With a Major Grand Final coming up, the young players of GamerLegion have already reached a milestone that many others can just dream about. The fairytale run at the Major in Paris has undoubtedly made several teams interested in the service of the Grand Finalist of the last CS:GO Major in history.

One of them could be Frederik "acoR" Gyldstrand, who has played an excellent tournament so far. Speaking to Dust2.dk about the future of GamerLegion, the Dane hinted towards a time to come, when the likes of 23-year-old Ivan "iM" Mihai and 20-year-old Kamil "siuhy" Szkaradek could be hard to keep on the team.

- I would probably count on many of the players on the team getting offers from other teams. Of course, I can't speak for myself, I'm probably getting a little older compared to what many people think. It's hard to say, but I believe that there will be team offers left and right for the young guys on the team.

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One of the issues for GamerLegion, in order to be able to keep their new superstars on the roster, will undoubtedly be the salaries.

- You can't really do anything about it. If a tier-1 team comes knocking on a guy who gets 20.000 DKK ($2900) a month and he gets an offer of 150.000 DKK ($21.700). There is no one who can say no to that. You get to play all the high and good tournaments and be in the tier-1 tournaments all the time, Frederik "acoR" Gyldstrand says.

GamerLegion faces Team Vitality tomorrow in the Grand Final of the BLAST.tv Paris Major.

You can read the full interview (in Danish) with Frederik "acoR" Gyldstrand on Dust2.dk [link:{"url":"https://www.dust2.dk/nyheder/36599/acor-teaser-omkring-loenninger-paa-cs-scenen","isNewTab":true,"text":"here"}].

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acoR

siuhy

Keoz

isak

GamerLegion

Kamil “siuhy” Szkaradek already has an impressive résumé in CS:GO despite his modest age.

In recent years, the 20-year-old Pole has managed to build a strong reputation as one of the most promising and hyped in-game leaders in Counter-Strike, having led a super successful MOUZ NXT squad to multiple academy trophies and gained two impressive Major qualifications with GamerLegion.  

And as this article is being written, siuhy and GamerLegion find themselves competing at the last-ever CS:GO Major in Paris, where they yesterday secured a spot in the Legends Stage.

Before the French Major, we got the chance to speak with siuhy about his development and journey thus far in CS:GO, and how it has helped shape the person and captain he is today.

- I think over the last three years, I have gained almost, you could say, the perfect path or the perfect experience that was needed for me to be in this situation. I came from starting off in Izako Boars, which was my first professional team. That's where I grew as a young player. Then I went to MOUZ NXT where I had the opportunity to play with really good players, siuhy says and continues:

- It was my first time being an IGL and growing from there, where I was also a sort of like mentor inside the team later on because I was the captain and I had to lead maybe younger players as well. And that also taught me something.

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In September 2022, siuhy joined GamerLegion after having represented MOUZ NXT for 14 months.

- In GamerLegion I moved from being limited from playing Majors to now being able to compete against the bigger teams at Major as well… and then to go out and make it through to the Major the first two times was just incredible.

- Also for GamerLegion, who was not really on that level yet, but I feel like the changes they made, bringing in Freddy [acoR] and Nico [keoz], and I made a huge difference. We just clicked well together and the results showed instantly in the squad.

- The way I have grown is my strength because I don't think a lot of players get this chance to grow like this, to gain experience this fast and to have opportunities like I did. So I'm really thankful for that. And maybe that is the reason why, I'm in this position today and that's what made me the player that I am on the server. It has built my playstyle.

When looking at the statistics, siuhy appear to differ a bit from other in-game leaders. Because it’s a common sight to see IGL’s and main callers among the lowest-rated on the server map after map. However, that’s not the case for siuhy as he poses a strong 1.06 rating throughout 2023, outfragging two of his teammates.

- Actually, that's an interesting topic because whenever I was not an IGL, I don't think I was performing as well and as consistently as I would be right now. I think once I became an IGL, I stopped focusing on the little things like; you know, trying to perform good for the team whenever you're a star player or like whenever you're an entry fragger you want to always have good entry stats, right?

- Instead, I focus on giving my team the best position every time. And whenever I focus on this, my fragging ability, my performance and me being impactful just comes naturally to me. I really like it this way, and that's why I feel comfortable in this role.

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/GamerLegion_q5gnz0","originalWidth":2048,"originalHeight":1365,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: Michal Konkol BLAST Premier"}]

“I'm not focusing on reaching bigger teams”

siuhy does not dream or focus about a big transfer in the near future, he explains when asked about it.

