SAW transfer-list ewjerkz, sign Shr

The organization’s statement said the rifler wants “to explore new opportunities on the international stage.”

Update 02:04 : SAW have announced the addition of José “⁠Shr⁠” Gil as their fifth. The 23-year-old played for SAW Youngsters back in 2021, and has since featured for a raft of Portuguese sides, his most-recent team being GTZ.

SAW have announced that Michel “⁠ewjerkz⁠” Pinto has been moved to the transfer list, saying in their statement that the decision was made “taking the player’s wishes into strong consideration.”

“Recently, ewjerkz revealed a strong interest in seeking a challenge abroad, in order to strengthen his growth as a Counter-Strike professional, as well as his eagerness to explore new opportunities on the international stage.”

The move comes as a serious blow to SAW, who benched their other star rifler, Rafael “⁠arrozdoce⁠” Wing, in October in similar circumstances. They also parted ways with coach Danny “⁠BERRY⁠” Krüger a mere day later, who led the team to top-four at IEM Cologne earlier this year.

ewjerkz joined SAW mid-way through 2022, and quickly established himself as the team’s star. He continued to be a key part of SAW’s lineup as they rose to international relevance over 2024, forming the firepower trio of the team alongside arrozdoce and João “⁠story⁠” Vieira.

The 24-year-old posted a team-leading rating of 1.13 across the year as SAW qualified for their first Major, PGL Major Copenhagen, climbed into the top 10 of the world ranking for the first time, and made a surprise run to the semi-finals of IEM Cologne.

ewjerkz regularly impressed during SAW’s international outings, such as during the aforementioned IEM Cologne campaign, regularly sitting atop the scoreboard whilst taking the majority of the team’s opening duels.

With ewjerkz’s departure, SAW are:

Portugal Christopher “⁠MUTiRiS⁠” Fernandes
Portugal Ricardo “⁠roman⁠” Oliveira
Portugal João “⁠story⁠” Vieira
Portugal André “⁠Ag1l⁠” Gil

Sweden Maikil “⁠Golden⁠” Selim (coach)

Portugal Rafael “⁠arrozdoce⁠” Wing (benched)
Portugal Michel “⁠ewjerkz⁠” Pinto (transfer-listed)