Mongolian news platform Meta Gaming broke the news, claiming that the New Zealand player would soon transfer to Team NKT. If the report proves true, it will be Gratisfaction’s first time in the competitive scene since he left 18 months ago.

Gratisfaction will join former teammates like Hansel “BnTeT” Ferdinand on Team NKT’s lineup in addition to other members including Erdenetsogt “erkast” Gantulga, Lee” XigN” Hyun-pyo, Azbayar” Senzu” Munkhbold and Hansel “BnTeT” Ferdinand.

The player was a part of EXTREMUM’s lineup before being benched in October 2021. Gratisfaction started his professional esports career with smaller Australian squads before signing with Renegades and becoming one of the most renowned CS:GO names in the Oceania region.

He was a part of Renegades’ numerous successes, including reaching the semifinals of the StarLadder Berlin Major 2019, one of the highest major runs achieved by a squad from that region. The team also did commendably well in the IEM Beijing 2019, reaching the event’s grand finals. They were eventually beaten out of the championship by Astralis.

Following his time in Renegades, Gratisfaction played for 100 Thieves and then EXTREMUM with most of his previous squad. The player has been active in the past few months, having substituted for Encore in 28 maps between August and February.

Gratisfaction will likely make his debut in competitive CS:GO during the ESL Challenger League season 44 Relegation: Asia-Pacific. Team NKT is slated to compete in the tournament on March 23.

Gratisfaction’s former Renegades/100T teammate, Aaron “AZR” Ward, also recently returned to competitive CS:GO as part of Sprout’s lineup.
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Steel Helmet and After Gaming will clash on Friday in the upper bracket semi-finals of Funspark ULTI 2021 Asia Playoffs. It will mark their first meeting since September 27, when After Gaming edged past Steel Helmet with 19-17 on Mirage and Inferno during the third season of Funspark ULTI 2021 Asia.

But despite that defeat, Steel Helmet enter this bout with their heads held high. The Chinese CS:GO squad are fresh off a 2-1 upset victory against Checkmate, who they beat on Tuesday with 10-16 on Nuke, 16-13 on Ancient, and 16-13 on Dust II. And while one result doesn’t mean much, beating a team like Checkmate is nothing to sneeze at.

On the other side, After Gaming have been largely disappointing with their showings of late. Over the last two weeks, After Gaming have managed a disastrous 1-4 record, with four back-to-back 0-2 defeats against Checkmate, The Black Company, Team Renewal, and Team NKT.

Admittedly, there is not much to separate Steel Helmet and After Gaming talent-wise. But based on what we have seen from After Gaming lately, it’s doubtful they will achieve anything on Friday. Backing Steel Helmet with a -1.5 map handicap ($3.46) is worth considering for a higher payout.

Team NKT and Team Renewal are two of the strongest teams at the tournament and based on how this game goes; we should have a pretty good idea which team will hoist the trophy. But while we can safely assume it will be one of the two, it’s hard to say which is stronger.

Team NKT are in great form with only one defeat across their last five outings, and even that sole defeat came against the current fourth-highest rated Asian CS:GO team, Checkmate. Meanwhile, Team Renewal are on a five-game winning streak; however, all of their recent bouts were against weaker teams in The Black Company (twice), After Gaming, Northwest, and Aravt.

You could make a case for either of the two teams, but at the offered CS:GO betting odds, we like NKT better. Kevin “xccurate” Susanto and his crew are by no means one of the top Chinese CS:GO teams, but they’ve lost only six outings since September – and even those defeats came against some of the best teams from the region in TYLOO (twice), Vici Gaming (twice), and Checkmate (twice).

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