Akrew signs ZachaREEE after trial

With Stage 1 of VCT 2022 coming to an end with the conclusion of VCT 2022 - North America - Stage 1 - Main Event, many teams have started reflecting on the status of their rosters to prepare for the upcoming Stage. Amongst the first teams to introduce roster changes is Akrew, which is bringing on Zachary "ZachaREEE" Lombardo to fulfil the spot once occupied by Corbin Daniel "C0M" Lee.

Akrew had been on a streak before participation in Knights Arena VALORAMPAGE - Main Event having won 4 back-to-back events, including Pittsburgh Knights Monthly Gauntlet 2021 - December: Frozen Gauntlet after beating ex-Flickbaiters in the Finals. Akrew had also won NSG 2022 Winter Championship - Online Open 6, 8 and 9 dropping only 3 maps in total throughout those 3 events, 2 of which were at the hands of Kansas City Pioneers and the other against YFP.

Even though they managed to qualify for Playoffs of Knights Arena VALORAMPAGE - Main Event, they had the misfortune of having their initial matchup against Cloud9, especially since that team went on to win the tournament. Following this loss, they tried their luck in the Open Qualifiers, but their efforts were futile in both tournaments placing 5th-6th and 7th-8th respectively. Despite being barred from competing for a spot at VCT 2022 - Stage 1 - Masters Reykjavík, they had an opportunity to redeem themselves at NSG 2022 Winter Championship - Finals. Once again, they were able to make the Playoffs and even managed to reach the Semi-Finals only to be eliminated by Pittsburgh Knights.

A month after the loss, Corbin Daniel "C0M" Lee announced his status as a restricted F/A for the team suggesting a potential roster change in the upcoming weeks. This theory was further reinstated when the team competed in BoomTV Proving Grounds - #3 with a full roster consisting of Zachary "ZachaREEE" Lombardo, a former member of the FaZe Clan roster. It became evident that ZachaREEE was trialling for the team and could eventually become a part of the permanent roster. However, there wasn’t any official announcements regarding the matter until today’s tweet.

ZachaREEE had been a member of the FaZe roster since July 2020 and was contributed to the team’s several noteworthy performances throughout 2021. They had one of the best Stage 1 performances in the region with 1st place in VCT 2021 - Stage 1 - North America - Challengers 3 and 2nd in VCT 2021 - Stage 1 - North America Masters. Furthermore, they also finished among the top 10 teams in the North American region according to circuit points which secured them a spot in VCT 2021 - North America Last Chance Qualifier; however, they couldn’t make it past the first round of the tournament. In the tournament he played under the Akrew banner, he was spotted playing 4 different agents, including Killjoy on Haven & Ascent, Brimstone on Bind, Viper on Icebox, and Sage on Split. In hindsight, this strategy was likely employed to test ZachaREEE’s fit into the team's current composition and ability to play different agents.

THESPIKE.GG caught up with ZachaREEE to get a few words from him:

"I haven’t been able to compete since the end of 2021, so I’m really excited for the opportunity to be able to get back into the server with the guys on Akrew. Watching this past Challengers event has me itching to play again and get back to the top"

Following this change, the Akrew roster is as follows:

Lincoln "Linte" Marshall (Manager)