The Russians from Spirit are off to a fantastic start at ESL Pro League Season 17 after they dismantled Astralis 2-0 in yesterday’s opening round of Group D. Something Spirit’s two young riflers Boris “magixx” Vorobiev and Robert “Patsi” Isyanov discussed on the couch alongside the ESL analysts.

- We expected to win against Astralis because we know their playstyle pretty well. In the past we have been learning a lot and it’s not really because they have changed a lot through the years, magixx said.

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When asked about Spirit’s further progression in the group, patsi touches on some previous clutching problems within the team.

- I think it’s all in our minds. We can make upsets and give a good fight. At IEM Katowice and CCT Central Europe Malta Finals, we were losing a lot of clutches that we should have won but now we are taking it and it’s much better.

- Basically, we can make upsets or we can shit our pants, magixx added with a smile.

You can watch the entire interview with magixx and Patsi down below. 

[youtube:xzJ2o0VF3aE?feature=share&t=12072]

Today's matches in Malta will kick off at 12:30 (CET) with Spirit taking on their fellow CIS friends from forZe. 

ESL Pro League schedule | Thursday 16th March

magixx

Patsi

Astralis

Spirit

With four teams from the CIS region in the playoffs at IEM Rio and a possibility of an all-CIS representation in the Semi-Finals, the domination from the region is real at IEM Rio.

Cloud9, NAVI, Outsiders, and Team Spirit have all made their marks on the ongoing Major as teams, while s1mple, sh1ro, Jame, Ax1Le, and nafany have been among the best individual performers at the event. We asked 19-year-old Boris "magixx" Vorobyev from Team Spirit about the current CIS domination.

- It has been a thing for a lot of years. Our region is playing more and is growing, and we are not that lazy like some European teams and especially American teams. Now it is paying off.

The Russian rifler is sure, that all the before-mentioned teams will qualify for the Semi-Finals on Saturday in Rio.

- I think it is going to happen today and tomorrow. I think we will see all four CIS teams in the Grand Final.

You can see the full interview with Boris "magixx" Vorobyev here.

You can bet on Spirit and all the other teams at the CS:GO Major via our betting partners down below:

Spirit are through to the Champions Stage after taking down the North American squad from Team Liquid, who now are eliminated from the event. The Russian side will see themselves in yet another Major playoff appearance, where they will be taking upon cadiaN’s men from Heroic on Friday at 18:00 (CET).

Spirit’s map pick of Vertigo was where the series kicked off. Here, it was the North Americans who got off to the best start by snatching the pistol, before they added three of the following four rounds to go 4-1 up on the scoreboard. From that point, it was a Spirit show for the rest of the half. The Russian squad put up a strong defense on the CT-side, which Liquid had no answers for as we saw the North Americans only being able to add one single round before Spirit’s wonder boy, Igor “w0nderful” Zhdanov sent his team into the offense with a five-round lead on the back of an impressive 1v3 clutch.

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That gave Spirit the right energy going into the second half, in which they grabbed the first two rounds of play. Team Liquid looked to find a way into the game, but it got a way too late as Spirit were already sitting on match point as Liquid hit their tenth round on the scoreboard after stringing together three rounds in a row. With money in their pocket once again, Spirit didn’t face any struggles as they went on to close their map pick with a 16-10 scoreline.

The action between the two teams moved to Mirage, where we saw a Team Liquid on fire in the first half. YEKINDAR and company lost the pistol, but bounced back right away and continued on to dominate the first half, leaving Spirit’s CT-side looking useless. With a 5 rounds advantage going into the CT-side, Liquid didn’t capitalize on the momentum straight away, instead, we saw Spirit nearly catching up with the North Americans. But despite their best efforts, they never got dangerous enough when it mattered the most, resulting in Team Liquid securing their own map pick and sending the series to the decider of Ancient.

On the decider of Ancient, we saw magixx and company clinch the victory with a 16-13 scoreline after a hard-fought battle against the North Americans from Liquid. 19-year-old magixx finished on top of the scoreboard with the highest number of kills (26) and a 1.42 Rating.

