For many Counter-Strike players it’s a well-known fact that on the iconic Inferno you can stand in the corner of pit and survive the bomb explosion – well if you have a good amount of health.

An individual who certainly knows this is the legendary Mikhail "Dosia" Stolyarov. The renowned Russian is a huge character within CS:GO and he’s the man behind one of the most iconic moments in the history of the game.

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In the Grand Final at PGL Major Kraków in 2017, Gambit's Dosia tossed a perfectly placed grenade down to that exact above mentioned corner in pit on Inferno. The nade exploded right in the face of two Immortals player, which made them die to the bomb. A completely genius act!

The throw itself isn’t that hard. But to have the brains and coolness to calculate such a brilliant move on the biggest stage of CS:GO is what makes it so legendary.

Valve decided to immortalize the play by hanging up a poster depicting Dosia's grenade and placed it right where it exploded. If you ever have a second to spare on Inferno, then be sure to check out the cool tribute to one of the most historic and famous CS:GO plays. 

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"tournaments/dosia_grafe_ehai7p","originalWidth":1000,"originalHeight":563,"cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: Valve"}]

You can find our entire Graffiti Series right here:

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Dosia

We are less than two weeks away from the start of the BLAST.tv Paris Major. To ease the waiting time, we have created a countdown series, where we dive into the history of all 18 Majors.

Winner: Ninjas in Pyjamas $100.00 (f0rest, Fifflaren, friberg, GeT_RiGhT, Xizt)

MVP: [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/friberg","isNewTab":true,"text":"Adam 'friberg' Friberg"}]

Map pool: Dust2, Inferno, Mirage, Nuke, Cache, Overpass, and Cobblestone

Big changes had happened before the start of ESL One Cologne 2014. The map pool of the tournament had seen a major overhaul with Train being removed, while Cache, Cobblestone, and Overpass were added. Overpass had only recently been introduced in the game, which gave way for some controversy before the start of the Major.

Once again Ninjas in Pyjamas was deemed one of the top favorites before the tournament. The Swedes had lost the Grand Final at a Major twice in a row, but with Christopher 'GeT_RiGhT' Alesund back in shape, the expectations were sky-high for the Swedes. Next in line was the previous champions from Virtus.pro, while Dignitas, Natus Vincere, Titan, and Fnatic were in the group of potential outsiders for the trophy.

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From the get-go, it was two French teams who stole the spotlight. Team LDLC smashed Group B and qualified in first place for the playoffs. Epsilon repeated the feat in Group A upsetting tournament favorites from Ninjas in Pyjamas. The French roster (fxy0, GMX, kioShiMa, Sf, shox) destroyed NIP 16-6 on Cobblestone to claim first place in the group. This raised the question about NIP's candidacy for the CSGO throne. The Swedes made it through their group and were now paired with the high-flying Cloud9 in the first round of the playoffs.

Fnatic narrowly edged out Natus Vincere, while Epsilon was put to rest by Dignitas (aizy, device, dupreeh, FeTiSh, Xyp9x). The reigning champions Virtus.pro were upset by Team LDLC, while all eyes were set on the last Quarter-Final. In an intense and dramatic match, Ninjas in Pyjamas fought the North Americans in a ferocious battle that ended 2-1 in the favor of the Swedes. 

Fnatic qualified for the Grand Final with a clear 2-0 win against Dignitas. Would it be another all-Swedish final? NIP once again lost the first map, after Team LDLC won on Inferno. But again NIP fought back and forced the match onto Cobblestone, where NIP edged out their opponents 16-14.  

The two Swedish rivals, Fnatic and Ninjas in Pyjamas were ready for their second encounter in a Major Grand Final. This time NIP started off by winning Fnatic's map pick, but then went on to lose Cache. Inferno was set as the decider. Adam 'friberg' Friberg cemented his nickname "King of Banana" with an incredible ace to revive the Ninjas from a poor start. The support player was later named MVP of the tournament. NIP won the title by defeating Fnatic 16-13 and could raise the trophy for the first and so far only time. Notable was the fact, that none of the five NIP players ended the tournament as one of the top 10 best rated players, which also told the story about a tournament filled with ups and downs for the Swedish roster.

