Bad News Eagles have confirmed that two-time CS:GO Major winner Jonatan ‘Devilwalk’ Lundberg is the team’s new head coach.
The news comes as little surprise as Devilwalk had been spotted in Bad News Eagles’ practice server multiple times in the past six weeks.
The Swedish coach will fill the slot left vacant by Klesti ‘stikle-’ Kola, who left the team at the start of December, citing “different visions and aspirations for the future of the team”. Stikle- also noted that he wanted to take some time off to get his health in order after a stressful year.
It’s official, Major winning player & coach @DevilwalkCSGOD joins Bad News Eagles!#bNE🦅 pic.twitter.com/56lG36pphq
— GUILD EAGLES (@_badnewseagles) January 20, 2023
Devilwalk brings in a wealth of experience to Bad News Eagles, an unsigned team that defied all expectations by reaching the Legends Stage of the last two Majors. At IEM Rio, they managed to knock out then-reigning Major champions FaZe before losing to NAVI in an elimination match, bowing out of the tournament in 13th-14th place.
Devilwalk joins Bad News Eagles
A former CS:GO pro, Devilwalk is the only person to have won a CS:GO Major as a player (DreamHack Winter 2013) and as a coach (ESL One: Katowice 2015). On both occasions, he represented fnatic.
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“Joining BNE is something I thought long and hard about,” he told Dexerto. “We don’t have an organization, I’ve been in this position before and it’s not easy to maintain the motivation to keep improving, but through it all they have kept going forward and working hard.
“This really makes me want to be with him and join them on this journey, against all odds. When I first spoke to them at Elisa Masters, we talked about CS philosophy and what they were missing. Listening to them, I instantly felt that I would be a really good fit. I think the potential outweighs payment at this point and that I would regret it if I chose money over my beliefs. That’s why I chose BNE over anyone else.”
Currently ranked 17th in the world, according to HLTV.org, Bad News Eagles will be participating in ESL Challenger League Season 44 before the qualifying process for the BLAST.tv Paris Major begins.
Esports host James Banks, who is helping the players find an organization, recently rejected rumors linking the team with GODSENT, who announced on January 13 their return to CS:GO with an all-Swedish lineup.