Big Transfers: Aurora and 9 Pandas Exchange r3salt and clax

Two Russian teams, Aurora and 9 Pandas, have made a significant player trade. Timur “clax” Sabirov has left 9 Pandas to join Aurora, while Evgeny “r3salt” Frolov moves in the opposite direction. This transfer ends clax’s 16-month tenure with 9 Pandas, whereas r3salt had been with Aurora for just four months.

In their announcement on X (formerly Twitter), Aurora indicated that they initiated the move. They emphasized that it’s important for every player not only to showcase excellent skills but also to behave respectfully towards both the club and their teammates.

This transfer comes as a surprise since r3salt performed exceptionally well during his brief time with Aurora. He averaged a 1.17 rating and helped the team secure victory at Skyesports Masters 2024, while also maintaining their position around the top 20 in the world rankings.

At 9 Pandas, r3salt will reunite with Aleksandr “shalfey” Marenov, with whom he previously played on FORZE in 2023.

As for clax, he finished the last three months with 9 Pandas with a 1.06 rating, making him the lowest-rated player on the team. Despite this, the team achieved moderate success, winning the CCT Season 2 Europe Series 3 title and qualifying for BetBoom Dacha Belgrade Season 2.

Additionally, clax was part of the 9 Pandas Squad that impressed everyone by qualifying for the PGL Major Copenhagen, defeating teams like Astralis and GamerLegion. However, the team couldn’t compete in the Major due to visa issues.

This marks the second significant roster change for 9 Pandas in recent months. They recently REPLACED veteran IGL Denis “seized” Kostin with shalfey and added Artem “Fierce” Ivanov as their coach.