- My only goal is to continue growing as an individual. I'm not focusing on reaching bigger teams, higher rankings or stuff like this. I prefer to grow as an individual and then see where this brings me. Right now, it's working. As I said, the last three years have been really good for my individual improvement, and I just hope to continue growing in this exact way, siuhy states. 

Being only 20 years old and the youngest player on GamerLegion doesn’t bother siuhy at all. In his opinion, he has a track record and experience to back him up. 

- I don't personally think about it. I don't look at it as a bad thing or anything. Obviously, I think it's a common thing that whenever you have a young leader sometimes, you're sceptical or hesitant to listen to him or truly believe in him. Because maybe you have a more experienced player on the team who might think that he knows a little bit more. But that has not been the case in any of the teams I played in. Every team I went into, I feel like I got the trust that I needed. And it's proven that it works. So I don't think that is an issue in our team. And it's really nice to see because I know this would be an issue for maybe other players around the world.

Do you think your success at Mouse and NXT helped on that because you won nearly everything you touched on that team?

- Yeah, for sure. It created a huge fundamental mental base for me of who I can be and what I can achieve more. We were winning those academy leagues pretty confidently; We had a good roster, and we were able to even fight against the bigger teams back in MOUZ NXT. This created a completely different mindset for me moving on, where I felt like I was ready to compete even against bigger teams and in bigger tournaments.

For this article about siuhy, we reached out to the renowned caster and expert Mohan "launders" Govindasamy for his take on the young IGL. Here launders quickly expressed his devotion and admiration towards him.  

- siuhy is my favorite lower-ranked IGL. While he was at MOUZ NXT, he was the best IGL in the WePlay Academy League, where he at that time showed what he could do with a lot of the players that ended up splitting and going on to better teams, but he sort of got left behind.

- His last RMR run with GamerLegion was fantastic, this RMR run they did it again and he did it with players like iM, keoz and isak – players where people can’t name any of their big results. And also acoR, who people never thought we would see again. So he does a lot with any teams that he has.

- I think he’s a very smart IGL. I have listened to his comms, and he sort of reminds me of every great IGL. He has very clear comms that really stand out, and even in the maps where MOUZ NXT had a lot of people talking at once, you could always whether it was siuhy talking, which is a very underrated skill. He got the calmness, he understands the map really well, and he can move pieces around the map without sacrificing tons of advantages all at once, which most IGL’s can’t do.

Could you see him make the jump and be picked up by a better team in the near future?

- I think so. There are not many good IGLs in the game, and there are a lot of teams questioning the IGLs of their rosters, and I think that siuhy absolutely is one of the best options here. He will get a chance, launders round off.

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"Gamle billeder/launders_taikgo","originalWidth":1920,"originalHeight":1080,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: BLAST Premier"}]

You can watch siuhy and GamerLegion in action at BLAST.tv Paris Major tomorrow at 11.30 (CET), where they will take on the CIS giants from NAVI in the opening round of the Legends Stage. 

There has been a lot of talk and debate about how the gap between the Counter-Strike elite and the lower-tier pursuers has shrunken heavily, after having witnessed numerous upsets and underdog victories at the biggest stage of the game.

It's a topic that we've got the chance to discuss with GamerLegion’s young captain Kamil “siuhy” Szkaradek, who himself - together with his team - is fighting a harsh battle of making the jump from tier 2 into the exclusive company.

Our talk began with us touching on GamerLegion’s back-to-back qualification for the Majors, following their significant roster overhaul less than two months before the Rio Major.

- It's a huge achievement for sure, siuhy quickly affirms. Especially looking back at what GamerLegion was before and who I was before. I came from an academy team and I didn't have the opportunity to play such events as the Major qualifiers.

- Then to go out and make it through to the Major the first two times, is just incredible. Also for GamerLegion, who was not really on that level yet, but I feel like the changes they made, brining in Freddy [acoR] and Nico [keoz], and I made a huge difference. We just clicked well together and the results showed instantly in the squad.

Despite two consecutive Major appearances for GamerLegion, the 20-year-old Pole still has both feet planted on the ground in terms of how he sees his squad in the current CS:GO landscape.

- You know, at this point, in theory, we're just another tier two team. Because once in a while we're qualifying to these bigger events, to a major or something, where we have a good performance there - but when that finishes, we go back to playing tier 2 events or online events, siuhy explains and continues:

- It's hard for us to get through that barrier. However, as soon as we make it a consistent thing to qualify to those Tier 1 events, where we can fight against the bigger teams and we can show that we're capable of competing against them, then I believe that it will bring us up into that top 15 bar. Whereas if it’s just once in a while, it doesn't really matter at the end of the day.

