SAW Steps In for Cloud9 in ESL Pro League Season 19 After ElectroNic's Departure Shakes Up Roster

ESL has recently confirmed that Cloud9 will not participate in the upcoming ESL Pro League Season 19, scheduled for April 23 to May 12. Instead, the Portuguese team SAW will take their place. Originally, Team Spirit was approached to fill the spot but declined the invitation, as noted by a senior VP at ESL FACEIT Group.

Under ESL's current rules for replacement, the tournament lineup will remain unchanged despite the substitution, as it occurred less than 10 days before the start of the event.

The need for a replacement arose after Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov left Cloud9 to join Virtus.pro, creating an urgent need for Cloud9 to fill a vacancy in their roster before the tournament.

SAW, chosen to replace Cloud9, has been gaining prominence in the competitive scene. The team has shown remarkable progress, highlighted by their dramatic reverse sweep at the Europe RMR to secure a spot at the PGL Major Copenhagen, a nearly perfect run at the BLAST Spring Showdown to qualify for the BLAST Spring Final, and a dominant performance in ESL Challenger League 47 where they topped their group with a 5-0 series record. These achievements have propelled SAW to their highest world ranking of No. 16.

It appears that SAW's invitation to the Pro League was influenced by their ESL world ranking. Cloud9 initially earned their Pro League slot through their ESL ranking, and with Spirit declining the invite, SAW was the next highest-ranked team eligible for participation.