faveN to miss RMR through illness

German squad BIG will be without one of their starting five for European RMR B, which commences on October 4, with Josef “⁠faveN⁠” Baumann set to miss the event due to illness. BIG Academy rifler s1n will take faveN‘s place.

This is not the first time the German rifler has been side-lined through illness, as he was also forced to miss the playoffs of the Roobet Cup and the IEM Cologne Play-in earlier this year due to a bout of abdominal influenza. BIG did not confirm the reason for his absence this time around, merely stating that it was “a medical situation that requires him to rest at home”.

s1n comes into the main roster having performed excellently for the Academy side in recent months, helping the team take second place at Fragadelphia 17 and third place in WePlay Academy League Season 5.

The 20-year-old was the driving force behind the two strong placings, posting an event-leading 1.32 rating over 13 maps during Frag, and a third-in-event rating of 1.24 over 18 maps during WePlay.

BIG will be hoping the disruption does not dent their chances in Malta, particularly considering their drop in form after victory in the Roobet Cup in June.

Since that trophy winning campaign the German side failed to make it through the IEM Cologne Play-in on home soil, falling to Outsiders and Astralis, and crashed out of BLAST Premier Fall Groups in joint-last with a single map win over Evil Geniuses to their name. The team also failed to progress to the playoffs of ESL Pro League Season 16.

Tizian “⁠tiziaN⁠” Feldbusch will return to the server to stand in for BIG Academy during s1n‘s absence.