OG confirm valde benching
After an underwhelming start to the year OG have moved early to revamp their roster.
OG have confirmed the benching of Valdemar "valde" Bjørn Vangså, it was announced today, after the two sides agreed to part ways. The move comes after reports recently surfaced suggesting both valde and Nikolaj "niko" Kristensen would be leaving the squad.
The move brings to an end a two-and-a-half year association between the player and the organisation, with valde having joined OG in December 2019. His departure leaves Mateusz "mantuu" Wilczewski as the only founding member of the original OG squad.
After a very promising start to life under their new IGL Nemanja "nexa" Isaković at the BLAST Premier Spring Groups things had taken a turn for the worse for OG, as they posted a last place finish at the IEM Katowice main event and failed to qualify for the PGL Major Antwerp.

"I have been very happy here at OG and appreciate the people and the culture here. But sometimes you grow apart," valde said in a statement on OG's website.
"In this case we’re seeing the road to achieve greatness differently and after a very disappointing RMR we have had long talks and have agreed to go our separate ways. Therefore we have agreed that I will step aside, while I spend my focus and energy on finding a new home where I can pursue my immediate ambitions."

The fact that it is valde who makes way is somewhat surprising considering he has been the team's top performer behind mantuu in 2022, posting a 1.12 rating and 1.15 K/D so far this year.
The Dane did, however, provide a little more context in an interview with Dexerto, saying the team wishes to move forward by starting from scratch with "a few pieces" from the previous roster and younger players, a direction valde didn't want to go.
valde has been no stranger to rumours linking him to moves away from his current team, having been the subject of just such a rumour at the start of the year suggesting he was to transfer to Evil Geniuses.


