In February 2025, SAW officially announced the signing of young British player AZUWU and Polish rifleman cej0t, and former tactical core Golden took over as head coach. This lineup is considered an important step for SAW to move closer to the international CS2 mainstream, and it is also the first time that the Portuguese CS lineup has added non-Portuguese members.
At that time, this lineup was highly expected by the outside world. Not only because AZUWU was active during Endpoint, but also because Golden has rich T1 tactical experience, his joining was interpreted as an important signal that SAW wants to reshape the structure and expand the depth of play.
However, the termination notice three months later seemed to press the “back button”. Not only cej0t and AZUWU were terminated, but Golden was also moved to the bench. The team ended the internationalization plan overnight and returned to the local core lineup. The signal released is worth pondering by the industry.
Data comparison: the results have not improved significantly
How did the team’s “experimental lineup” perform in terms of results? Let’s take a look at the key event data:
| Tournament | Result | Notes |
| ESL Pro League Season 21 | Advanced to Stage 2, beat NaVi | Highlight performance, but isolated |
| IEM Melbourne | Group stage exit | Lost to FlyQuest, lacked cohesion |
| CCT Europe Series 3 | Early elimination | Weak execution and tactical breakdowns |
| RMR Austin Major Qualifier | Failed to qualify | Poor team synergy and communication issues |
From the data, the only bright spot was the victory over NaVi in EPL S21. But this victory was more like a “flash in the pan“, and the subsequent events were mediocre, and even stopped in the early stages many times.
Especially the loss in the RMR game was undoubtedly a setback for a team that planned to impact the Major stage. After the game, some analysts pointed out that “language barriers” and “lack of chemistry within the team” were important reasons for the unstable performance.
Community feedback: more rational support than criticism
On Reddit and the Portuguese local CS community, most players expressed understanding of this change. Although they still have a positive evaluation of AZUWU’s personal ability, most people agree that the team should prioritize stabilizing the foundation.
In particular, one user mentioned: “AZUWU is a talented player, but it is not easy to integrate into a team that mainly speaks Portuguese and has a conservative tactical tone. Although cej0t is stable, his style conflicts with MUTiRiS and others.”
Golden’s departure is generally considered “expected”. Although he has high-level coaching experience on paper, SAW has not shown a significant improvement in the playing style in the three months he has led the team. Instead, it has repeatedly exposed problems such as unclear execution of instructions and chaotic handling of endgames when playing against Tier-2 teams.
Returning to the local lineup, will the old players be re-wearing the uniform?
The current main lineup of the team consists of three Portuguese players: MUTiRiS, story and Ag1l. Shr and roman are still on the bench, but the possibility of returning is not ruled out.
Industry insiders revealed that SAW is likely to try out new players through regional competitions in the next few weeks to maintain the “local 5-man core” and strengthen stability rather than change at the tactical level.
This conservative strategy may not be conducive to reaching the top in the short term, but in the current CS2 competitive landscape, stability is often more important than upsets.
SAW’s three key directions for the future
Tactical standardization: Strengthen situation control through fixed instructions and default layouts to avoid the recurrence of “execution faults”.
Unify the team’s language: This internationalization attempt also exposed the problem of non-native language collaboration. In the future, the team tends to maintain Portuguese communication.
Rebuilding the youth training system: The team management may shift its focus to supporting local Portuguese rookies to build long-term competitiveness.
Conclusion: A rational “strategic retreat”
SAW’s lineup changes seem sudden, but in fact it is a “rational strategic retreat”. The three-month internationalization experiment provides valuable real-life feedback: before building a multi-language tactical framework, rashly promoting globalization will only be counterproductive.
The team’s current return to the Portuguese lineup may not be “gorgeous” enough, but it is more down-to-earth. This also rings a wake-up call for other local teams in the growth stage-blindly recruiting players is not as good as deepening the local culture, and stability is the foundation for a higher stage. For more information about events and cases, please follow Gocsgo blog.