Teams have been adjusting their rosters, leaving some of the game's top talent available for signing. Here's an in-depth look at the key figures currently in transition:

Perfecto

El1an

STYKO

NEOFRAG

Jerry

Another new strong CIS team has seen the light of day with PARIVISION picking up two of Russia's most talented CS2 players. Artem "⁠ArtFr0st⁠" Kharitonov and Robert "Patsi" Isyanov were announced yesterday night as new players on the team alongside Alexey "⁠Qikert⁠" Golubev.

The three players will replace Bogdan "⁠xsepower⁠" Chernikov, Andrey "⁠BELCHONOKK⁠" Yasinskiy, and Konstantin "⁠Raijin⁠" Trubarov who was part of the team from September until now. The three new signings will be seen as a big upgrade for the roster that is led by the experienced in-game leader Andrey "⁠Jerry⁠" Mekhryakov. As an AWP player, Artem "⁠ArtFr0st⁠" Kharitonov has shown great promise on Team Spirit, who opted to replace him with the Russian star sniper Dmitriy "sh1ro" Sokolov. Robert "Patsi" Isyanov also impressed during his time on Team Spirit, but never found the groove on Team Liquid in 2023. Now the two players will get the chance to showcase their talent on PARIVISION.

The new lineup is already set to make its debut today in the open qualifiers for the PGL Copenhagen Major.

Patsi

Artfr0st

qikert

X5G7V

Andrey “Jerry” Mekhryakov, the captain of forZe, has stepped forward to reveal a little secret about the improvement of G2’s map pool. In a recent conversation, Jerry was approached by G2’s captain, Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen, who was searching for answers to their struggles against forZe in practice matches.

Jerry documented their conversation and shared it on socials, showing his joy in being able to help a fellow CS:GO team make history. In the chatlog, it’s evident that HooXi was seeking an explanation for forZe’s ability to make his team struggle, a thing that no other team had been able to do so far. The screenshot, although not giving away all of Jerry’s advice, reveals that G2 had trouble with Mirage and Inferno and that they were not applying enough pressure on Inferno.

Jerry’s admission highlights the collaborative efforts and sportsmanship that exist within the competitive gaming world. His assistance allowed G2 to identify their weaknesses and make the necessary improvements, leading to their title victory at IEM Katowice 2023.

HooXi

G2 Esports

forZe

The Russian youngsters from forZe have just secured themselves a spot at the upcoming Major in Belgium after beating SAW 2-1 in the European RMR event. Something they achieved to do through a phenomenal re-sweep on Dust2 (16-3) and Inferno (16-5).

The tough loss for SAW means that the Portuguese squad are forced to win their next matchup if they wish to accompany forZe at the prestigious Major championship next month.

forZe – SAW 2-1 | PGL Major Antwerp 2022 Europe RMR A

14-16 (Nuke) | {cflag:PT} MUTiRiS – 1.28 Rating / 23-18 K-D / 84.2 ADR

16-3 (Dust2) | {cflag:RU} shalfey – 1.60 Rating / 19-9 K-D / 105.4 ADR

16-5 (Inferno) | {cflag:RU} shalfey – 1.93 Rating / 24-10 K-D / 123.1 ADR

MVP: {cflag:RU} Alexandr “shalfey” Marenov | 1.42 Rating / 61-40 K-D / 93.8 ADR

shalfey

forZe was before the IEM Fall RMR qualifier sitting in fifth place in the RMR standings for CIS teams. But with today's results, the spot at the Stockholm Major is in danger.

Andrey "Jerry" Mekhryakov and forZe started the day unexpectedly by losing to Unique. A defeat that left the team in a difficult spot. But a couple of hours later that only worsened. Against INDE IRAE, a team placed as number 82 in the world, the forZe roster once again fell short. After a good first half, forZe fell apart on their T-side only managing to find one single round losing 16-11.

