9z bench meyern before the Major after seven straight defeats and turn to history

9z have made a move less than three weeks before the Singapore Major. The Argentine side has benched Ignacio "meyern" Meyer after a run of results that has left the team far from its best.

From winning the XSE to seven straight losses

The contrast with the summer is huge. 9z reached the quarter-finals of the Cologne Major and in July won the XSE Pro League in Guangzhou. Since then, the team has gone backwards and is now on seven consecutive defeats.

At PGL Masters Bucharest they finished last without winning a match, against Vitality, MOUZ and TYLOO, and at IEM Beijing they again went winless. Ironically, one of the few bright spots of those weeks came from meyern himself, who opened Inferno against TYLOO in Bucharest with a Dual Berettas ace.

9z have not officially explained the reason for the change, though the aim seems clear: a jolt for the team before the biggest event of the year.

history steps in

The choice for the Major is Allan "history" Lawrenz, a Brazilian AWPer without a stable team since RED Canids benched him in March, and who played the Budapest Major with them. After several outlets reported it, 9z confirmed he will play in Singapore as a stand-in.

Alongside him will be Maximiliano "max" González, Franco "dgt" García, Luciano "luchov" Herrera and Matías "HUASOPEEK" Ibáñez, with Bruno "BIT" Fukuda Lima as coach.

"We don't deserve it"

BIT himself was very self-critical after the Bucharest exit. Speaking to Dust2 Brasil, he acknowledged that 9z's Major place comes from results earlier in the year rather than their current level: "We really don't deserve it."

9z, now 17th in the HLTV ranking, will start the Singapore Major in Stage 1 on 24 November.

Source: HLTV, Fragster, Dust2 Brasil.