The Portuguese organization has retained the services of one of its prized assets.
João “story” Vieira has committed his future to SAW until the end of 2027, the Portuguese organization announced Monday. The positive news comes as a welcome break for SAW following the surprise double-benching of star players Rafael “arrozdoce” Wing and Michel “ewjerkz” Pinto.
story has been in SAW’s ranks since July 2022, when he and ewjerkz were picked up from FTW in a deal that saw Renato “stadodo” Gonçalves and coach Rui “vts” Soares move in the opposite direction.
The 22-year-old has established himself as a key member for the Portuguese team, who defied all expectations this summer when they reached the semi-finals of IEM Cologne.
He went on to have the two best LAN events of his career outside of the Iberian Peninsula as he averaged a 1.20 rating in SAW’s semi-final run at ESL Challenger Atlanta — arrozdoce’s final event with the team — and a 1.19 rating in their title-winning campaign at ESL Challenger Katowice.
SAW’s season ended on a disappointing note as the team couldn’t qualify for the Major after losing to SINNERS, Natus Vincere and BetBoom in Europe RMR A. Shortly after returning from Shanghai, the team announced that ewjerkz was joining arrozdoce on the bench.
The Portuguese team, who will attend ESL Pro League Season 21 in February, finalized their roster with the signing of former FTW and GTZ member José “Shr” Gil.
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