will not have to wait long to make his first offline appearance for the team, who will travel to Kiev later this week to compete at the $300,000 StarSeries i-League Season 4. 

With these changes, Heroic now have:

 Andreas "⁠MODDII⁠" Fridh
 Marco "⁠Snappi⁠" Pfeiffer
 Nikolaj "⁠niko⁠" Kristensen
 Jakob "⁠JUGi⁠" Hansen
 Ruben "⁠RUBINO⁠" Villarroel

 Luis "⁠peacemaker⁠" Tadeu (coach)

 Patrick "⁠es3tag⁠" Hansen (backup)