Sprout replace MOUZ at Elisa Masters Espoo

Ismail "⁠refrezh⁠" Ali and company will travel to Finland for their first outing since exiting the IEM Rio Major.

Elisa have announced that Sprout will be participating at Elisa Masters Espoo, officially entering the fray as a replacement for the previously invited MOUZ.

The LAN event, which runs from November 16-20 in Espoo, Finland, will boast a $200,000 prize pool and offer a spot in the IEM Katowice 2023 play-in for the eventual victor. There currently remains just one spot left to be filled by way of a direct invitation.

refrezh's men will play in Espoo following their 12-14th finish at IEM Rio

MOUZ have withdrawn from the LAN event in Finland due to their ongoing run through the IEM Rio Major. The European combine is set to start their campaign through the Champions Stage of the Valve-sponsored event later on Thursday at 21:30 , having clinched a spot in the playoffs following their 3-2 showing in the Legends Stage with wins over Liquid, Vitality, and ENCE.

Sprout, on the other hand, will travel to Elisa Masters Espoo on the back of their surprise run to the IEM Rio Major. The squad raised eyebrows by securing a Legends Stage berth on the back of their 3-1 run through the Regional Major Ranking event.

While the side around refrezh struggled to keep up their strong form once at the $1,250,000 event in Brazil, only putting up a 1-3 record, they were able to upset and eliminate one of the favourites of the event: Ninjas in Pyjamas. Elisa Masters Espoo will be another big test for refrezh to prove his worth as an in-game leader.

Read more device to skip first tournament with Astralis following return

The event will play host to a handful of top-tier teams, including Major-attending teams like ENCE, BIG, and fnatic. Astralis will also be making the trip to Espoo, but will notably be competing without the newly-signed Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz, instead fielding their academy player Kristoffer "⁠Kristou⁠" Aamand.

The updated team list for Elisa Masters Espoo is as follows:

Astralis
BIG
HEET
HAVU
500
Sprout ENCE
fnatic
GamerLegion
Complexity
SAW
InviteAstralis #18 Andreas 'Xyp9x' HøjslethLukas 'gla1ve' RossanderBenjamin 'blameF' BremerMikkel 'MistR' ThomsenKristoffer 'Kristou' Aamand Ninjas in Pyjamas #13 Patrick 'es3tag' HansenFredrik 'REZ' SternerHampus 'hampus' PoserAleksi 'Aleksib' VirolainenLudvig 'Brollan' Brolin Complexity #19 Johnny 'JT' TheodosiouRicky 'floppy' KemeryHåkon 'hallzerk' FjærliMichael 'Grim' WinceJustin 'FaNg' Coakley Nicolai 'device' Reedtz Age: 27 Team: Astralis Rating 1.0: 1.16 Maps played: 1787 KPR: 0.78 DPR: 0.62 BIG #14 Johannes 'tabseN' WodarzFlorian 'syrsoN' RischeNils 'k1to' GruhneKarim 'Krimbo' MoussaElias 's1n' Stein ENCE #11 Paweł 'dycha' DychaMarco 'Snappi' PfeifferPavle 'Maden' BoškovićValdemar 'valde' Bjørn VangsåÁlvaro 'SunPayus' García ENCE #11 Paweł 'dycha' DychaMarco 'Snappi' PfeifferPavle 'Maden' BoškovićValdemar 'valde' Bjørn VangsåÁlvaro 'SunPayus' García Sprout #26 Ismail 'refrezh' AliFritz 'slaxz-' DietrichRasmus 'Zyphon' NordfossVictor 'Staehr' StaehrLaurențiu 'lauNX' Țârlea 500 #51 Nikolay 'niki1' PantaleevGeorgi 'SHiPZ' GrigorovDenislav 'dennyslaw' DimitrovIvan 'Patrick' IvanovAleks 'Rainwaker' Petrov Kristoffer 'Kristou' Aamand Age: 20 Team: Astralis Talent Rating 1.0: 0.96 Maps played: 423 KPR: 0.65 DPR: 0.68 HAVU #65 Jesse 'zehN' LinjalaJani 'Aerial' JussilaSami 'xseveN' LaasanenJoonas 'doto' ForssJarkko 'spargo' Rahja Ismail 'refrezh' Ali Age: 24 Team: Sprout Rating 1.0: 1.04 Maps played: 1043 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.65 SAW #37 Christopher 'MUTiRiS' FernandesRicardo 'roman' OliveiraTiago 'JUST' MouraJoão 'story' VieiraMichel 'ewjerkz' Pinto Time is adjusted to your selected timezone MOUZ #7 Christopher 'dexter' NongDavid 'frozen' ČerňanskýJon 'JDC' de CastroÁdám 'torzsi' TorzsásDorian 'xertioN' Berman fnatic #16 Freddy 'KRIMZ' JohanssonDion 'FASHR' DerksenNico 'nicoodoz' TamjidiFredrik 'roeJ' JørgensenWilliam 'mezii' Merriman Liquid #3 Nick 'nitr0' CannellaJonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiJosh 'oSee' OhmKeith 'NAF' MarkovicMareks 'YEKINDAR' Gaļinskis GamerLegion #24 Frederik 'acoR' GyldstrandMihai 'iM' IvanNicolas 'Keoz' DgusKamil 'siuhy' SzkaradekIsak 'isak' Fahlén HEET #30 Audric 'JACKZ' JugAlexandre 'bodyy' PianaroThomas 'Djoko' PavoniPierre 'Ex3rcice' BulingeAurélien 'afro' Drapier Vitality #1 Mathieu 'ZywOo' HerbautDan 'apEX' MadesclaireEmil 'Magisk' ReifPeter 'dupreeh' RasmussenLotan 'Spinx' Giladi Astralis #18 Andreas 'Xyp9x' HøjslethLukas 'gla1ve' RossanderNicolai 'device' ReedtzBenjamin 'blameF' BremerMikkel 'MistR' Thomsen