Talon wants to expand its operations with the addition of a CS2 team.
Hong Kong esports organization Talon is considering joining CS2's professional scene, according to a report by HLTV on June 27.
Multiple sources told HLTV's reporter Luis Mira that Talon has set its sights on former Renegades and 100 Thieves in-game leader Aaron "AZR" Ward, who's currently an unrestricted free agent. The 31-year-old successfully led Renegades' former Australian team to a surprising semifinals at the StarLadder Berlin CS:GO Major in September 2019, and also came close to winning IEM Beijing in November 2019, only losing to a powerful Astralis in the grand finals.
On top of AZR, Talon has also shortlisted Australian riflers Corey "nettik" Browne from Rooster plus Jared "hazr" O'Bree and Christian "ADDICT" Pendleton from Bad News Kangaro), according to HLTV. As for the AWP role, Talon is considering signing either ENCE's benched dedicated sniper Olek "hades" Miskiewicz or the Kazakh Beksultan "khaN" Ospan from Nemiga.
HLTV also understands that Talon is in talks with Ninjas in Pyjamas' former CS2 head coach Daniel "djL" Narancic, who's been an unrestricted free agent since February.
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Talon never owned a CS2 team, but invested in CS:GO
Although Talon doesn't have a rich history in Counter-Strike, the Hong Kong organization already invested in the game before.
Talon fielded an all-Taiwanese CS:GO lineup between 2017 and 2018 that failed to get any good results under their belt before the organization pulled away from the game in early 2018.
While Talon hasn't focused too much of its efforts on Counter-Strike, the organization is more known for its presence in VALORANT, League of Legends, and Dota 2 esports, giving opportunities to Asian players.
It's unclear at this point whether Talon will secure the CS2 team it is targeting, however, the organization must hurry to have a shot at qualifying for the Perfect World Shanghai Major in November 2024.
