Find out about the 25 players set to make their Major debut.
G2
Mario “malbsMd” Samayoa
What is there to say about G2’s Major rookie? malbsMd entered HLTV’s database playing for majority-Colombian teams FULL SEND and then Infinity, his firepower making him the clear standout player as his teams competed in regional competitions in the Americas.
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Meet malbsMd, who is putting Guatemalan CS on the world map
malbsMd’s potential resulted in him being picked up by TeamOne, and he continued to show that potential while plying his trade in the Brazilian scene. The best example of this came at ESL Pro League Season 14.
One of the rare international showings of his early career, malbsMd single-handedly made his team competitive in series losses to Gambit and Ninjas in Pyjamas, and it was clear that Guatemala had a star in the making to call their own.
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malbsMd interview: Journey to G2, anchor roles, learning from donk
malbsMd continued to grab the community’s attention on M80, particularly at ESL Pro League Season 19. His swashbuckling style of Counter-Strike took G2 by storm and sent the European giants to the last chance stage, and the incredible highlights the young rifler produced captured the imagination of CS fans across the globe.
He was by far M80’s standout player across the rest of the tournament, even if they could not make the playoffs, and his performance led G2 to sign him.
malbsMd is at the top of the pecking order amongst Major rookies and the one most likely to go deep in the tournament. G2 are a serious contender for the title, and the razor-sharp aim of malbsMd being on point will be a key factor in whether or not G2 deliver on that promise.
Liquid
Roland “ultimate” Tomkowiak
ultimate burst into the consciousness of tier-one fans with a bang after Liquid plucked him from relative obscurity, and his flashy and aggressive style immediately produced some stand-out performances that earned him plenty of plaudits.
The young Pole, scouted personally by Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken, came into Liquid’s powerhouse international lineup with a single LAN under his belt, an underwhelming showing at ESL Pro League Season 15, and only played his first HLTV-recorded map in 2022. Yet ultimate hit the ground running, producing 1.28 and 1.23 ratings as Liquid made deep runs at two stacked LAN events: IEM Cologne and ESL Pro League Season 20.
The sniper has cooled off since then, his statistics consistently trending downwards across BLAST Fall Final, IEM Rio, and BLAST World Final. He did experience a bit of a resurgence at the Americas RMR, albeit against lesser opposition and with his weakest showing coming against the highest-ranked team Liquid played: FURIA.
The Major will be a good test of whether ultimate has truly been found out or if he can rediscover the kind of impact he displayed when first turning up in a Liquid jersey.
3DMAX
Bryan “Maka” Canda Thomas “Djoko” Pavoni Pierre “Ex3rcice” Bulinge Filip “Graviti” Brankovic
The only 3DMAX player who has any Major experience is Lucas “Lucky” Chastang, who featured at two Majors in G2’s French lineup in 2019.
The rest of the squad has been grinding away in Europe’s tier-two scene for many years, for a period without organizational support. Djoko and Ex3rcice have been plying their trade together since 2021 and have stuck together along with Lucky ever since.
Despite having players stolen away by bigger names, namely Alexandre “bodyy” Pianaro and Aurélien “afro” Drapier, the Frenchmen have always found a way to stay relevant and hang on to their status as one of the best of tier-two, with first Maka and then Graviti joining their journey in 2023 and 2024.
3DMAX’s core has experienced multiple RMR heartbreaks
The core of 3DMAX has regularly come close to making the Major without quite getting over the final hurdle. As HEET they exited PGL Major Antwerp Europe RMR B with a 2-3 record, losing a tight series to Astralis at the last gasp.
As HEET and then 3DMAX they failed the RMRs for IEM Rio Major and PGL Major Copenhagen with 1-3 records. The Frenchmen attended four of the last five RMRs, but only this time did they find success, and in emphatic fashion.
Across almost four years of grinding, 3DMAX’s core are perhaps in the best shape they have ever been. They are currently ranked 16th in the world, their peak ranking, and found success on LAN at Skyesports Championship this year, beating The MongolZ in the final.
Still, results against tier-one sides have been hard to come by prior to the latest RMR, where their 2-1 series win against G2 became perhaps the most prestigious they have ever secured. They will need to replicate that kind of form if they are to do damage at the Major.
paiN
João “snow” Vinicius
One of the youngest players on this list, snow is the tender age of 17. The rifler dropped out of school at only 15 years of age to focus on his gaming career, a mighty gamble, but one that has paid off spectacularly.
