German eSports organization BIG has announced that the same roster with which it recently won the Roobet Cup will play at IEM Cologne. Thus, youth player Niels «k1to» Grüne will continue to replace Josef «faveN» Baumann, who will not recover from illness in time for the start of the event in Cologne.
Earlier, Niels «k1to» Grüne was promoted to the youth team in the first half of 2022. However, he appeared in the main squad for the Pinnacle Cup Championship, replacing Karim «Krimbo» Moussa, who fell ill with a coronavirus infection. Then, at the BLAST tournament in Lisbon, he played in place of Fatih «gob b» Dayik. Finally, at the Roobet Cup, as well as at the upcoming IEM Cologne, the twenty-three-year-old cyber athlete replaces Joseph «faveN» Baumann. The latter commented on the situation in his tweet a few days ago. In late June, he wrote that he «had stomach flu», and three days later added that «no end to it was in sight», and that he was still suffering from stomach cramps and sleep problems, among other things.
While technically the absence of one of the players could create difficulties for BIG, the team has already shown that it has been successful with k1to in his place.