IEM Rio Major – Legends Stage 2022 | Spirit vs. Liquid 2-1

 {cflag:CA} Keith “NAF” Markovic – 1.21 Rating | 58-49 K/D | 83.7 ADR | 84.3% KAST

Team Liquid

Boris "magixx" Vorobyev and Team Spirit are looking to repeat their fantastic performance at the PGL Antwerp Major, where the team made it all the way to the Semi-Finals.

At the last qualification tournament before the IEM Rio Major, Team Spirit is off to a good start after winning against 1WIN in the opening round.

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After the match Boris "magixx" Vorobyev spoke with the desk and explained how the team managed to turn the second half around after some early round losses.

- We were being shut down by their defense when we were during fast rounds. But then we went to the slow playstyle and that worked for us.

You can see the interview with the Russian rifler here.

A quarter-finals spot was on the line when the Russians of Spirt took on the Danes of Copenhagen Flames. Both teams somewhat surprisingly went 2-0 on Day 1 and now had a chance to lock up a quarter-finals spot.

The Bo3 kicked off on Vertigo, a map that has almost become synonymous with the Copenhagen Flames, and it was of course their map pick. After taking a commanding early lead, the Danes suddenly loosened their grip on the match and let the CIS squad come back into it, and it was all tied up at halftime with an 8-7 lead for the Flames.

As we came into the rifles rounds in the second half it quickly became clear that the Flames would win the map. After losing the two initial rounds the Danes went on an 8-1 run with none of the rounds being won by defusing. 

The brawl continued on Sprit's pick of Mirage, and it was the Russians on the T side who got off to the best start as they led by three rounds at halftime after what had been an extremely close half with multiple ties and lead changes.

A solid defensive effort from Spirit and yet another great performance from "Patsi" meant that the Flames were only able to take two round wins in the second half and the match was pushed to a decider.

Ancient was the third and final map and on the T side, the Copenhagen Flames crucially managed to take the pistol round. This was where the fun began for Spirit who immediately returned the favor by going on a ginormous ten-round streak. Fortunately, the Flames took three of the last four rounds and the round deficit was now manageable.

The Danes took the second half pistol round and the conversion but did not find more, as the Russians of Spirit were simply playing a better game today.

Spirit surprise everyone as the first team through to the playoffs, while the Flames will have another chance to do the same tomorrow.

Spirit - Copenhagen Flames 2-1 | PGL Major Antwerp Legends Stage

10-16 (Vertigo) | {cflag:DK} jabbi - 1.43 Rating / 25-16 K-D / 93.2 ADR

16-8 (Mirage) | {cflag:RU} Patsi - 1.51 Rating / 23-12 K-D / 105.7 ADR

16-6 (Ancient) | {cflag:RU} magixx - 1.95 Rating / 25-8 K-D / 116.8 ADR

MVP: {cflag:RU} Abdul "degster" Gasanov - 1.35 Rating / 65-37 K-D / 82.8 ADR

Jabbi

degster

Copenhagen Flames

Today's first advancement match to the Legends Stage at PGL Antwerp Major saw Spirit qualify after a convincing 2-0 win against Astralis.

The Danes actually got off to a good start on Spirit's map pick, Overpass. Benjamin "blameF" Bremer had another field day on the CT side going 20-7 in K-D in the first half alone. But the 10-5 lead at the break was quickly caught by Spirit, who had no problems taking down the Danes on their CT side.

Astralis had picked their new favorite map Ancient as the second map of the day. But the pick proved to be a mistake. Spirit handled everything that Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander and his teammates threw at them. In a stunning fashion Spirit won Ancient 16-6 to qualify for the Legends Stage, while Astralis is now forced to win tomorrow's all-or-nothing match if they are to make it through to the next stage of the PGL Antwerp Major.

Spirit - Astralis 2-0 | PGL Major Antwerp Challengers Stage

16-12 (Overpass) | {cflag:RU} degster - 1.59 Rating / 26-12 K-D / 85.7 ADR

16-6 (Ancient) | {cflag:RU} magixx - 1.72 Rating / 24-9 K-D / 104.3 ADR

MVP: {cflag:RU} Abdulkhalik "degster" Gasanov - 1.63 Rating / 51-22 K-D / 92.0 ADR

gla1ve

blameF

The first match of the second round saw 1-0 teams G2 and Spirit go to battle. Both the Russian squad and the International roster dominatingly won their first matchup 16-6, and now had to duel for the chance to start the Major 2-0.

