Justin “JKS” Savage, the IEM Katowice 2022 Champion, is getting ready to make the move to G2, after nearly a year of inactivity.
G2 Esports' retooling of the CS:GO roster looks set to continue according to a report by Dexerto and 1pv.fr. After Aleksib and Jackz were allowed to explore their options, the team has been on the lookout for a solid rifler as a replacement. According to the reports G2 Esports have settled on former Renegades star JKS.
The JKS story
Setup for success in Renegades. Poor roles in Complexity?
Out of all the players from the Complexity juggernaut project, JKS was by far the biggest recent name. JKS was coming off an amazing spell with Renegades-100Thieves. He had carried the roster to back-to-back Major playoffs and was finally ready to make the international jump.
However, Complexity's composition never appeared to give him the space that the Top 20 player potentially deserved.
When the roster finally parted ways after the coldzera debacle, everyone on the team found new homes. Es3tag went to NIP, BlameF and k0nfig headlined the Astralis revamp. Even coldzera found a new home in 00Nation. But JKS was left out in the shuffle with a hefty buyout holding him back.
The buyout itself made sense, coL had paid highly to get him out of 100Thieves and put him on a massive contract. But the absence of Australia's biggest jewel from tier 1 CS left fans waiting for more news.
The next step: The Karrigan Katowice miracle
Then, Karrigan came knocking. When FaZe Clan heard that their marquee signing, ropz, wouldn't be able to play for them at Katowice, Twistzz immediately suggested JKS.
The two had competed regularly in NA, and JKS slotted in for ropz almost one to one. With mere days of practice, the team rocked up to the event's play-in.
With JKS playing his regular roles, the team had close wins, winning out every game 2-1. When ropz returned, the team was able to play just one game with their full roster before JKS was called back to action. This time it was FaZe's entry fragger, rain, having to sit out games.
Surprisingly, JKS was able to perform well in the new roles. His impact on the games was clear and he helped the team clean house through the playoffs, including a particularly strong performance in the finals with entry highlights that rival the greats. But after receiving the medal for his victory, silence fell again on JKS' future.
A bright future? G2 Set to Sign JKS says reports
Finally, good news seems to be on the horizon for the Aussie. G2 Esports is reportedly looking to sign JKS to fill the void left in the team following the benching of Audric "JACKZ" Jug and Aleksi "Aleksib" Virolainen.
First reported by neLendirekt for 1pv.fr and Luis Mira for Dexerto, the move is close to completion and will see the roster signing yet another "star" player.
With NiKo already playing roles similar to JKS, there is some hope that JKS could reinvent himself into more aggressive roles like he did at Katowice. The young player has the mechanics that could allow him to truly be a solid entry fragger. And with NiKo, hunter and m0nesy all moving in behind him, that combo could be deadly.
Alongside JKS, G2 has also registered Rasmus "HooXi" Nielsen for their BLAST Premier Fall Groups campaign. The Danish IGL made a name for himself with his success at MAD Lions and Copenhagen Flames.
But this would be the first time he would be working with big names like NiKo and JKS. The team has already cycled through IGLs, in a pattern that gives fans flashbacks to FaZe Clan of 2018-19. The stars are ready, but will HooXi be able to spot the right constellation?
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