Mousesports Opts Out of EPICENTER

Mousesports opted not to attend EPICENTER 2018, it revealed in announcement published Sunday, citing a packed schedule.

The organization made its announcement via Twitter, and apologized to fans in Moscow. The Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team is not the first to have received an invitation to the event and bowed out, as the second team invited to the event, Astralis, announced the same decision Oct. 2.

We‘ve decided to skip @epicentergg 2018 in Moscow, due to a very packed schedule ahead of us. Sorry to all fans in Moscow, we’ll see you another day! pic.twitter.com/ncKpCr0v0r

— mousesports (@mousesports) 14 октября 2018 г.

Mousesports' announcement comes amid reports that its lineup will undergo major changes, as the team may be considering benching star player Janusz "Snax" Pogorzelski after buying his contract from Virtus.pro June 27 for a reported $290,000.

Mousesports last competed at StarSeries Season 6, where it picked up a disappointing ninth-11th place finish after losing to BIG. That placement and a 15th-16th place loss at the FACEIT London Major appear to be dimming the shine on the ESL One New York victory that the team earned between the two poor finishes.