jdm64 set to enter free agency on July 1st
Josh "jdm64" Marzano has announced that he will be a free agent as of July 1st, ending a ten-month long stint with Envy. The 29-year-old was benched at the start of the month, with the team exploring replacements for him before eventually settling on Aran "Sonic" Groesbeek.
jdm64 linked up with the organization alongside Noah "Nifty" Francis in September of last year, joining what was then the core of the ex-Splyce/boxr roster. That lineup did not last long however, with the team soon parting ways with Kory "SEMPHIS" Friesen and adding Matt "Pollo" Wilson as a stand-in.
After narrowly missing out on being auto-relegated from ESL Pro League, Envy replaced Pollo with Finn "karrigan" Anderson, who joined the team on loan from FaZe in an effort to improve the roster's results and composure. Although the addition of the Danish in-game leader did raise the overall level of the team, they were unable to qualify for IEM Katowice through the Americas Minor and the third place Minor Play-in, with an additonal loss in the IEM Sydney Closed Qualifier being karrigan's final outing with the team.
Envy continued to miss out on events as they failed to top any of the qualifiers they played in, with a last place finish in their ESL Pro League group further adding to their dismal record. jdm64's final match with the team came in a lower bracket semifinal matchup against FURIA in the ESL One Cologne Closed Qualifier, with the team narrowly falling 0-2 to the Brazilian roster who then went on to defeat Ghost to earn a spot at the LAN.
As of July 1st, Envy will be left with:
Noah "Nifty" Francis- Jacob "FugLy" Medina
- Sam "s0m" Oh
Bradley "ANDROID" Fodor
Aran "Sonic" Groesbeek- Zachary "Eley" Stauffer (Coach)
jdm64's announcement of impending free agency comes at a volatile moment for the North American scene, with Ghost recently parting ways with the majority of their CS:GO roster and Cloud9 being eliminated from the StarLadder Major Americas Minor NA Closed Qualifier. A shuffle amongst a number of the region's teams is expected to take place in the near future, with a number of free agents now on the market.
Envy are currently competing in the aforementioned StarLadder Major NA Closed Qualifier, where they have secured a spot in day three having initially fallen to Lazarus in the upper bracket and eliminated Party Astronauts in the lower bracket. The team are set to face off against the loser of eUnited and New Identity, with an additional best-of-three series awaiting them afterwards if they hope to advance to the Americas Minor.