Highest-rated players at ESL One Cologne 2014:

1. {cflag:US} Braxton 'swag' Pierce (iBUYPOWER) - 1.43

2. {cflag:FR} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/apex","isNewTab":false,"text":"Dan 'apEX' Madesclaire"}] (LDLC) - 1.38

3. {cflag:RU} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/dosia","isNewTab":true,"text":"Mikhail 'Dosia' Stolyarov"}] (Hellraisers) - 1.35

4. {cflag:FR} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/kioshima","isNewTab":true,"text":"Fabien 'kioShiMa' Fiey"}] (Epsilon) - 1.33

5. {cflag:FR} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/kennys","isNewTab":true,"text":"Kenny 'kennyS' Schrub"}] (Titan) - 1.28

6. {cflag:PL} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/snax","isNewTab":true,"text":"Janusz 'Snax' Pogorzelski"}] (Virtus.pro) - 1.27

7. {cflag:SE} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/flusha","isNewTab":true,"text":"Robin 'flusha' Rönnquist"}] (Fnatic) - 1.24

8. {cflag:UA} Ioann 'Edward' Sukhariev (Natus Vincere) - 1.22

9. {cflag:FR} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/shox","isNewTab":true,"text":"Richard 'shox' Papillon"}] (Epsilon) - 1.21

10. {cflag:SE} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/olofmeister","isNewTab":true,"text":"Olof 'olofmeister' Kajbjer Gustafsson"}] (Fnatic) - 1.19

Tomorrow we take a look at the DreamHack Winter 2014 tournament.

friberg

olofmeister

Snax

apEX

shox

Fnatic

Ninjas in Pyjamas

We are less than two weeks away from the start of BLAST.tv Major in Paris. To ease the waiting time, we have created a countdown series, where we dive into the history of all the previous 18 Majors.

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MVP: Jarosław "pashaBiceps" Jarząbkowski

Map pool: Dust2, Inferno, Mirage, Nuke, and Train.

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"tournaments/IEM_Katowice_ESL_k3ikvh","originalWidth":2048,"originalHeight":1152,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: ESL IEM Katowice"}]

The second Major in history took place in March 2014. The venue was the now legendary Spodek Arena in Katowice, Poland. Once again 16 teams were gathered to determine, who was the best team in Counter-Strike right now? Since the first Major in Jönköping, VeryGames (Now Titan) had only improved. The roster (Ex6TenZ, NBK, ScreaM, shox, SmithZz) was dubbed tournament favorites going into the Major. The Swedish Ninjas were also among the top favorites while reigning champions from Fnatic were once again considered underdogs compared to Titan and NIP.

Group A delivered the first upset with tournament favorites Titan's exit. A 16-7 loss to Virtus.pro shocked the French/Belgian roster, who had to win the elimination match against HellRaisers to survive. But another loss forced the star-studded roster to be eliminated before the playoffs. Instead the only Polish team in the tournament, Virtus.pro made it through in first place. The roster (TaZ, NEO, pashaBiceps, byali, Snax) had only recently been assembled, but everything seemed to be clicking on home turf.

In the playoffs Virtus.pro annihilated Team LDLC 16-3, 16-8. Now all eyes were on the home crowd's favorites. Fnatic was eliminated in the Quarter-Finals, while Ninjas in Pyjamas once again had qualified for the Grand Final. This time by beating Team Dignitas with three of the legendary Astralis core (Xyp9x, dupreeh, device) on the roster.

Virtus.pro lost their first and only map in the whole event in the Semi-Final against LGB esports (with Olofmeister on the roster), but managed to win the match 2-1 to make it to the Grand Final.

You can watch the entire Grand Final between NIP vs Virtus.pro here.

The Grand Final ended with total Polish domination. The underdogs continued their miracle run in front of an ecstatic crowd. 16-9 and 16-10 were the stone-cold facts for Ninjas in Pyjamas, who lost their second consecutive Major final. Jarosław "pashaBiceps" Jarząbkowski was awarded the tournament MVP with an immense 1.38 HLTV rating.

Virtus.pro continued to dominate CS:GO in the years to come. They earned themselves the nickname of "The Plow". They never won a Major again though.

Highest rated players at EMS One Katowice 2014:

1. {cflag:PL} Jarosław 'pashaBiceps' Jarząbkowski (Virtus.pro) - 1.38 rating

2. {cflag:SE} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/get-right","isNewTab":true,"text":"Christopher 'GeT_RiGhT' Alesund"}] (Ninjas in Pyjamas) - 1.33 rating

3. {cflag:PL} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/byali","isNewTab":true,"text":"Paweł 'byali' Bieliński"}] (Virtus.pro) - 1.31 rating

4. {cflag:DK} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/cajunb","isNewTab":true,"text":"René 'cajunb' Borg"}] (Dignitas) - 1.27 rating

5. {cflag:FR} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/shox","isNewTab":true,"text":"Richard 'shox' Papillon"}] (Titan) - 1.26 rating

