The CIS Hope have been formed, constructed with players from the Russian-speaking Commonwealth of Independent States. The roster has signed up for the European Open Division, with the intention of entering Contenders Europe through Trials.

The lineup mixes together former members of some of Overwatch's most memorable Russian-speaking rosters. kensi and sharyk were once teammates on ANOX, Russia's top team in the late summer of 2016. Both players competed with the team in the Overwatch Open.

Engh, MayN, and Txao all played for Tornado Rox/Seqta, the rosters that became the best in Eastern Europe following the disbandment of ANOX.

While uNFixed has only played with Russian-speaking teams during his time participating in World Cup play, he'll still be able to find a familiar face on the team, sharyk, who he competed alongside on the most recent eUnited lineup.

The team is currently looking for an organisation to represent. In the meantime, they will be attempting to qualify for Contenders through the Open Division and subsequently Contenders Trials.

CIS Hope enters the European space with:

  • Artem "kensi" Budiak (DPS)
  • Andrei "uNFixed" Leonov (DPS)
  • Ilya "Txao" Makarov (Flex)
  • / Normund "sharyk" Faterins (Tank)
  • Andrey "Engh Sholokhov (Support)
  • Alexander "MayN Mukhin (Support)
  • Dmitry "Slimer" Shaposhnikov (Coach)