The Finnish squad has decided to part company with Kovanen in the wake of roccat's failure to reach the podium at KODE5 2007 Global Finals, where it finished in 5th-8th place after losing to Meet Your Makers in the Quarter-finals.

Nonetheless, problems inside roccat were noticeable for quite some time now following the team's disastrous campaign at DTS-CUP 2008, where it was not able to pass the group stage.

While at roccat, Kovanen picked up a second-place finish at NGL ONE 2007/2008 Finals and a third-place finish at Extreme Masters LA.

According to roccat manager, Shayan "Shayan" Taleb, changes in the team were necessary for it to go further and mount a serious challenge in the upcoming international events.

"The team had a few arguments so we discussed and decided this was the best," Taleb told GotFrag.com. "No bad feelings between me and Tomi, he's a great guy and he was more than just a player to the team."

Taleb further added that, despite the loss of the team captain, no one will play Kovanen's role in the squad.

"There's no need for a captain as the whole team will step up. Juuso "contE" Sajakoski will take act as in-game leader."

On his future, Kovanen said: "I do not see myself playing competitively anymore, probably going to play some events with Kuppi & co but we'll see what happens, when August rolls around I'll just focus on school."

Meanwhile, roccat confirmed the addition of Samu "plastE" Aalto from Excello. Aalto had been removed from roccat in April following DTS-CUP but he seems to have caught the eyes of the squad once again.

These changes leave roccat with the following line-up:

Niko "naSu" Kovanen
Max "ruuit" Aspe
Juuso "contE" Sajakoski
Tino "tihOp" Puumala
Samu "plastE" Aalto