Rickeh, who is best known for his time with Complexity and Renegades, took to Twitter to disclose the news via a TwitLonger with the caption “Time to hang the ol’ mouse up.”
He explained that although the decision to retire from pro play was difficult, it was “long overdue.” Rickeh went on to acknowledge Counter-Strike’s impact on his life and how it would always be a part of him.
The player disclosed that he met several people, including his wife, as a result of his career and the numerous locations he was required to go to. Rickeh thanked his supporters, including the esports community, management of his unnamed esports organization, and staff.
“The extremely difficult competition and volatile industry at times can make you lose your mind and it’s really important to maintain a neutral mentality as much as possible regardless of outcome,” Rickeh continued.
“That doesn’t mean don’t be passionate and show no emotion, long story short just focus on what you can control and what’s important. Try and be the best individual you can be while in a team environment and good things will come. Keep on grinding and stay sharp.”
The CS:GO player never revealed his reasons for retiring or what he planned to do in the future. At the start of February, Rickeh took to Twitter to divulge that after quitting his job to commit fully to a new team, he was taken off the squad with little explanation.
Rickeh has been off the competitive scene since last fall when the player left Aftershock. He started his pro career in 2014 and has played with teams like Immunity, CLG, Renegades, ORDER, Complexity, and Rogue.
The AWPer started playing on the international scene with Immunity and played two Majors in 2015. He joined Renegades in 2016 and competed alongside players like Aaron “?AZR?” Ward and Justin “?jks?” Savage.
Rickeh’s top achievements in his eight years as a pro-CS:GO player are two second-place finishes at the DreamHack Open Austin 2018 and DreamHack Open Winter 2016. Towards the end of the player’s American stint, he qualified for three consecutive Majors; FACEIT Major 2018, StarLadder Major 2019, and IEM Katowice 2019. Rickeh also participated in five Majors during that period.
]]>The Australian esports team have struggled to field a complete CS:GO roster since Jordan “Hatz” Bajic left at the start of the year. The departure of their star player to Renegades was followed by Chris “emagine” Rowlands’ retirement earlier this week, leaving only three active members.
On Thursday, only three days after emagine’s departure, ORDER unveiled two new signings in Rickeh and tucks, who have both joined the team as permanent members.
Rickeh’s signing comes as no surprise, as the former Renegades, Counter Logic Gaming and Complexity player has been plying his trade under ORDER’s banner for over a month. As a stand-in player, he competed at ESEA Season 33: Premier Division – Australia and the Intel Extreme Masters Season XIV – World Championship: Oceanic Qualifier. While ORDER failed to go the distance at IEM Katowice qualifiers, where they finished third, Rickeh helped them earn the tag of the frontrunners in the ESEA with a perfect 9-0 record.
Taking over as ORDER’s new coach will be the 23-year-old tucks, who arrives from Chiefs. The talented Australian IGL launched his CS:GO esports career in 2015 with Team Skyfire before joining Chiefs in September the same year. He later played for Team Excile5 and Team ASDF.
In September 2016, tucks rejoined Chiefs where he enjoyed a two-year stint before he was benched. In September 2018, he was loaned out to Tainted Minds (now ICON Esports) before returning to Chiefs in January 2019, where he remained up the start of this month when Chiefs released their entire CS:GO roster and signed the ex-Genuine Gaming squad.
Alongside the signing of Rickeh and tucks, ORDER also appointed J1rah as a stand-in player. The 19-year-old IGL was deemed as surplus at AVANT Gaming in January, when he was place on inactive duty. J1rah will have huge shoes to fill as the replacement for emagine, who was considered one of the best Australian IGLs.
“Very excited to start my coaching career with ORDER,” said tucks.
“So far everything has gone smoothly thanks to Naithan “invenigh” Briffa [head of operations at ORDER], emagine and the team. Couldn’t ask for a better group of players and people to be surrounded by. Big year ahead!”
ORDER��s new squad made their first appearance at ESEA Season 33: Premier Division �C Australia on Thursday, when they claimed a 19-16 overtime win against Chiefs. Rickeh made an immediate impact in his official debut with a 1.40 rating and +11 KD, while J1rah ended the match with a 0.92 rating and +0 KD.
The new-look ORDER will also take a swing at the Asia Minor Championship – Rio 2020: Oceanic Closed Qualifiers at the start of March, where they will look to book a spot at Asian Rio Major qualifiers.
]]>