6. {cflag:SE} Andreas 'znajder' Lindberg (Fnatic) - 1.25 rating

7. {cflag:SE} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/flusha","isNewTab":true,"text":"Robin 'flusha' Rönnquist"}] (Fnatic) - 1.25 rating

8. {cflag:PL} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/snax","isNewTab":true,"text":"Janusz 'Snax' Pogorzelski"}] (Virtus.pro) - 1.20 rating

9. {cflag:RU} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/dosia","isNewTab":true,"text":"Mikhail 'Dosia' Stolyarov"}] (HellRaisers) - 1.18 rating

10. {cflag:PL} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/neo","isNewTab":true,"text":"Filip 'NEO' Kubski"}] (Virtus.pro) - 1.16 rating

Tomorrow we will be back with ESL Cologne 2014!

GeT_RiGhT

byali

cajunb

flusha

Virtus.pro

Team Dignitas

We are now less than one week away from the start of the much-awaited IEM Rio Major in Brazil. To ease the waiting time, we have created a countdown series, where we dive into the history of all 17 Majors. Today we have reached PGL Major Kraków 2017.

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 Gambit (Hobbit, AdreN, Dosia, Zeus, mou)

 Cache, Cobblestone, Inferno, Mirage, Nuke, Overpass, Train.

PGL Major Kraków 2017 was the eleventh CS:GO Major tournament in the history of the game and was held from July 16 – July 23, 2017 in the TAURON Arena in Kraków Poland. Like the three previous Majors, this one also featured a total prize pool of $1,000,000 with 16 teams competing for the lions share.

Back when Gambit were formed, the roster consisted of a mix of unproven rookies and legends that were supposedly past their prime. They had their work cut out for them to prove their worth in-game. However, running rampant at tournaments like DreamHack Winter Open 2016, Gambit dominated their competition. This event saw them rip apart Renegades in a dominating 2-0 Grand final.

Gambit continued to impress and slowly made a name for themselves throughout the early half of 2017, and in events, they obliterated the likes of fnatic and Astralis, making it clear that they had no intention of slowing down. Finally proving themselves to the Counter-Strike world, Gambit took home the victory at PGL Major Kraków 2017 against Immortals in the Grand final and became the first CIS team to ever win a Major. Gambit shocked the entire CS:GO scene as many expected an early exit from them.

One thing the Counter-Strike community especially remembers from the Grand final at the PGL Major Kraków 2017 is Mikhail “Dosia” Stolyarov’s legendary grenade.  

For many CS:GO players it’s a well-known fact that, on the iconic Inferno, you can stand in the corner of pit and survive the bomb explosion if you have a good amount of health. An individual who certainly knows this is Gambit’s Dosia who is the man behind one of CS:GO’s most iconic moments in the history of the game. On the final map of the Grand final, Dosia hurled a perfectly placed grenade to that exact above mentioned corner in ‘pit’ on Inferno, killing two enemies to crater Immortals’ economy. Gambit lost the round, but Dosia’s nade helped them win the war.

The grenade is genuinely legendary, so much that it even got immortalized as a graffiti by Valve who hung up a poster depicting Dosia’s grenade and placed it right where it exploded. The play encapsulated everything that was special about Gambit’s Major run. The determination. The ingenuity. The magic.

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FaZe, SK Gaming, and Astralis were the only conceivable contenders. Teams like G2, fnatic, and NAVI were dark-hose picks, but it seemed like an unrealistic ask even for those teams. Zeus and company from Gambit were not even in the conversation. Yet Gambit won the PGL Major Kraków 2017 and surprised every CS:GO fan.

Gambit went up against the Brazilian squad from Immortals after beating defending champs from Astralis 2-1 in the semi-finals. Immortals were no slouch either as they took down Virtus.pro themselves in the semi-finals.

The action of the Grand final started on Immortals’ pick of Cobblestone, where the Brazilians exploded into action with an impressive 3-12 lead at the end of the first half. Playing on the CT-side, the Brazilians continued playing like a train with no brakes and managed to quickly close out the map with a 4-16 scoreline.

But then Gambit got to work. On the second map of the series, Train, Zeus and company delivered a solid T-side and threw Immortals off their game with quick executions, which Immortals had no response to. Stellar performances from HEN1 and kNg helped Immortals grab 6 rounds in total before Gambit ended the first half with a 9-6 advantage. The Brazilians would go on to equalize the score, but after buying up, Gambit took control of the game with no response from Immortals, bringing the scoreline to 12-9. A triple-kill from Gambit’s mou in a partial buy gave his team their 14th round and left the Brazilians with no money to attempt a comeback. Gambit tied off the series 1-1 with a 16-11 scoreline, forcing the decider.

