American-owned Copenhagen Wolves unveil EU lineup

Back on December 14th, the long-dormant Copenhagen Wolves brand was revived by American entrepreneur Jared "Outback" Habib, who acquired the brand from founder and former owner Jakob Lund Kristensen. With this speculation began to swirl about what form the Wolves' return to Counter-Strike would take. Would be the team be international? Would it be Danish? Would it, as Danes everywhere feared, be American? Well, Danish loyalists of the former home of the likes of Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander, Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz, and Finn "karrigan" Andersen can rest easy as Habib has signed a Danish core with two international addons.

Taking a look at the new roster, while it does not have the largest names, the self-funded organization was able to sign known quantities within the tier-two European scene. Starting with Victor "vigg0" Bisgaard, the 24-year-old Dane is most known for his time with Astralis Talent, having played alongside Mikkel "MistR" Thomsen and Alexander "Altekz" Givskov, who both briefly played with the main Astralis lineup.

The next player in the lineup, Sebastian "Basso" Aagaard has a long history in the Danish subtop, plying his trade with teams like Copenhagen Flames and GoldenGitte. For those who don't know, GoldenGitte was one of the first squads future Heroic players René "TeSeS" Madsen and Rasmus "sjuush" Beck played on early in their careers.

As for the first non-Danish addition, Hubert "szejn" Światły, his legacy at the moment is defined by being the only original MOUZ NXT player to not find his way onto the main squad. Despite this, the 21-year-old Polish player still has a lot of talent and will be looking to prove it.

The final Dane on the roster, Nicolaj "mupzG" Djurhus, likely has the most to prove after his career was derailed by a 2013 VAC ban that put any tier-one aspirations on hold. Additionally, being a member of the infamous Victory Zigzag, which saw two of its players banned right before the BLAST Premier Fall European Showdown puts a cloud over his head as he looks to put his skill at the forefront.

Finally, Swede Leo "Svedjehed" Svedjehed played with the likes of Jesper "JW" Wecksell and Robin "flusha" Rönnquist on EYEBALLERS, finding great success there before jumping to Polish organization AGO's first international project. With that lineup largely being a bust, he will look to find success with this new lineup.

With these additions, Copenhagen Wolves are now:

• Victor "vigg0" Bisgaard

• Sebastian "Basso" Aagaard

• Hubert "szejn" Światły

• Nicolaj "mupzG" Djurhus

• Leo "Svedjehed" Svedjehed

While this new roster is unlikely to set off fireworks in the minds of casual fans, for a self-funded revival of a beloved brand, Habib could've done far worse. Time will only tell if this roster is destined to swim or sink but it will likely have a lot of eyes on it in 2024.