The two losses became extra hurtful for forZe, as their direct competitors for the spot at the Major, Virtus.pro took their second win of the day with a 16-6 victory. forZe will now need a miracle run to come back and claim a playoff spot at the tournament.

G2's meltdown at ESL Pro League continued Wednesday night with a clear 2-0 defeat to forZe. This marks the fourth straight defeat for the roster, who were already knocked out of the tournament before the match started.

The question beforehand was, if G2 had it in them to make it an exciting match or not?

The first map gave two very different answers. Star player Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač did his best in the first half to make a convincing effort, but after the break, G2 fell apart and lost the map after a 10-5 lead.

On Nuke the hope of any G2 comeback died along with NiKo, who struggled to replicate his decent performance on Mirage. There was a sense of hopelessness from the G2 roster, who looked like a team that very quickly would like to be relieved of their duty of playing any more in ESL Pro League.

forZe won the map 16-7, and secured themselves a well-deserved spot in the playoffs after a solid performance in the group stage. G2 is out, and it will be interesting to see, if this sort of performance will have any repercussions for the team selection going forward.

Both teams will play their last match tomorrow. forZe will have an eye on the Complexity vs OG match, where they will root for OG to make a clean sweep in the group. This will open up for forZe to end on second place and earn a better seeding, if they at the same time can manage to beat SinnerS.

forZe - G2 (2-0) | ESL Pro League Season 14

16-14 (Mirage) | {cflag:RU} FL1T – 1.50 Rating / 30-19 K-D / 101.6 ADR

16-7 (Nuke) | {cflag:RU} FL1T - 1.61 Rating / 22-8 K-D / 90.1 ADR

MVP: {cflag:RU} Evgeny 'FL1T' Lebedev - 1.51 rating / 52-27 K-D / 96.6 ADR

FL1T

Fnatic, ENCE, FURIA, and Team Spirit had all been eliminated along the way to the Grand Final for forZe and EPG Family.

The two teams had undoubtedly been the strongest at the tournament, and it was therefore only fitting, that the two CIS teams gave each other a brawl of a Grand Final at Spring Sweet Spring.

RPG Family was off to the best start. The ex-Winstrike team managed to break free from forZe at 13-13 in the second half. Good teamplay from Aleksey 'NickelBack' Trofimov set his teammates up to several kills at the end of Overpass to secure the map 16-13.

On Mirage the story was reversed. After an 8-7 lead at the break, it was this time forZe who managed to distance themselves on the scoreboard to win the map and force the Grand Final to Dust2 to be decided.

The last map of the tournament did not disappoint. Both teams had to rely on their snipers to make the difference. Aleksandr 'zorte' Zagodyrenko from forZe had the upperhand on the majority of the map. But when it mattered the most, Aleksey 'El1an' Gusev stepped up to keep EPG Family alive until 15-14! Here a direct AWP-duel between the two of them fell out to zorte and forZe, who went on to secure the victory, $40.000, and a spot at the LAN tournament next year.

EPG Family - forZe (1-2) | Spring Sweet Spring 1

16-13 (Overpass) | {cflag:RU} Krad – 1.56 Rating / 30-20 K-D / 101.8 ADR

10-16 (Mirage) | {cflag:RU} Jerry – 1.47 Rating / 22-14 K-D / 97 ADR

14-16 (Dust2) | {cflag:RU}  zorte – 1.39 Rating / 26-16 K-D / 96.2 ADR

{cflag:RU} Evgeny 'FL1T' Lebedev - 1.18 rating / 70-59 K-D / 85.5 ADR

zorte

Krad

EPG Family

It is up to forZe to stop EPG Family's run at Spring Sweet Spring. The Russians defeated FURIA after three maps in the Semi-Final to book their ticket to the Grand Final later this evening.

[slugRMA:epg-family-secure-grand-final-spot-spring-sweet-spring]

The victory was established on Inferno. A perfect first half gave forZe a 12-3 lead at the break. But in a nervous ending to the map, FURIA came dangerously close to take the map to overtime. For the third day in a row it was Aleksandr 'KENSI' Gurkin who made the difference in the end with a solid 29-15 in K-D.

