Two weeks after he helped EG.US win the first qualifier in the X3O series, Ryan "NineSpot" Bell has officially been added to the team. The team had recently re-added long time members Robert “Ph0bius” Irey and Matt “Lim” Beahan following the fallout with Kevin "aZn" Wang. However, the inability of both players to commit to the upcoming summer LAN season forced the team to look elsewhere.

"The past couple of months have been hectic in our team, with phobius and lim both finding out they wouldn't be able to travel much this summer," said team captain Nazar "Steno" Vynnytsky. "Finally we have now found the 5th that we've wanted for a long time."

Bell, a long time member of x3o, had recently come off a seven month stint playing CS: Source. However, after failing to become drafted by one of the CGS teams this season, he decided to move back to the game he prefers.

"Not being drafted into CGS was a big disappointment for me," said Bell. When I received the offer to join a top 1.6 team under a great organization I couldn't pass that up."

With x3o and EG having such an intense rivalry, even dating back to when Bell played 1.6 for the organization, it seems a bit strange to see him now switch sides. According to Vynnytsky, the decision to acquire Bell was not an impulse decision, and he had been a prime choice for quite some time.

"I always keep my eyes open and look around, and when it comes to Ryan, I can honestly say that I've had my eye on him for a long time and we've all been wanting to play with him for quite a while," he said.

While Bell showed he was a good fit for the team by jumping into the lineup and helping the team take out some stifling competition at the X3O series qualifier late last month, it still took some time for him to be officially added to the squad.

"After we won the x3o tournament a lot of people were expecting the roster change," said Bell. "EG has had it's fair share of problems with finding a permanent 5th with ph0bius, aZn, and Lim. They didn't want to rush it and wanted to make sure it was the right move."

With such a long history playing for x3o, Bell leaves behind not only teammates, but his friends and his roommate, manager Nick Fitz.

"A few of them took it hard, but the majority had no hard feelings and understood why I was leaving," said Bell.

Former teammate Tarik "rockyte" Elkhatib had this to say about Bell's departure, "I'm sorry to see Ryan go. He will be a missed friend and teammate. We've been through the ups and downs of CS together."

Bell is optimistic about his future with his new team. They will continue to compete CEVO Professional, as well as several upcoming events this summer.

"My goal is for us to reach our highest potential as a team," said Bell. " I know with such a great organization as EG we can go a long way. I'd like to thank all of our sponsors; Intel, Razer, Stoked Energy, and Kingston. Also like to thank my girlfriend Jaye for always being supportive. Visit www.myeg.net to follow the team as we prepare for Kode5 finals in Moscow, Russia."

With this change, the EG.USA roster is now:

Nazar “Steno” Vynnytsky
Jordan “n0thing” Gilbert
Michael “chE” Guevara
Scott “evolution” Cavallero
Ryan "NineSpot" Bell
Matt "Lim" Beahan Back up
Robert “Ph0bius” Irey Back up

Source: myeg.ca