PENTA return to CS:GO; sign former EURONICS core

The German organization PENTA which stepped back from Counter-Strike in 2017 after releasing their international roster has "returned to their roots" by signing a domestic lineup.

PENTA's CS:GO history includes three Majors attended, including two playoff finishes; at DreamHack Winter 2014 and ESL One Katowice 2015. Over the years, PENTA fielded players such as Johannes "⁠tabseN⁠" Wodarz, Timo "⁠Spiidi⁠" Richter, Jesse "⁠zehN⁠" Linjala, and Miikka "⁠suNny⁠" Kemppi, but their lineups were always built around current GODSENT in-game leader Kevin "⁠kRYSTAL⁠" Amend.

PENTA unveil a new roster after three years away from CS:GO

In 2017, after making a run from the Europe Minor open qualifier to the group stage of the PGL Krakow Major, PENTA sold off two of their main stars — suNny and Kevin "⁠HS⁠" Tarn —, and then cut ties with the remainder of the roster.

Read more: Starting from scratch: the making of PENTA

PENTA have been absent from CS:GO for the past three years, until today's signing of the former EURONICS core. The squad features mostly unproven German players who have limited international experience, focusing mostly on domestic competition. Recently, the team finished 5-6th in the ESL Meisterschaft: Spring 2020 and fourth in 99Liga Season #14 - Division 1.

Christoph "⁠red⁠" Hinrichs noted that the team will be focusing on the upcoming German competitions as well as ESEA Main, after starting in the Open division last season:

"Firstly, I want to thank PENTA for the transparent negotiation process which led to a quick agreement. We are very happy that we can call such an established and well-known organization our new home. This is a special day for PENTA, which will finally return to CS:GO, as well as us since it’s an honor to represent that brand!

"Everything is blending in perfectly and everyone will do his best to shine bright. We will participate in the upcoming season of 99Damage Liga Division 1, Merkur Masters and ESEA Main. Even though we are a new roster we have high ambitions. We will invest a lot of time to achieve our goals, which is reaching the playoffs in all competitions. On to a great collaboration!" - red

Andreas Schaetzke, the Managing Director of PENTA, noted that the team was the first German one to reach top-8 at a Major, before BIG and mousesports, adding that he is looking forward to returning to PENTA's roots:

"Back to the roots! PENTA's history spans over 6.5 years. It all started with CS:GO and we made history by reaching the top-8 in Major tournaments as the first German team ever. During the last few years of not being represented in CS:GO we always kept a wary eye on the scene and its development. Even more important to us is to combine our “PENTA approach” with the right personalities. Therefore, I am very delighted to finally return to CS:GO and I am very sure that the upcoming matches will make our hearts leap for joy. Let's just hope there is no more jiggling during defuse situations!" - Andreas Schaetzke, Managing Director at PENTA.

PENTA are now:

Christoph "⁠red⁠" Hinrichs
Patrick "⁠pdy⁠" Merken
Yannik "⁠neviZ⁠" Baumhöfner
Sebastian "⁠xenn⁠" Hoch
Andreas "⁠synx⁠" Trapp