Party Astronauts ready to launch with new duo

Dust2.us has confirmed the new Party Astronauts lineup with the team's in-game leader, Ben "ben1337" Smith. This new iteration of the iconic tag sees the old core of Party Astronauts reunite alongside former Vendetta players Danny "cxzi" Strzelczyk and Connor "chop" Sullivan.

Party Astronauts began to take shape in March when Evil Geniuses announced they would be shuttering their EG White lineup in favor of a more streamlined academy system. The revival of the lineup hit a minor snag in late March when Jonathan "Jonji" Carey announced he would be taking a break from competition following disillusionment with being an esports competitor.

ben1337 tells Dust2.us that this news from Jonji was followed by Khizar "Momo" Rehman telling his colleagues he planned to travel to Pakistan in the near future and stay in the country for a month to visit with family. With this, for the near future Party Astronauts were reduced to two members, leaving them to search for adequate replacements. Fortunately for ben1337 and co., the demise of Vendetta left cxzi and chop ready to commit to a new project, with the new duo being brought on board after a short trial.

One caveat of note however, is that Momo may factor into the team's future plans as stressed by ben1337. When the Pakistani player returns to North America, Party Astronauts will asses the squad and see if they want to reintegrate him into the team. However, for the moment Party Astronauts are fully committed to their new duo and are practicing with them as permanent members.

As such, Party Astronauts are:

• Josh "PwnAlone" Pigue

• Ben "ben1337" Smith

• Wesley "viz" Harris

• Danny "cxzi" Strzelczyk

• Connor "chop" Sullivan

This new Party Astronauts will make their debut in the ESL Challenger Hannover Open Qualifier tomorrow. It is worth noting, however, that the name of the qualifier is largely a misnomer as DreamHack Hannover is canceled, with the tournament likely set to be moved elsewhere.