Already known in the Brazilian scene, having caught eyes on streams for his precocious skill at a young age, he joined Young Gods in 2021, and it was there that he had his first exposure to the elite of CS. He got to bootcamp with players like João “felps” Vasconcellos and Epitacio “TACO” de Melo, and called it a “turning point” in his career.
snow is known for being vocal in the LAN environment
After GODSENT ended their investment in CS, the youngster bounced around Brazilian academy squads before getting a golden opportunity to play in the upper echelons of his local scene with Case. “Honda told them about my name, we did a test day, and they really liked me,” he recalled.
The 17-year-old shone while playing for Case (1.11 rating), where he was one of their best players and understandably drew the attention of bigger organizations in Brazil.
paiN were the team to pick up snow, and their investment proved shrewd. snow has adapted well to his new roles, having been morphed from a star player to an anchor, and has displayed a penchant for a clutch and the odd pop-off game.
He has also become infamous for his constant screaming in the LAN environment, and is often the voice that can be heard loudest on stream after paiN win a round.
MIBR
Felipe “insani” Yuji
insani had just about given up on his CS career in 2021. Then a teenager, he had been playing CS since 2016 but hadn’t made much headway, and was set to turn his focus towards studying to become a software engineer. Then, MIBR launched a nationwide scouting program and, out of 600 applicants, insani was selected to join their academy roster.
“It was the best decision of my life,” he told HLTV during a bootcamp in Lisbon earlier this year. “If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t be here today.”
insani didn’t set the world alight during his initial time with the academy roster, but eventually he convinced his mother to let him drop his studies and commit full-time to the team.
The decision bore fruit, as insani’s average rating shot up to 1.15 during his last few months on the academy roster, and MIBR opted to promote him when searching for a replacement for Jhonatan “JOTA” Willian.
insani nearly gave up on CS in 2021
His first tournament with the main team, IEM Katowice 2023, was a trial by fire, and one that insani passed with flying colours. He posted a 1.27 rating despite his team’s failure to qualify for the main event, making the worldwide audience aware of the potential just waiting to be fulfilled.
The 20-year-old didn’t maintain those numbers consistently at first, especially in international competition, but by 2024, he had established himself as the firm star player on MIBR, emphasized by his MVP-level performance as the squad stormed to victory at ESL Challenger Melbourne. insani dominated the competition with a 1.49 rating.
insani has suffered Major heartbreak before, when MIBR failed to deliver on their status as a pre-event favorite at PGL Major Copenhagen Americas RMR and faltered to BOSS and Legacy. insani called it the “biggest disappointment” of his career, but he came back stronger, as did MIBR, going through the Shanghai Major’s Americas RMR 3-0.
GamerLegion
Erik “ztr” Gustafsson
Sebastian “Tauson” Tauson Lindelof
Henrich “sl3nd” Hevesi
Timur “FL4MUS” Marev
GamerLegion, spearheaded by coach Ashley “ash” Battye, took a significant set of gambles in rebuilding their lineup after the roster that finished second at the BLAST.tv Paris Major was picked apart.
They first gambled on Janusz “Snax” Pogorzelski and Sebastian “volt” Maloș, the former having not played at a decent level of Counter-Strike in years while he transitioned to in-game leadership, and the second of whom wasn’t even considered a star in Into the Breach.
Both paid off as the team managed to remain in and around the top 15 on the world ranking and made an appearance at PGL Major Copenhagen, although they did need some fortune to get to Denmark via 9 Pandas’ withdrawal.
When the team was again rocked by the departures of key players, this time Isak “isak” Fahlén and Snax, GamerLegion went for perhaps an even greater gamble, piecing together an incredibly young roster of talent entirely unproven at the top level. Potential firepower abounded, but much honing would be needed for this eclectic collection of young talent to succeed.
FL4MUS has emerged as a potent aggressive rifler with a spirited personality
Hone they did. In particular, the rough diamond that was FL4MUS has become an asset when aggressive play is needed to crack open a round. Beyond that, sl3nd, while not an AWPer that consistently puts up crazy numbers, is solid in the clutch and equally as solid with his utility.