[twitchVideo:tebtv/clip/AdventurousGleamingSeahorseBatChest-a5k-c5Vac3S99-a6]

The comeback from FURIA was not enough to win their map pick, but on Nuke they continued their great CT-side from Inferno winning 11 rounds in the first half. The Brazilians also won the second half, which paved the way for a third and final map to decide, who should face EPG Family in the Grand Final.

On Mirage it was essentially one-way action. FURIA quickly lost the momentum they had built up on Nuke. Instead in-game leader Andrey 'Jerry' Mekhryakov drove his team forward by winning his individual duels 5-0 with the in-game leader from FURIA, arT. A dominant first half was replaced by an even more impressive CT-side from the CIS team, who almost made it look easy in the end.

FURIA - forZe (1-2) | Spring Sweet Spring 1

14-16 (Inferno) | {cflag:RU} KENSI – 1.50 Rating / 29-15 K-D / 87.9 ADR

16-7 (Nuke) | {cflag:BR} yuurih – 1.74 Rating / 22-10 K-D / 108.3 ADR

6-16 (Mirage) | {cflag:RU} Jerry – 1.66 Rating / 23-12 K-D / 102.4 ADR

{cflag:RU} Aleksandr 'KENSI' Gurkin - 1.23 rating / 58-42 K-D / 74.8 ADR

forZe faces EPG Family in the Grand Final later today.

KENSI

yuurih

FURIA

Last month it was Virtus.pro, this month it is Team Spirit. Both teams have now experienced the forZe meatgrinder.

At Spring Sweet Spring Team Spirit was seeded into the Quarter-Finals, where fellow CIS team forZe had made their way into after some difficulties in the Group Phase.

[slugRMA:fnatic-live-another-day-after-strong-comeback-against-extremum]

Against Team Spirit Andrey 'Jerry' Mekhryakov and his men had their work cut out. On Mirage forZe was trailing behind Spirit, but in a fantastic ending to the map, Aleksandr 'KENSI' Gurkin stepped up with some important kills to swing over the scoreboard in favor of the underdogs, who won Mirage 16-14.

Nuke was again very even in the beginning, but all of the time forZe had an upper hand. In the second half, they managed to completely break Team Spirit, who looked like a team, who had lost their.. spirit? forZe won the last seven rounds to eliminated Team Spirit from the tournament. 

[slugRMA:strong-russians-batter-ence-spring-sweet-spring-1]

forZe - Team Spirit (2-0) | Spring Sweet Spring 1

16-14 (Mirage) | {cflag:RU} Jerry – 1.25 Rating / 22-18 K-D / 87.3 ADR

16- 8 (Nuke) | {cflag:RU} KENSI – 1.48 Rating / 26-17 K-D / 100.2 ADR

{cflag:RU} Aleksandr 'KENSI' Gurkin – 1.31 Rating / 47-32 K-D / 87.3 ADR

forZe advance to the Semi-Finals, where they will face the winner of Furia vs Sinners.

Spirit

The final quarter-finalist at the Spring Sweet Spring 1 event was to be found between forZe and K23. Despite the two teams being incredibly close on paper it was a different story today. ForZe came flying out of the gate and looked as eager as ever to take down their opponents of K23. And that was exactly what they did. With an impressive performance on the second map, they managed to close out the series with a 2-0 victory. 

The first map took place on Mirage. A map known for its open spaces and therefore also the number of aim-duels that are displayed within a match. The same happened when forZe took on K23 today, however, it was clear that one team was hitting far more shots than the other. Due to a great t-sided half, it was forZe to walk away with the victory on Mirage at the scoreline of 16-11. 

