Spotlight on the Top 20: Gambit

In this series, we take a look at the teams that finished 2020 in the Top 20 rankings. Today we take a look at number 15.

Name: Gambit

Origin: Russia

Gambit has had a phenomenal 2020 season, presenting one strong performance after another, even though the organization have had to undergo a major generational change. The Russian team have clocked in no more than 8 titles (A-B tier events) throughout the year with the victory at DreamHack Open November as their peak performance. 

In the start of October, the historical team decided to promote their academy Gambit Youngsters to be the main team. Something, they haven’t regretted – Because, the youngsters quickly adapted into a fully-grown and potent CS:GO team, which were more than able to compete against the very elite. 

Active roster:

Vladislav “nafany” Gorshkov

Dmitri “sh1ro” Sokolov

Timofey “interz” Yakushin

Sergey “Ax1Le” Rykhtorov

Abay “Hobbit” Khassenov 

Transfers in 2020:

In: -

Out: - 

Highlight of the year:

DreamHack Open November Grand Final 3-1 vs. Spirit. 

After winning LOOT.BET Season 8 and Nine to Five 6, Gambit came into the tournament as heavy favourites and with tons of confidence. The Russian youngsters cruised through the event in dominant style, by only giving up one map throughout the entire campaign. It all culminated in the Grand Final against another strong CIS team in Spirit, where Gambit demonstrated their huge potential by smashing Spirit 16-2, 16-5, and 16-8. 

A tournament which cemented Dmitri “sh1ro” Sokolov as one of the most promising and exciting talents in the game of CS:GO. The 19-year old AWPer topped the rankings, presenting a stellar 1.38 rating throughout the event. 

The future:

Gambit holds a staggering 20.9 average player age, with only interz and Hobbit having reached their 20th birthday. Combined with their strong results in 2020, and their entry on the top of CS:GO, Gambit are facing a great and promising future. 

They have been invited for the prestigious play-in tournament, which will grand a spot at the important $1.000.000 prize pool event of IEM Katowice. A tournament, that features strong teams as mousesports, Liquid and Complexity, which means that Gambit’s powerful duo of sh1ro and Ax1Le have to bring their A-game.

Spotlight on the Top 20:

20: GODSENT [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/news/spotlight-top-20-godsent/"}]

19: Spirit [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/news/spotlight-top-20-spirit/"}]

18: CHAOS [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/news/spotlight-top-20-chaos/"}]

17: Ninjas in Pyjamas [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/news/spotlight-top-20-ninjas-pyjamas/"}]

16: Evil Geniuses [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/news/spotlight-top-20-evil-geniuses/"}]