This story was originally published by ESPN Brazil and translated from Portuguese.
Brazilian Counter-Strike team MIBR announced Friday that Marcelo "coldzera" David is not part of the team's plans going forward. ESL Cologne was coldzera's last tournament with longtime friends and teammates Fernando "fer" Alvarenga, Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo and Epitacio "TACO" Melo.
Fans had hoped to see coldzera in action for the Brazilian team in the Blast Pro Series: Los Angeles (July 13-14) and in the IEM Chicago 2019 (July 18-21). Ricardo "dead" Sinigaglia -- MIBR's manager -- revealed Friday that the former two-time best player in the world "is no longer in the starting roster of MIBR and has been placed on the bench effective immediately."
On Friday, coldzera posted a statement on Twitter in which he said, "This decision has been in my mind for over a year. In 2018, I wanted to leave the team, but I stayed because I believed we could get better, but the defeats, arguments and other issues were tearing me apart."
Dead stated that coldzera "expressed his desire to be transferred" after the team's poor performance in Germany. Also according to the manager, coldzera "offered [MIBR] the option of playing out the remainder of the season as well as the next Major." However, MIBR decided it was time to start a rebuilding process and benched him.
The reveal happened minutes after HLTV.org reported that MIBR would use a fill-in for the next two championships -- the head coach, Wilton "zews" Prado. According to the report, players and staff reached a consensus regarding coldzera's future on Tuesday.
On Sunday, HLTV.org revealed that coldzera had informed MIBR he wanted to be either benched or join another organization. According to that report, coldzera was frustrated with recent results -- MIBR didn't reach any final series this year -- and personal reasons also motivated the request.
The day after HLTV's report, coldzera posted on social media. He responded to a follower, stating that he offered "to keep practicing and to play in the Major, but they [other players] refused." Coldzera also said that he will make a statement when he is allowed to. "I'll say what everybody wants to hear," he said.
After that, the Brazilian Counter-Strike community watched closely as MIBR players kept posting on social media and streaming. Fer said on his livestream that there was "no chance" coldzera would still be with MIBR even if the team won the Blast Pro Series: Los Angeles, which kicks off Saturday.
Zews is the only option -- so far -- to replace coldzera for MIBR in the Starladder Berlin. However, it is not a done deal. A change in the roster after the registration period would only be accepted by the committee in case of emergency -- and that's not the case.
This was first reported by Mais Esports only two days after coldzera announced he wanted out. A Starladder official confirmed that a player leaving a team does not constitute an emergency. With that being said, MIBR has two options for the Starladder Major: have coldzera play one final time -- which is unlikely -- or get disqualified.