The teams traveled to the battlegrounds of Dust2 and were trading rounds back and forth in the early stages of the game. G2 then finally found their footing, and the Bosnian duo of "NiKo" and "huNter-" made life very hard for the Spirit squad, which resulted in an 11-4 half.

G2 quickly established themselves after the break but were suddenly met with heavy resistance from the Russians as both "magixx", and "Patsi" stepped up. After being down 14-4, Team Spirit went on an enormous 11-1 streak to push the game into overtime.

G2 managed to take a round on their T-side in OT, and swept their CT-side, meaning that the comeback dreams of Team Spirit were crushed and G2 go 2-0 in the opening round.

G2 - Team Spirit 1-0 | PGL Major Antwerp Challengers Stage

19-17 (Dust2) | flag Nemanja "huNter-" Kovač - 1.22 Rating / 30-22 K-D / 85.2 ADR

NiKo

huNter

G2 Esports

After three months without a full roster, Team Spirit returns to CS:GO with a new lineup led by Leonid "⁠chopper⁠" Vishnyakov as the captain and in-game leader. The Russians have decided to round off the roster by promoting the 19-year-old Pavel "⁠s1ren⁠" Ogloblin from Spirit Academy.

Nikita Chukalin, CEO Team Spirit has stated the following concerning today’s news:

- We feel like the players needed this break to reset and re-energize towards this season. Young rookies, a new head coach, and a heightened competitive hunger should all help our CS:GO roster reach new heights. Sometimes you have to take two steps back, to move forward. I hope this is our case. We definitely do not expect instant victories in all competitions, but we look forward to systematic progress from tournament to tournament, Chukalin stated.

{cflag:RU} Leonid "⁠chopper⁠" Vishnyakov

{cflag:RU} Sergey "⁠hally⁠" Shavaev (coach)

chopper

s1ren

Boris "magixx" Vorobiev and the rest of Spirit did not manage to take the win in their matchup today against Virtus.pro, despite the Russian dragons taking home their map pick on Ancient. At one time on the tropical map, magixx was situated in a 1v3 situation against three fierce VP players. The round ended up in favour of Spirit owing to the 18-year-old and his impressive clutch!

Watch today's Pley of the Day featuring magixx.

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Virtus.pro

The 18-year-old Russian from Spirit has found his way to our #POTD, presenting his impressive pistol round Ace in a FPL match.

As many of you know, tilt is the scourge of competitors everywhere and it affects everyone. From the hopeless bottom-dwellers of the rankings, all the way up to the predators of the big scene. No one is immune to frustration. Even rigoN couldn’t hold back his frustrations after magixx killed him to clutch the round. 

Watch the 18-year-old Spirit player get the better of rigoN and rigoN’s humorous reaction.

rigoN

Boris “magixx” Vorobiev who plays under the Spirit banner is the man behind our #POTD.

The 18-year-old Russian often stands in the shadows of his other teammates, but in FPL magixx always shows just how great of a player he is.

Watch magixx clutch a 1v4 situation like it’s nothing:

The first map was to be played on Nuke, which was Entropiq´s map pick.

But it was Spirit who got the best start on the map, as they won the first half 10-5 in a near-perfect performance as the CT side from the Russian roster.

But the ex-Winstrike roster delivered the same as the Spirit roster in the second half, as they also managed to win the second half 10-5, which left us with overtime from the first map.

And not just any overtime, this overtime ended up lasting a whole map, as we needed thirty extra rounds to find a winner of the map, as Entropiq wins the map 31-29!

[twitchClip:SteamyExcitedTireUnSane-hmfUopXfa0otsQde]

After an amazing first map, we had high expectations from the second map, as the legendary Dust2 was waiting for us.

The first half was very even, as Spirit got a small lead at 8-7 before the half, but they fully dominated as the CT side on Dust2.

This is impressive, as we know Dust2 is the most T-sided competitive map there is, but Spirit managed to win 8-2 as the CT side in the second half, which was enough for them to win the map 16-9.

