Luís "MIRAA" Mira says the arrival of Roman "roman" Ausserdorfer at Alternate is a step in the right direction but not enough for the team to perform a complete turnover.

On Monday evening, Team Alternate announced the addition of Roman "roman" Ausserdorfer from TBH.eSports, a move many had eagerly been waiting for since... January 21st, when he was removed from the line-up, allegedly because of his lack of motivation.

Ausserdorfer's return to the home where he was so successful comes as something as natural as breathing, taking into account that still today no-one really understands why he was shown the door in the first place.

He had been linked with a move towards Alternate even before Martin "fleks" Wehrmann's departure in late December and everyone knew it would be almost impossible for TBH.eSports to retain the services of their most important asset in the close-season: Ausserdorfer is just too good for TBH.

Ausserdorfer is one of those players that are a joy to watch, that make people connect to HLTV's just to see them in action. And a player of such calibre deserves to be on every major tournament.

One year away from Alternate seemed to give the former mTw talent plenty of time to wonder what had happened to his career and to reflect on where he truly belonged. 

In truth, Ausserdorfer's absence was something Alternate could never get over, to the point that, in the aftermath of every shock defeat - and they were quite a few - people would ask, "Where is roman?"

The team that wore the Alternate shirt in 2008 was nothing more than a shadow of the team that had lifted the WSVG title two years before: different players, that is a fact, but also a very, very different spirit.

Even being a mix team, 2006's squad managed to defeat the world's then-best names, whereas 2008's team finished third in domestic competition for the second season in a row.

Alternate looked as if they had no soul and their players were apathetic, distant from what was happening and worried about anything but the outcome of their matches. This played a leading role in the team's disastrous year.

That and the fact that most of their players have been underperforming for quite some time now. In fact, Manuel "approx" Zeitz is the only one that really deserves to be kept out of this paragraph, having been the top fragger at EPS Finals even though his team finished in third place.

Jan "mooN" Stolle, who used to have his own legion of fans, has been far away from his prime, while Roman "Roman R." Reinhardt is confirming his status as a declining force as most of his performances at Alternate have bordered on the mediocre.

Is Ausserdorfer's return vital for Alternate's plans to return to the European elite? Definitely. But that alone won't be enough as the team needs to solve some issues that go beyond the fifth player they needed. Or 2009 will just bring more of the same.

Photo by Julia Christophers