xertioN on forming an Israelian dream team: I would love that to happen

In the realm of competitive Counter-Strike, Israel is witnessing a flourishing golden generation of talent, led by star players like Lotan “Spinx” Giladi and Shahar “flameZ” Shushan from Vitality, alongside MOUZ’s Dorian “xertioN” Berman.

Joining these formidable names are Heroic’s super rifler Guy “NertZ” Iluz and the red-hot Cloud9 prospect Nikita "HeavyGod" Martynenko, showcasing the depth and skill of Israeli players right now.

An Israeli super team?

In a recent interview with Duncan "Thorin" Shields, Dorian "xertioN" Berman talks about the rapid development of the Israelian scene, where he also expressed his enthusiasm for the prospect of creating a national super team someday in his career by teaming up with fellow Israeli players.

- Obviously, I care about that aspect because I’m proud to represent my nation. I think we have great players, but as you said, we will need to think about the roles if it happens one day. Because we laugh a lot in my team that we [Israeli players] play the same roles and share the same tactics. But down the line, I would love to play with them. I love every single one of them - like HeavyGod, NertZ, Spinx and flameZ, they are all incredibly cool people, xertioN says in the interview.

During the conversation with Thorin, the MOUZ youngster emphasizes the strong camaraderie and unity among Israel's top players compared to other nations.

- I’m just happy we have this Israeli scene because I think there is a lot of competition for instance Denmark. They have so many good IGLs and there is so many good players, like they are not friends. Because our scene is smaller we on player break would go out and eat together in restaurants or sit down for a barbecue – just to chill and talk about CS. So of course, down the line, it would be a pleasure to play with these guys, but obviously, it’s impossible to know.

A list of notable Israelian CS players, showcasing the insane firepower coming out of the otherwise small Counter-Strike nation:

Shahar “flameZ” Shushan (21 years) – Rifler for Vitality

Dorian “xertioN” Berman (19 years) – Rifler for MOUZ

Guy “NertZ” Iluz (24 years) – Rifler for Heroic

Nikita "HeavyGod" Martynenko (21 years) – Rifler for OG (rumoured to join Cloud9)

Guy "anarkez" Trachtman (24 years) – AWPer for BC.Game Esports

Maoz "BluePho3nix" Paz (23 years) – In-game leader for Young Ninjas

Where did that come from?

When speaking with Thorin, xertioN also touched on the remarkable growth of the Israeli Counter-Strike scene, which transformed from having zero top-tier players to suddenly fostering several promising talents for multiple top 10 teams.

- It was crazy how the growth of the Israeli scene happened. We had no teams or players even close, and then Spinx suddenly started rising like crazy and then flameZ joined him. NertZ was a great player as well but he had to finish his military service, so he had to take a step back. But now you can see he’s an amazing player. There’s also HeavyGod, xertioN says and continues:

- To be honest, I don’t think there’s any magic behind it. I just think that we all are extreme grinders. Like we all went through playing premium, a lot of FACEIT games, 10-15 games a day, playing FPL C. I just think it was down to hustle. We wanted it really much and yeah, it just came out like that, I guess.

You can watch the entire xertioN interview by Thorin in the video below.