boltz to play for SK at EPL Season 6 Finals
Ricardo "boltz" Prass will be eligible to play for SK Gaming at the ESL Pro League Season 6 Finals in Odense, Denmark, Dust2.us has learned. The event will run from December 5 to December 10, and feature twelve of the world's best teams vying to be crowned champions.
The news comes as somewhat of a surprise, given that boltz did not play a single match during the regular season with SK. However, the only requirement for a player to be eligible to play for a team is that they be on said team's roster.
According to the ESL Pro League Transfer Regulations:
No Players may be Transferred (whether or not such players are Free Agents) after the “Trade Deadline.” The “Trade Deadline” shall be 5pm EST on the date that is the calendar day prior to the last two scheduled match days of the pertinent regular Season for the League.
As such, it can be inferred that boltz was transferred from the Immortals roster to the SK roster somewhere between his last EPL match with his former team (October 19) and the Trade Deadline described above (November 9).
Being able to use boltz will certainly be a delight for SK, as their worst placing since he has begun playing with them was a 3/4 finish at IEM Oakland. The Brazilians placed first at EPICENTER 2017 and BLAST Pro Series on either side of that event.
On the other hand, Team Liquid will likely be perturbed that they were unable to close a deal for Lucas "steel" Lopes before the EPL Trade Deadline, as they will be forced to field coach Wilton "zews" Prado as their fifth in Odense. Additionally, Astralis have threatened to pull out of the event all together if they are not permitted to field an emergency stand-in due to Nicolai "device" Reedtz's ongoing health issues.
Looking even further ahead, the move would seem to indicate progress in the matter of fully integrating boltz in SK — he would not be available to Immortals for their potential relegation bid.
As mentioned, the ESL Pro League Season 6 Finals will kick off on December 5. SK have been drawn into "Group Red" alongside NRG, Misfits, OpTic, NiP, and North.
