Gentle Mates exits CS; Spanish roster competes as Iberian Soul

Gentle Mates has withdrawn from Counter-Strike and stopped backing the Spanish roster it acquired in 2025.

The players are competing under the Iberian Soul name in the open LAN qualifier for the Esports World Cup while the organization negotiates a possible sale of the roster.

Gentle Mates acquired the squad in 2025. The team won IstanbuLAN and finished runner-up at Radio Popular Roman Imperium Cup II, Roman Imperium Cup V and LORGAR RANKINGS Season 1. The roster placed in the top four at Perfect World CS Challenge Series 2, StarLadder StarSeries Fall and Roman Imperium Cup III.

At higher-profile events the squad did not progress past the group stage at PGL Astana, IEM Rio, ESL Pro League and PGL Bucharest. A period of inactivity followed and the team failed to qualify for IEM Cologne and the Major.

Roster changes continued during the off-season. Antonio ‘MartinezSa’ Martinez joined HEROIC. Eloy ‘deLonge’ Suárez is a free agent. The lineup competing as Iberian Soul on LAN is Alejandro ‘alex’ Masanet, Alejandro ‘mopoz’ Fernández-Quejo Cano, Pere ‘sausol’ Solsona Saumell, David ‘dav1g’ Granado Bermudo and stand-in Joey ‘CRUC1AL’ Steusel. Daniel ‘djL’ Narancic is serving as coach.

Gentle Mates has entered negotiations to sell the roster and will refrain from further support in Counter-Strike while talks continue.

The players aim to qualify for the Esports World Cup through the open LAN qualifier; results of the qualifier and the sale negotiations will determine the roster’s next steps.