BIG to field s1n for IEM Rio Major and BLAST Showdown

BIG have announced that they will continue to utilize the services of Elias “⁠s1n⁠” Stein for their upcoming tournament bids. The German youngster is set to stand in once again in the squad’s campaigns through the BLAST Premier Fall Showdown and IEM Rio Major.

The academy player was initially called up to fill in for the main team back in September as a replacement for Josef “⁠faveN⁠” Baumann, who was sidelined from the IEM Road to Rio Europe RMR due to illness.

s1n will continue to stand in for the main team at the IEM Rio Major

BIG had a relatively successful run through the RMR in spite of their roster woes, finishing in sixth place with a 3-2 record to secure a Challengers Stage berth.

Johannes “⁠tabseN⁠” Wodarz‘s side recorded wins over Sangal and Vitality to go 2-0 in the swiss stage, before dropping 0-2 series to both ENCE and Heroic to be within touching distance of elimination. In the end, however, the team was able to get the job done, a 2-1 victory over K23 being enough to clinch them a spot at the $1,250,000 Major in Brazil.

s1n will be aiming to have more of an impact in the next two events with the German roster, with the 20-year-old averaging a modest 0.93 rating during BIG‘s run through the Major-qualifying tournament in Malta. tabseN was quick to praise the academy player, though, stating in an interview at the RMR with HLTV.org that “s1n is far better than we all expected.”

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tabseN: “s1n is far better than we all expected”

BIG kick off the BLAST Premier Fall Showdown with an RMR rematch versus Sangal on Thursday at 16:30 . The Germans will then head to Rio de Janeiro in time for the Major, with their opening matchup set to be versus the hometown favourites of FURIA on October 31 at 17:30 .

BIG‘s roster for the Fall Showdown and IEM Rio Major will be:

Johannes “⁠tabseN⁠” Wodarz
Florian “⁠syrsoN⁠” Rische
Karim “⁠Krimbo⁠” Moussa
Nils “⁠k1to⁠” Gruhne
Elias “⁠s1n⁠” Stein (stand-in)

Fatih “⁠gob b⁠” Dayik (coach)