Tauson has also slotted into his roles well despite precious little time on the team, and ztr is keeping it all together alongside ash, ensuring that clear game plans are enacted on the server. ash told HLTV after bringing this GamerLegion side to the Major that it was his biggest achievement, and considering the circumstances, it’s clear why.
The coach even made the ballsy call to replace Andreas “aNdu” Maasing less than two months before the RMR, and it paid off in spades. With an average age of only 20.9 years of age, GamerLegion’s youthful squad has a lot to do to progress in this Major, but you can bet they will give it a go in exuberant fashion.
Wildcard
Aran “Sonic” Groesbeek Love “phzy” Smidebrant Tim “susp” Ångström
Josh “JBa” Barutt
What a bizarre mix of Major rookies Wildcard have. Hailing from three separate continents, there couldn’t be more difference in the backgrounds between every single one of these players.
Wildcard’s eclectic roster truly lives up to its name
Sonic has been plying his trade since 2015, and is by far the most experienced of the debutants Wildcard are fielding. He’s also been taking cracks at Major qualification for the longest time, having attended the Americas closed qualifiers for the FACEIT Major all the way back in 2018.
The South African scene was never likely to afford him much success beyond a memorable run to second place at DreamHack Open Winter 2018, so when Bravado’s project destiny came to an end he remained in North America alongside teammate Johnny “JT” Theodosiou and coach Tiaan “T.c” Coertzen.
It was this link up with North American cores that garnered Sonic the most success of his career, seeing him hit fifteenth place on the world ranking with Extra Salt in 2021, but when that team was picked apart by the likes of Complexity and Liquid, it seemed his career might peter out, and he even retired in 2022 to continue his studies before returning on a part-time basis.
You might think the two Swedes would have similar backgrounds, but no. susp laboured away in the lower tiers of European online play for most of his career while phzy experienced the dizzying highs of getting called up by Ninjas in Pyjamas from the academy squad back in 2021, before dropping a level to play for Sangal in 2022, and then heading to Asia to play for Rare Atom in 2023.
He has now checked off playing in a third continent from his list, heading to Wildcard mid-way through this year to add some much-needed firepower to the roster.
JBa is a home-grown North American talent through and through, making a name for himself with Limitless before really honing his craft by plowing through NA qualifiers and online tournaments as Forsaken’s best player.
Taking advantage of the post-COVID exodus to VALORANT, JBa rose through the ranks of NA CS quickly, and his captain Peter “stanislaw” Jarguz was impressed not only with his mechanics whilst playing for Forsaken, but also his attitude.
It was only natural that JBa would form part of Wildcard’s core, and he was their best-performing player in the early days when the team struggled to find success before bringing in the Swedish duo.
Passion UA
Rodion “fear” Smyk Dmytro “jambo” Semera Vsevolod “s-chilla” Shchurov Nikita “jackasmo” Skyba Eduard “zeRRoFIX” Petrovskyi
Passion UA were the feel-good story of the RMR, beating the odds by taking down elite sides Virtus.pro and Spirit before clinching their qualification with a win over Astralis. Not only did Passion UA make the Major as the fourth-lowest ranked team in their RMR, but they did it with a team made up of teenagers and rookies. The squad’s average age is 19.8, and four of them had never played a significant LAN event before the RMR.
Passion UA captured the imaginations of CS fans with their underdog story
The core of Passion UA joined Arsenal footballer Oleksandr “Zinchenko” Zinchenko’s organization in August of last year, all bar fear. They all started their careers in 2023, played a handful of HLTV-recorded maps between them, and began their journey in earnest ranked in a lowly 195th place.
The team showed promise from the go, taking maps off the likes of B8 and beating out relatively established lower-tier squads. They even came agonizingly close to making the closed qualifiers for PGL Major Copenhagen at the start of 2024, falling to Zero Tenacity with a qualifier spot on the line.
fear came into the lineup shortly after, and the team went back to the grind. There was an instant improvement in their fortunes and, with some deep placings in tier-three competitions, they started to get invites to online events featuring a better standard of teams.
Surprisingly, Passion UA got to grips with the higher level they were playing at quickly, taking top-four in RES Regional Series 3 with two wins over 9 Pandas and a victory over PARIVISION. Clearly, this was a team that was improving at a rapid pace.