The second map, despite being picked by K23, was even less competitive than the first. Once again it was a map with open spaces to be played, this time Dust 2. With a strong CT-sided performance in the first half, forZe could walk to halftime with an impressive lead at 11-4. All they had to do in the second half was to close the series calm and collected. forZe did exactly that and with a 16-5 victory on Dust 2, they could call themselves quarter-finalists. 

16-11 (Mirage) | Jerry – 1.46 Rating / 22-15 K-D / 81.5 ADR

16-5 (Dust 2) | zorte – 1.52 Rating / 20-13 K-D / 92.0 ADR

Aleksandr "zorte" Zagodyrenko | 1.44 Rating - 41-25 K/D - 83.9 ADR - 85.4% KAST

The first match of Funspark ULTI Europe featured the strong number 1 seed in Virtus.pro and the lowest seed in their countrymen from forZe. On the world ranking there are 41 spots between them, as VP is placed #5, while forZe is placed all the way down on #46. 

However today, the rankings didn’t mean anything. Because Andrey "Jerry" Mekhryakov and the rest of forZe played up to their very best levels, as they dismantled the otherwise dominant Virtus.pro squad. A true masterpiece of a performance by forZe’s Evgeny "FL1T" Lebedev, led the underdogs to two strong victories on Mirage and Overpass. 

The latter map went to triple overtime, where Virtus.pro had every chance to win the map, but several unfortunate decisions, like forgetting the bomb in their spawn, left the VP squad in dire straits. YEKINDAR did his best, but in the end, Virtus.pro lost after a lackluster performance.

[twitchVideo:Funspark_CSGO/clip/AssiduousInexpensiveDootWOOP-grWwKmge5QckEY3_]

With the win forZe advance to the upper-semifinals, while Virtus.pro is being sent down into the dangerous lower-bracket.

forZe – Virtus.pro (2-0) | Funspark ULTI Europe

16-11 (Mirage) | FL1T – 1.82 Rating / 31-16 K-D / 125.0 ADR

25-23 (Overpass) | zorte - 1.26 rating / 40-27 K-D / 72.3 ADR

MVP: Evgeny 'FL1T' Lebedev | 1.43 rating / 68-49 K-D / 99.7 ADR

YEKINDAR

In the all Russian brawl between ex-ETHEREAL and forZe the two teams played an extra 22 rounds of CS:GO on Dust2 before forZe took the map 28-24! Andrey "Jerry" Mekhryakov produced the highlight of the map with a nice spray during a B-site hold.

[twitchVideo:EdenEsports/clip/FrozenUnusualMangoNotLikeThis-kxlQ_g2YUscRbMwu]

On Inferno "Jerry" was dominating again with a crisp 114.7 in ADR, helping his team to a 16-11 win. 

The match at the European Development Championship was the last chance for both teams to advance in the tournament. With the victory, forZe will face Lyngby Vikings later today for a spot in the playoffs.

ex-ETHEREAL

The strong roster of Cloud9 couldn’t live up to the hype, in their matchup against forZe at the semifinals of MIDNITE Nine to Five 7. The American team lost to a better side, where the Russian team was in control for the majority of the match.

A well playing Andrey “Jerry” Mekhryakov led his team in two strong showings on Mirage and Inferno and ended the series with a 1.32 rating.

16-5 (Mirage) xsepower 1.77 rating / 19-6 K-D / 90.6 ADR

16-14 (Nuke) Jerry 1.23 rating / 25-21 K-D / 85.7 ADR

forZe will meet their countrymen from Gambit in the Grand Final, which is set to begin at 12:00 (CET).

	30 days	90 days
Fixture count	2	17
Maps count	6	43

Jerry

Player stats

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forZe claims last playoff spot at ESL Pro League

forZe wins Spring Sweet Spring 1

forZe ready for CIS Grand Final at Spring Sweet Spring

forZe eliminates Team Spirit at Spring Sweet Spring

forZe move past K23 with 2-0 victory

forZe upset Virtus.pro at Funspark ULTI

Video: Jerry with amazing spray in forZe victory

forZe eliminates a tame Cloud9 side

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