Unexpected Twist: Monte Drops Out of IEM Chengdu, Steel Helmet Steps Up to Battle Astralis!

ESL has made a significant adjustment to the lineup for the IEM Chengdu tournament, revealing that the European team Monte will not be competing due to travel complications. In their stead, Steel Helmet, a team from China, will be stepping in to fill the vacancy. This Chinese team, highlighted by the inclusion of the former TYLOO members Ke "⁠captainMo⁠" Liu, Hui "⁠DD⁠" Wu, and YuanZhang "⁠Attacker⁠" Sheng, secured a 3rd-4th place finish in the China Qualifier, trailing behind Lynn Vision and TYLOO, who have also qualified for the tournament.

Monte was poised to debut their latest lineup on the international stage, featuring newly advanced academy talents Gytis "⁠ryu⁠" Glušauskas and Jack "⁠Gizmy⁠" von Spreckelsen. However, they will now have to postpone this opportunity. Under the guidance of Sergey "⁠lmbt⁠" Bezhanov, Monte has experienced a mixed bag of results in recent online competitions following the departure of Viktor "⁠sdy⁠" Orudzhev and Alexander "⁠br0⁠" Bro. Their performance has been variable, placing them in the Mid Seed group in ECL Season 47 and exiting the ESL Challenger Jönköping in fourth place.

As Steel Helmet takes over Monte's slot in the tournament, they face a challenging start against Astralis on Monday. This substitution marks an unexpected opportunity for Steel Helmet to showcase their skills on an international platform, stepping in from the outside to compete against some of the world’s best teams.