On the decider of Inferno, Gambit stormed to a 11-4 lead on the CT-side full of momentum. Immortals picked themselves up early in the second half, winning four rounds without response. Adrenaline was running high in both squads, and when Hobbit secured Gambit their first round of the half with a sensational 1v3 clutch, the whole TAURON Arena exploded. That was the start of a great run from Gambit, who brought the scoreline to 14-9 and only allowed Immortals to take a single round before wrapping up the series 2-1 with a 16-10 scoreline.

Following this outcome, Hobbit and company from Gambit earned $500,000, while the Brazilians took home $150,000.

Highest rated players at PGL Major Kraków 2017

1. {cflag:UA} Aleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev (NAVI) – 1.43 Rating

2. {cflag:BR} Marcelo ”coldzera” David (SK Gaming) – 1.40 Rating 

3. {cflag:DE} Johannes “tabseN” Wodarz (BIG) – 1.30 Rating  

4. {cflag:KZ} Dauren “AdreN” Kystaubayev (Gambit) – 1.26 Rating 

5. {cflag:FI} Miikka “suNny” Kemppi (PENTA) – 1.21 Rating 

6. {cflag:DK} Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen (Astralis) – 1.20 Rating 

7. {cflag:DE} Johannes “nex” Maget (BIG) – 1.20 Rating 

8. {cflag:DK} Kristian “k0nfig” Wienecke (North) – 1.17 Rating 

9. {cflag:DK} Nicolai “device” Reedtz (Astralis) – 1.17 Rating 

10. {cflag:RU} Denis “electronic” Sharipov (FlipSid3) – 1.15 Rating

Gambit won 72 out of 137 rounds on the T-side (52.6%) and even did better on the CT-side winning 82 of 145 rounds (56.5%).

Tomorrow we take a look at the ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018. 

AdreN

Hobbit

Gambit Esports

Mikhail "Dosia" Stolyarov and Rüstem "mou" Telepov, two Major winners from PGL Major Kraków 2017, are set to make their official return to competitive CS:GO after a lengthy break. The CIS duo have starred in a five-man mix since August – however, now they seem to have been formally contracted.

It’s the North American esports organization Forward Gaming that’s set to pick up Dosia and company, with the org publishing a video on Twitter where they are teasing the transfer.

Besides Dosia and mou, Forward is set to possess the Russian trio of Vladislav "xiELO" Lisov, Dmitriy 'ProbLeM' Martinov, and Nikita 'JIaYm' Panyushkin. The two latter players have previously represented HellRaisers while xiELO is more of an unknown quantity being only 16 years old. 

If confirmed, Forward could field the following lineup.

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One of the few highlights for Astralis in their 2022 debut was Benjamin "blameF" Bremer, who did everything he could with a 1.48 rating during the three maps against K23.

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But one of the things the statistics might not attribute to the Dane is his spectacular play on Mirage. Here the rifler caught three opponents with a perfectly timed Molotov Cocktail that ended up causing three K23 to die to the bomb exploding simultaneously. 

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The play from blameF immediately made the casters on the match reference the famous "Dosia grenade", which saw the Russian take down two opponents in similar fashion.

Astralis and blameF will face the loser of BIG vs Fnatic in the lower bracket at Funspark Ulti 2021 Finals.

blameF

Astralis

On this day, exactly 4 years ago, Gambit defeated Brazilian Immortals in the Grand final of the PGL Krakow Major event and became the first and only CIS team to ever win a Major.

Watch how Gambit ran away with the title:

One thing the Counter-Strike community especially remembers from the Grand final is Mikhail “Dosia” Stolyarov’s famous grenade.

On the final map of the Grand final, Dosia hurled a grenade into the ‘Pit’ on Inferno, killing two enemies from Immortals to crater their economy. Gambit lost the round, but Dosia’s grenade helped them win the war.

The grenade is genuinely legendary, so much so that it got immortalized as graffiti on Inferno. A perfect moment and play that encapsulated everything that was special about their Major run.

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	30 days	90 days
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Dosia

Player stats

Articles mentioning Dosia

Graffiti Series: Dosia’s legendary grenade at PGL Major Kraków

ESL One Cologne 2014: The redemption of the Ninjas

EMS One Katowice 2014: The beginning of the Plow

PGL Major Kraków 2017: The first CIS team to ever win a Major

North American org teases Dosia and mou transfer

Video: blameF aka "Dosia" takes three K23 players down

Throwback: On this day in 2017 Gambit won the PGL Krakow Major

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