GamerLegion at the RMR tournament in Copenhagen earlier this month 

“Harder to play against tier 2 teams than against tier 1”

GamerLegion is currently ranked #28 in the world, however, the young squad were just barely within Top 20 at the start of 2023. In the last year or so, the gap between teams in that range and heavy hitters like G2, FaZe and Heroic has gotten “really close” according to the former MOUZ NXT player.

- I think a lot of the tier 2 teams have become a lot better, and if you give the opportunities to some of these teams to play against the bigger teams, they would shine as well. Just like we have, just like 9INE has done so far. If you give the teams the opportunity, it will be a completely different result than them being stuck in tier 2.

- Counter-Strike has come to a point where everyone knows how to shoot. It's about the smallest details you could think about - the little specifics that are going on. It's the extra experience that gives you the edge over a team. It's the small decisions inside the game, whether you lose a weapon this round or you don't lose a weapon are all that matter. I feel like that's the only margin between tier 1 and tier 2 right now.

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Ever since siuhy took over the reins at GamerLegion, the European team has managed to take down strong opponents in G2, Vitality, BIG and OG. Teams, that siuhy and company actually prefer to square up against.

- For us, it's much easier and much more enjoyable to play against the better teams in the world, especially the top ones. Because it's harder to play tier 2 teams - you never really know what to expect from them.

- Against these tier 1 teams, you know their play style, you can look at their anti strats, and it's just a lot more calculated gameplay in those games. That's why I feel like our players, feel much more comfortable playing against the bigger dogs compared to tier 2 teams.

The entire discussion on whether partner leagues, such as ESL and BLAST events are a good thing in Counter-Strike or not, is not something siuhy focuses on that much nor he believes that he is the right person to ask.

With that being said, siuhy still touched on the matter describing that it can be rough sometimes to see “underperforming” top teams be directly invited to tournaments.

- It's definitely a little bit hurting inside that we are unable, or we are a little bit limited and blocked to play certain events. But it's not also completely like that. I mean, you can still qualify, siuhy quickly points out.

- It's not the biggest issue, but it's a bit hurting inside, looking at maybe some of the tier 1 teams whenever they're underperforming and they're still getting invited. Or they're still playing the bigger tournaments, whereas you have a tier two team who's shining and, you know, maybe people are saying they should get a chance to play instead of the underperforming team, but that doesn't work like that.

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GamerLegion has qualified for the prominent LAN tournament Elisa Masters Espoo 2022, where they will compete against profiled teams like Astralis, MOUZ and ENCE.

That became a reality this Wednesday when GamerLegion managed to defeat ex-Finest Elisa Invitational Fall, which works as a qualifier for the $200.000 main event. There was no doubt in today’s matchup that it was Kamil “siuhy” Szkaradek and GamerLegion who were the better team on the day.

With two crushing victories on Vertigo (16-4) and Mirage (16-7), GamerLegion swiftly eased past ex-Finest to lock in a ticket to Finland in mid-November, after a staggering individual performance by Mihai “iM” Ivan who ended the series with a 1.75 Rating and a +26 K-D diff.

GamerLegion – ex-Finest 2-0 | Elisa Invitational 2022

16-4 (Vertigo) | {cflag:RO} iM – 1.66 Rating / 22-9 K-D / 113.9 ADR

16-7 (Mirage) | {cflag:RO} iM – 1.84 Rating / 26-13 K-D / 125.9 ADR

MVP: {cflag:RO} Mihai “iM” Ivan – 1.75 Rating

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Attending teams | Elisa Masters Espoo 2022

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Frederik "acoR" Gyldstrand and Kamil ”siuhy” Szkaradek are no longer tied with MOUZ with the German organization having announced their farewell on Twitter.

The latter one has represented MOUZ NXT with great success winning four consecutive WePlay Academy League titles, while acoR on the other hand has sat on the bench since January this year, where he was replaced with Ádám "torzsi" Torzsás.

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The future of siuhy and acoR is still uncertain, however, both of them were a part of the GamerLegion roster that managed to qualify to the European RMR tournament for IEM Rio. Whether they will continue on this roster after the RMR cycle is as said; still uncertain.

siuhy explains the decision in a [link:{"url":"https://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1ss4al7","isNewTab":true,"text":"Twitlonger"}]:

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MOUZ

We teamed up with Niels Christian "NaToSaphiX" Sillassen, who has looked into a lot of demos to find the candidates for this list, where we have excluded all players, who are already playing on a Tier-1/2 team such as Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov to name the most obvious one.

