Rookies of the Future - News Flash #9
Inspired by one of launders' most recent YouTube videos, here are some of the most exciting prospects waiting to make their mark on Counter-Strike's tier one scene in the next year.
Kirill “Magnojez” Rodnov
Age: 19
Nationality: Russia
Role: Aggressive Rifler
Team: BetBoom
Rating (last 3 months): 1.17
Russia (and the CIS region as a whole) seems to be an endless pit of cracked AWPers and, more recently, chronically aggressive riflers.
While everyone has got to know donk thanks to his ridiculous showings at IEM Katowice and the PGL CS2 Major, no one is talking about his tier two clone - Magnojez.
Formerly of Spirit Academy, Magnojez recently made the step up to BetBoom, where he joined forces with the likes of nafany and zorte, creating a formidable contender team at some of the smaller events.
Despite playing alongside very talented teammates, Magnojez is by far and away the best player on the team and the main driving factor behind their victories.
The 19-year-old will make his big event debut at ESL Pro League Season 19, so Counter-Strike fans will finally get the chance to witness his skills against high-level opposition.
Artem “r1nkle” Moroz
Age: 19
Nationality: Ukraine
Role: AWPer
Team: NIP
Rating (last 3 months): 1.13
For some reason, NIP has a soft spot for young and unproven Ukrainian AWPers, so after headtrick failed to live up to expectations, they turned their attention to r1nkle.
The sniper has been a talking point for a while now due to his lengthy and rather successful stint in B8, during which he very nearly qualified for the BLAST.tv Paris Major.
Adding to his reputation, ropz chose r1nkle as his bold prediction during the 2022 edition of HLTV’s Top 20 ranking. But he changed a whole lot since then (looks-wise).
Now with NIP, he should (in theory) have more resources and opportunities to continue improving his game and make a name for himself as the next up-and-coming talent.
However, NIP is known to screw everything up, so performing well on an individual level is crucial for r1nkle, so that he can get another shot at tier one in the future.
Linus “nilo” Bergman
Age: 19
Nationality: Sweden
Role: Rifler
Team: Metizport
Rating (last 3 months): 1.20
After not creating a single formidable young talent since REZ eight years ago, the Swedish Counter-Strike scene has finally produced its savior - nilo.
The 19-year-old is on everyone’s lips, having been the most popular bold prediction among fellow pros in the latest HLTV Top 20 ranking.
I’m sure that most fringe international lineups are strongly considering pursuing his signature after he finishes his studies, which definitely won’t be easy due to the competition.
What’s amusing is that nilo used to be on NIP’s academy roster, but for some reason, they decided to let the biggest Swedish talent in the last decade go and certainly regret it now.
Time will tell if nilo realizes his potential, but everything is pointing in the right direction. Let’s just hope he doesn’t join a mediocre Swedish team and become a franchise player wasting his talent like tabseN on BIG.