[twitchClip:InnocentWildDelicataFutureMan-3RIYvyzwclt5BZfn]

Therefore, a third and decisive map was needed to find a winner of the match from Group B.

The last map was on Mirage, where Entropiq got themselves the best start at the map with a 9-6 win after the first half as the T side, and you may think that they ended up winning after such a great performance in the first half, but no.

Spirit delivered a fantastic second half, where they won 10-4, which was enough for them to secure the map win at 16-13, and with this result, Spirit won the game 2-1 against Entropiq in a thriller of a match!

[link:{"url":"http://skinport.com/r/pleygg2021","isNewTab":true,"text":"Discover the best marketplace for bying CS:GO skins - try Skinport.com"}]

Entropiq – Spirit (1-2) | StarLadder CIS RMR 2021

31-29 (Nuke) | El1an – 1.37 Rating / 56-38 K-D / 86.3 ADR

9-16 (Dust2) | magixx – 1.57 Rating / 24-16 K-D / 99.0 ADR

13-16 (Mirage) | mir – 1.70 Rating / 33-18 – K-D / 106.9 ADR

Nikolay ”mir” Bityukov – 1.29 Rating / 95-79 K-D / 91.7 ADR

El1an

Entropiq

The 18-year-old super talent Boris "magixx" Vorobiev from Spirit has, besides his modest age, already cemented his name at the top of CS:GO, with the young star playing a huge role for the Russian top team. magixx is mostly known for his insane rifling abilities, however, he can also do wonders with the powerful AWP. 

In a recent stream, magixx turned himself into a complete monster, as he managed to win a stellar 2v5 clutch where the talented player used the AWP to perfection. You can watch the fantastic play right here. 

You can watch the rest of the #POTD's from June right here. 

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Pistol rounds have always been a major part of Counter-Strike, even more previously than now. Due to a change in the Counter-Strike economy back in 2019, it is less detrimental to the game now than in the earlier stages. However, a pistol round win is always favorable and can grant you up to two additional "easier" rounds. But which team has had the most success with its pistol rounds in 2021? The answer is Team Spirit.

With a win% of 61.1%, there should be no doubt that these CIS players are dangerous with their secondary gun. Perhaps this is one of the reasons for Team Spirit's great success so far in 2021. Whether or not they can keep posting these impressive numbers throughout 2021 remains to be unknown, but one thing is for sure - you can never count Team Spirit out of a pistol round. 

You can look forward to seeing more of Team Spirit against other top-tier teams when BLAST Premier Spring Showdown 2021 starts tomorrow (13/4). Team Spirit is set to face Extra Salt in their first Bo3-series of the event on Wednesday at 12:30 (CET). 

The roster of Team Spirit looks as follows: 

The young rifler Boris “magixx” Vorobiev has been playing for Spirit for one and a half years now and states that work spirit is the key to his success. In an interview with Parimatch, the 17-year old Russian touches on the first part of his career and his general work ethics.

With no intention of going pro, the Russian teenager broke through the eye of the needle with a pure passion for the game. 

- From the beginning, my goal wasn’t to be a professional esports gamer, because it was more like a hobby for me. I was just playing and had an interest in esports.

[twitchClip:IntelligentLachrymoseCarabeefCurseLit-sydGNtz3Fm0GpLqP]

The rifler was participating in small tournaments as a hobby and was scouted at one of the tournaments because of his talent. But talent is nothing without hard work, and for the Russian, this is one of his strengths.

- My biggest strengths are my work ethic and the ability to keep a cool head in every situation.

[link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/news/spirit-rifler-dont-feel-pressured-playing-against-astralis/","text":"Read more: Spirit rifler: We don´t feel pressured playing against Astralis"}]

One of the most important aspects of developing your gameplay is an analysis of your previous games according to Spirits youngster. 

- In every game you play, there will always be mistakes for you and your team, even if you didn’t have any chance. These crucial moments should be separated and solved. First of all, you need to find your own individual mistakes before you look at the team's mistakes, you need to see if you have played the perfect game before analyzing your teammates.

