Edelweiss replaces Tian in Team Empire's roster

Only a few weeks ago, Russian organization, Team Empire announced a roster consisting of Denis "m0z" Kanukov, Vadim "Tian" Filkin, Artem "DieZzz" Lipatov, Seymon "purp0" Borchev, Andrew "braveaf" Gorchakov, and coach, Slozhenikin “Ups” Artyom. While they haven’t shown themselves in a single official appearance, the roster is already making a change, with Tian leaving the active roster and being replaced by former FishkaVTom player, Dmitriy "Edelweiss" Koblov.

Little has been seen of Tian prior to his departure from the squad and the reason for which is still unclear.

His replacement, Edelweiss, is a former PLAYER­UNKNOWN'S BATTLE­GROUNDS professional, primarily known for playing with Se7en eSports, with whom he placed runner up at the PUBG Europe League 2019 Kick-off Cup. He also had many top eight appearances at PUBG Europe League’s Contenders 2019 Phase 1, Promotion 2019 Phase 2, and Promotion 2020 Phase 1.

Transitioning into VALORANT, the Russian played his first few tournaments with AERIS quickly moving on to playing with many mix teams before eventually finding himself on the founding roster of FishkaVTom. Straight after the official release of the game, Edelweiss managed multiple trophy finishes, with victories at ORCs Cup Weekly #6, IMBA SERIES BY WINSTRIKE, Dell Gaming Cup, and Logitech G Beyond Tournament. Even with success, Edelweiss eventually parted ways with the squad.

Following his departure, Edelweiss played GLX EU Battle #4, GLX EU Battle #5, GLX EU Battle #7, and GLX EU Battle #8 with mixed teams, Maple Leaf, tyeasy, and KABAHbl, respectively, but after many unsuccessful runs, he returned to FishkaVTom, taking top four at Dell Gaming Challenge and qualifying for NGL Open Cup. Averaging a 207 ACS and 1.01 KD, he is once again splitting with the squad in favour of joining Team Empire while his ex-teammates sign with Team Singularity.

This player replacement comes ahead of the squad’s debut on November 9th, when they are set to play First Strike CIS: Qualifier A in order to qualify for the CIS First Strike finals. While they haven't shown their capabilities publicly, the roster has some very strong names, the question is whether they will be able to battle against the likes of M3 Champions, Team Singularity, and forZe.

With Edelweiss’ addition, Team Empire is now:

Denis “m0z” Kanukov Dmitry "Edelweiss" Koblov Artem “DieZzz” Lipatov Seymon “purp0” Borchev Andrew “BRAVEAFb0Y” Gorchakov

Slozhenikin “Ups” Artyom (Coach)