NeiL_M leaves c0ntact

The Irish coach is searching for a new team after over a year with the former CR4ZY lineup.

Neil "⁠NeiL_M⁠" Murphy is on the lookout for a new team following the end of his c0ntact deal, the Irish coach announced on Thursday. He had been a part of the team since October 2019, moving over to c0ntact months later as the roster was signed by the North American organisation from CR4ZY.

NeiL_M joined the team at a difficult time, following the departures of highly-rated duo Nemanja "⁠nexa⁠" Isaković and Nemanja "⁠huNter-⁠" Kovač to G2, reuniting with Rokas "⁠EspiranTo⁠" Milasauskas, whom he had previously coached in Imperial. He helped the team to win the DreamHack Open event in Rotterdam and to reach the playoffs at the following stops in Atlanta, Jönköping and Sevilla before the transfer to c0ntact in January 2020.

NeiL_M is the latest member to depart c0ntact

The team could not reach the same heights under the new organisation and spent most of the year outside the top 30. In addition to the two Flashpoint seasons, c0ntact also competed in ESL One: Road to Rio and DreamHack Masters Winter, finishing 15th-16th and 13th-16th.

The announcement raises further questions about c0ntact's immediate future in the Counter-Strike scene. One of Flashpoint's founding members, the North American organisation announced last month that it was evaluating its options for 2021 and made all players available for transfer.

Rigon "⁠rigoN⁠" Gashi, Otto "⁠ottoNd⁠" Sihvo and EspiranTo have all since departed c0ntact, who currently have only two players, Marco "⁠Snappi⁠" Pfeiffer and Lotan "⁠Spinx⁠" Giladi. The pair have been heavily linked with ENCE, who are reportedly putting together a six-man international lineup.