Cypersport.ru has transcripted a part of the interview here: (Translation available)

[link:{"url":"https://www.cybersport.ru/counter-strike-go/news/magixx-o-karere-v-cs-go-ya-ne-stavil-pered-soboi-nikakikh-celei-a-prosto-igral-i-interesovalsya-kibersportom"}]

One of the biggest breakthrough teams this year have to the Russian dragons from Spirit, owing to their outstanding start to 2021. They smashed all the opponents at DreamHack Open January by taking home the trophy, just to bring the great form through to IEM Katowice, where Abdul “degster” Gasanov and company shocked the CS:GO world with a historic 16-1 win over Astralis. 

However, this Sunday marked the day for Spirit’s exit at the prestigious event, as they got dismantled by their countrymen from Gambit which concluded their stellar 5-game winning streak, starting from the Play-In stage. 

[link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/news/gambit-seal-grand-final-spot-after-stellar-showing/","text":"Read more: Gambit seal Grand Final spot after stellar showing"}]

Spirit youngster, Boris "magixx" Vorobiev has touched on the devastating exit, in a post-match interview with the IEM desk. The 17-year old rifler explains that they are proud of their deep run at the event and how he believes that CIS teams will continue their rise on the CS:GO scene. 

[twitchClip:AgitatedDarlingBubbleteaRedCoat-ISE2B2czt62ANJA5]

- “The CIS region is rising at the moment, and I don’t know if it’s the ‘Online Era’ affecting it. But everyone has played and grinded a lot throughout the last year, and now we get these deep runs at high-class tournaments. And I can say that CIS teams will continue climbing.” magixx said in the post-match interview.

[twitchClip:PricklyVenomousRedpandaAsianGlow-zpEngNYLOwvbc8X1]

Team Spirit’s young rifler, Boris "magixx" Vorobiev has impressed the CS:GO world highly, since he arrived at the highest level back in September 2019. The 17-year old talent has had a strong breakthrough season in 2020, helping Spirit evolving into a potent and continuous Top 20 team by averaging a strong 1.10 rating throughout the last 3 months of 2020.

In a FACEIT Pro League match yesterday, the Russian talent proved his insane aim with the USP, tapping one headshot after another in an astounding 1v5 ace, with only 16 HP left.

[twitchClip:PeacefulMotionlessGalagoUnSane]

As 2020 comes to an end, we take a look at the teams, that reached top 20 on HLTV's ranking.

Team Spirit is one of the few top teams, that has not had roster changes in 2020. The core of the team was gathered in late September 2019 and has since then climbed the rankings from almost being out of the top 50 in the world to continue being in the Top 20 since April 2020.

At ESL Pro League Season 12 Team Spirit made it out of the group stages to the surprise of many. They managed to secure wins against NiP, FaZe, mousesports, and Team Vitality.

In the playoffs, the Russians were handed a defeat to BIG and the later winners from Astralis, who eliminated them in the lower bracket.

The massive downfall in the DreamHack Open Final against Gambit. The Russians had taken the first map, but only managed to win 15 rounds in the next three maps in the BO5 Grand Final. 

The team is qualified for the IEM Katowice Play-in, which will be the first major goal for the roster. 16 teams will play for 8 tickets to the main event. The Russian side will have to find the same quality, as they found in mid-2020.

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

	30 days	90 days
Fixture count	6	14
Maps count	13	31

magixx

Player stats

Articles mentioning magixx

magixx after crushing Astralis: We expected to beat them

magixx on CIS success: We are not that lazy like some EU teams and especially American teams

Spirit eliminate Team Liquid from the IEM Rio Major

magixx: We went to the slow playstyle and that worked for us

Spirit secure quarter-finals spot at the Major

Spirit ease past Astralis in upset win

G2 go 2-0 After Nailbiter Vs. Team Spirit

Spirit announce new roster for 2022 season

Pley of the Day: magixx lives up to his name in epic 1v3 clutch!

Pley of the Day: Impressive 1v5 pistol clutch by magixx

Pley of the Day: magixx with the ice cold clutch!

Spirit destroys Entropiq in Group B!

Pley of the Day: magixx produces wonders in astounding 2v5 clutch!

Team Spirit - Pistol round gods

Spirit rifler: The key to my success has been my work spirit

Spirit rifler after IEM Katowice exit: CIS teams will continue climbing

Video: Unbelievable 1v5 ace by Russian youngster

Spotlight on the Top 20: Spirit

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