Leonid “chopper” Vishnyakov is the Russian in-game leader who captained Spirit to the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 and eight other big trophies around the young star donk. He joined Spirit in 2019 as a rifler, learned to lead on the job and played for the organization for almost seven years.
After Spirit benched him in December 2025, he did not look for a new team. He took a break, started streaming and casting, and in 2026 said his playing career might be over.
Player profile
- Name: Leonid Vishnyakov
- Born: February 4, 1997
- Nationality: Russian
- Role: In-game leader, rifler
- Team: Spirit (since March 2019, on the bench since December 18, 2025)
- Former teams: Vega Squadron (2016 to 2019) and smaller CIS teams
- Major title: Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024
- Nickname: Lenya, the common Russian short form of Leonid
The Vega years
After a string of small CIS teams, chopper joined Vega Squadron in November 2016. He played four Majors with Vega, from Kraków 2017 to Katowice 2019, without getting past ninth place. His best result came at StarSeries & i-League Season 6 in 2018, where Vega lost the final 3-2 and he was named an HLTV EVP.
Learning to lead at Spirit
Spirit signed chopper in March 2019. He had been a rifler until then, and at Spirit he became the captain. Spirit’s talent scout Aleksei “OverDrive” Birukov later described the change on HLTV Confirmed.
As we remember, chopper was a rifler. Then, when he came to Spirit, he became the captain, and he needed about two years to become a good captain.
The early Spirit teams won DreamHack Open January 2021, but the big events were out of reach. After an early exit at the PGL Major Stockholm 2021, chopper was moved to the bench in November 2021. He was back in February 2022, and three months later Spirit reached the semi-finals of the PGL Major Antwerp 2022, his first Major playoff run.
Building around donk
After missing the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023, Spirit promoted donk from the academy in July 2023 and signed sh1ro at the end of the year. chopper’s system now had to give a teenager with extraordinary aim as much room as possible.
It worked quickly. Spirit won BetBoom Dacha Dubai in December 2023 and followed it with IEM Katowice 2024, the BLAST Premier Spring Final 2024 and BetBoom Dacha Belgrade Season 2.
Major champion in Shanghai
At the Perfect World Shanghai Major in December 2024, Spirit came back to beat MOUZ 2-1 in the semi-final, with chopper winning key duels on Mirage. After donk’s weak opener, he told HLTV what the team had said to the star.
I had no doubt that on a different map he would dominate. He’s the best, and the best never give up.
On December 15, 2024, Spirit beat FaZe 2-1 in the final. After the trophy lift, chopper answered a promise he had made on X in November 2021, after Spirit’s exit in Stockholm.
The trophy year
In 2025, Spirit won the BLAST Bounty Season 1 Finals in January, PGL Astana in May, IEM Cologne in August with a 3-0 final against MOUZ, and the BLAST Bounty Season 2 Finals two weeks later with a 3-0 win over The MongolZ.
The Majors went less well. MOUZ knocked Spirit out in the quarter-finals of the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025, and magixx was benched for zweih in July. At the StarLadder Budapest Major in December 2025, Spirit beat MOUZ and Falcons but lost the semi-final 2-0 to Vitality.
Benched and stepping away
On December 18, 2025, Spirit benched chopper and zweih. zont1x returned, and magixx took over as in-game leader.
A day later, chopper announced on Telegram that he would take a break until the summer. He called the decision a “logical conclusion to my journey,” according to HLTV, and thanked head coach Sergey “hally” Shavaev and CEO Nikita Chukalin.
He used the break to stream and cast. In March 2026, he explained on the Russian podcast Smol Talk why a comeback was not a given, as reported by HLTV.
The feelings are not the same, the spark is sometimes not there.
He also said one dream was left: to build a team himself as captain, together with a coach. In September 2026, he played his first competitive event since the benching, WINLINE MPKBK CIS LAN Season 8 in Saint Petersburg, with a mixed lineup of former pros and media personalities that included Ilya “Perfecto” Zalutskiy. The team lost 2-0 to UPGRADE in the quarter-finals. Spirit, now led by magixx, won PGL Astana 2026 and reached the semi-finals of the IEM Cologne Major 2026 without him.
Biggest results
- Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024: 1st
- IEM Katowice 2024: 1st
- IEM Cologne 2025: 1st
- PGL Astana 2025: 1st
- BLAST Bounty Season 1 Finals 2025: 1st
- BLAST Bounty Season 2 Finals 2025: 1st
- BLAST Premier Spring Final 2024: 1st
- BetBoom Dacha Belgrade Season 2 (2024): 1st
- BetBoom Dacha Dubai 2023: 1st
Major record
| Major | Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| PGL Major Kraków 2017 | Vega Squadron | 15th to 16th |
| ELEAGUE Major Boston 2018 | Vega Squadron | 9th to 11th |
| FACEIT Major London 2018 | Vega Squadron | 12th to 14th |
| IEM Katowice Major 2019 | Vega Squadron | 20th to 22nd |
| PGL Major Stockholm 2021 | Spirit | 17th to 19th |
| PGL Major Antwerp 2022 | Spirit | 3rd to 4th |
| IEM Rio Major 2022 | Spirit | 5th to 8th |
| PGL Major Copenhagen 2024 | Spirit | 5th to 8th |
| Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 | Spirit | 1st |
| BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 | Spirit | 5th to 8th |
| StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 | Spirit | 3rd to 4th |
Settings and gear
chopper’s settings as listed by ProSettings.net in October 2026.
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Mouse | VAXEE ZYGEN NP-01S V2 Wireless |
| DPI | 800 |
| Sensitivity | 0.7 |
| eDPI | 560 |
| Zoom sensitivity | 1 |
| Polling rate | 1000 Hz |
| Resolution | 1920×1080 (16:9, native) |
His crosshair is a small, static green cross without a dot or outline.
FAQ
How old is chopper?
chopper was born on February 4, 1997.
What team does chopper play for?
chopper played for Spirit from March 2019 and captained the team until December 18, 2025, when he was moved to the bench. He then took a break from top-level play to stream and cast.
Has chopper won a Major?
Yes. He won the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 as Spirit’s in-game leader, beating FaZe 2-1 in the final.
What is chopper’s role?
chopper is an in-game leader. He was a rifler before he became Spirit’s captain.
What is chopper’s real name?
His real name is Leonid Vishnyakov, and he is from Russia.
