After more than a month away from the competitive spotlight following the fallout with star killer Spartan and his subsequent bench, eUnited’s Halo The roster has resurfaced to announce a player swap ahead of the HCS online super and Orlando Major in the coming months.

Working with the Kansas City Pioneers, KingNick will be replaced by Manny on the eUnited lineup, while KingNick will take Manny’s place on the Pioneers going forward.

The swap was officially confirmed by eUnited Vice President of Esports, Matthew Potthoff, following the announcement of the new lineup. “These two players have played a huge role in the success of their teams. I believe both will benefit from a new environment,” he said in a series of follow-up tweets. “I want to personally thank Nick for all the hard work, dedication and resilience he has shown while representing eU. We hope he will do great things with KCP.

He also had a lot of praise for newcomer Manny. “I’ve only heard good things from his peers and others,” Potthoff said. “We can’t wait to implement it in our system and see it grow.” Manny had been a key pillar of the Pioneers roster since signing before the launch of Infinite Halo and the team has consistently proven to be a contender for the top four in the North American region.

“The trade was really centered around our drive to improve against the top six standards that we’ve been setting all year,” Pioneers said in its own announcement video welcoming KingNick to the team. “It really started from a leadership perspective. We thought Nick could provide a lot of leadership and really help, you know, make our guys the pros we want them to be.

It comes just days after Pioneers revealed he had been partnership refused status with the HCS. But the signing of new players and the hope of continuing to build on previously established foundations suggests that Pioneers will remain on the scene for the long term. Developer 343 Industries has yet to announce which organizations have successfully applied for a spot in the second round of the HCS Partner Program.

Related: HCS pro Spartan sides after fallout with RyaNoob and eUnited management

Questions remain as to which player will take fourth place on eUnited. The addition of Manny, replacing KingNick, does nothing to remedy the current scenario with Spartan sitting on the bench indefinitely hoping to move on to another team. He was also seen playing with a new FaZe Clan roster in the meantime, which further suggests that eUnited’s hopes of him returning to the starting lineup are fading.

With the NA Online Super just a month away and roster locks roughly two weeks before the event, eUnited is running out of time to finalize its roster going forward.