By October, just prior to the RMR, they took down the likes of Aurora and 3DMAX to claim second-place in CCT Season 2 Europe Series 13. The Ukrainians had been grinding an insane number of official maps throughout their rapid rise, playing 235 over the last six months alone.
jambo is the clear star of the squad, having caught the eye with some ballsy, show-stopping plays with the AWP throughout the RMR. jackasmo and zeRRoFIX are the secondary fraggers, usually following up on the selfless work of s-chilla, who creates space for the rest of his team.
Leading from the front is fear, an animated and passionate character who made a name for himself throughout the RMR cycle with his exuberant celebrations and oddball interviews.
Behind the players is the Major-winning coach Mikhaylo “Kane” Blagin, who brings the experience to temper his players’ youth. Together, they have formed a potent combination, and it would be hard to bet against that combination pulling off some more upsets in the Opening Stage.
fnatic
Matúš “MATYS” Šimko
Hailing from the Czech-Slovak scene, MATYS has a surprising amount of LAN experience for someone who only joined his first well-known team at the end of 2023. Before being plucked from relative obscurity by fnatic, he played for Enterprise and Sampi, regularly appearing at Tipsport LAN events in his home region, which gave him a strong grounding in the LAN environment at the local level.
MATYS displayed his potential from the very early days of his career, leading the way for Enterprise with a 1.63 rating as they took a map from Gambit, who were third in the world at the time, at V4 Future Sports Festival 2021. The aggro rifler continued to display his potential while paying his dues in Europe’s lower tiers and eventually earned his call-up to fnatic due to his immense consistency over 18 months (1.20 rating) playing for Sampi.
MATYS took a map off Gambit back in 2021
The 22-year-old has continued to put up good numbers in aggressive roles for fnatic and is their second-highest rated player after Benjamin “blameF” Bremer, all while taking a quarter of his team’s opening duels. However, much of this good work has been put in against a slightly lesser caliber of opposition than he will face in the Opening Stage.
Cloud9
Nikita “HeavyGod” Martynenko
Cloud9 have had a rough time of things since their apparent superteam featuring Denis “electroNic” Sharipov and Ilya “Perfecto” Zalutskiy fell apart. One player who has settled in the new squad remarkably quickly is HeavyGod.
Hailing from Israel, HeavyGod bounced around the lower echelons of Europe’s online scene before finding his way to Endpoint, a conveyor belt of lesser-known talent where countrymen Guy “NertZ” Iluz and Shahar “flameZ” Shushan plied their trade before him.
The 22-year-old eventually established himself as the star rifler of the team and, as such, earned himself a call-up to OG. There he only continued to impress, his demolition of Complexity and HEROIC in BLAST Spring Showdown 2024 were a real highlight, and, due to him being a Russian speaker, Cloud9 quickly came knocking.
HeavyGod is the latest of the wave of talent hailing from Israel
The Israeli has been the consistent bright spot in Cloud9 ever since joining, outshining former HLTV top 20 player Sergey “Ax1Le” Rykhtorov and firmly asserting himself as the star of Cloud9’s squad.
He only reinforced his credentials with his showing at the RMR, where he crushed Nemiga and Sangal and still played some wonderful CS in the defeat to FaZe.
His more passive, cerebral style often relies on activating late in rounds, particularly on the CT side, and his ability to clutch consistently will be key to Cloud9 progressing beyond the Opening Stage.
Rare Atom
Yihang “L1haNg” Li Junhao “ChildKing” Peng
Rare Atom are sporting a healthy mix of veterans and younger talent coming into this Major. Complimenting the experience of Andrew “kaze” Khong, YuLun “Summer” Cai and HaoWen “somebody” Xu, all of whom have attended multiple Majors, are Major debutants ChildKing and L1haNg.
ChildKing spent the majority of his career, over three years, with Wings Up before joining Rare Atom in April. The rifler has precious little experience in international LANs, his only forays coming in 2022 at ESL Challenger Melbourne and 2023 at CS Asia Championships.
Wings Up made a surprise run to the top-four in Melbourne, taking down EG White and OG as ChildKing posted impressive performances, but were battered at CAC by MOUZ and Ninjas in Pyjamas.
L1haNg has been knocking around the Chinese scene since 2021, establishing himself during a 16-month stint with Newhappy before linking up with Rare Atom in April.
The 21-year-old has even less LAN experience than his fellow debutant, with only three HLTV-recorded LANs to his name, all regional events and one of them being the Asia RMR which qualified him for this Major.
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