You can see the video here, and down below you can see all the names of the players.

10: {cflag:DK} Frederik "Fessor" Sørensen

The 21-year-old rifler is currently playing on Astralis Talent, but has been roaming around the professional scene for the last couple of years without breaking through. Is the highest-rated player before the playoffs start at WePlay Academy League Season 4.

Is currently playing for MONAD eSport on a C-tier level. The Swedish AWP'er is only 17 years old and could have a long career ahead of him in professional CS.

The Polish AWP'er had some big shoes to fill after Ádám “torzsi” Torzsás was promoted to the first team at the start of the year. But with a 1.22 rating in the WePlay Academy League, it seems like mhL is exactly what MOUZ NEXT had hoped for. 

This list and video were created before the news of w0nderful's move to Team Spirit. But we understand why! The Ukrainian is only 17 years old and has little to no experience in Tier 1 CS:GO, but we cannot wait to see him in action at IEM Cologne.

The AWP'er of Fnatic Rising can play both passive and aggressive with his Sniper rifle, which in today's meta is a huge deal. And hey, it's cool to see a new country in CS:GO (an honorable mention also goes to fellow Romanian Laurentiu "lauNX" Tarlea from Sprout)

Ladies and Gentlemen; We have an in-game leader on the list! IGLs are notoriously underappreciated in CS, but we hope to have picked one of the most exciting prospects for the future in "siuhy", who has won three titles in the WePlay Academy team with MOUZ NXT! 

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"mouz_nxt_gbrp0x","originalWidth":1920,"originalHeight":1080,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: WePlay Academy League"}]

4: {cflag:IL} Dorian “xertioN” Berman

He is only 17 years old, but has already made quite a name for himself. The MOUZ NXT rifler has also been part of the successful spell at the team winning three titles and being one of the most hyped young players on the scene. But he did not make it into our top three! 

Another one! MOUZ NXT is packed with talents, and this one is special. Jimpphat is only 15 years old but is already signed with the best academy team in the world, which speaks for itself. The young Finn is actually VAC-banned, but since the ban was issued in early 2018, he can already compete at a Major next year.

The Russian is one of the most exciting players for the future. He is right on the edge of being on this list, but he is still largely unknown in the wider CS community. He is playing on 1WIN, who mostly are grinding C-tier tournaments.

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Who is this guy? Niels Christian "NaToSaphiX" Sillassen was blown away watching demos of the 17-year-old Ukrainian AWP'er. He is currently playing for B8, but should have something much bigger in store for the future. Statswise he is currently rated 1.27 for his last three months, which is also very impressive. 

r1nkle

Deko

Jimpphat

xertionic

regali

w0nderfu1

joelxd

Fessor

mouz NXT

Fnatic Rising

Astralis Talent

mousesports has just announced the establishment of a completely new academy team called mouz NXT, which will play under the iconic mousesports banner. The German organization has already signed five youngsters to represent them, with the most significant and notable player being the promising Ádám "torzsi" Torzsás, who has been a profiled figure for Budapest Five in 2021. 

- We're happy to finally share our latest project with you. We will provide the most promising talents in CS:GO with the same resources, technology and know-how as our main roster, and challenge them to become the stars of tomorrow. 

Supporting and developing young players has always been in our DNA. We had this program in our mind for a long time – This is mouz NXT! - 

mousesports' new academy team consists of: 

{cflag:DK} Dennis "sycrone" Nielsen (Coach)

torzsi

Szejn

sycrone

mousesports

 Szkaradek in top form, Izako Boars won the elimination match against PACT at Snow Sweet Snow. The Polish rifler destroyed his countrymen going +20 in K/D during the match.

Izako Boars is now ready for the playoffs at Snow Sweet Snow. Here they join ENCE, Winstrike, GODSENT, Sangal, and Endpoint.

Later today the two remaining teams for the playoffs will be found.

	30 days	90 days
Fixture count	14	38
Maps count	25	72

siuhy

Player stats

Articles mentioning siuhy

acoR: I expect there will be offers from left and right for our young players

siuhy: I'm not focusing on reaching bigger teams

siuhy: It’s harder to play against tier 2 teams than against tier 1

GamerLegion book a ticket to prominent $200.000 LAN

MOUZ release two players from their duties

Top 10 Future Stars of CS:GO!

mousesports announce the creation of new academy team

Izako Boars wins Polish brawl

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