Zeus' autobiography published in English

Retired player Danylo "⁠Zeus⁠" Teslenko has announced that his autobiography has been published for the first time in English.

In the book "Against All Odds: The Way to Victory", first released in Russian in May 2019, Zeus openly discusses his childhood and lays bare the hardships he went through during the early days of his career.

He then spends several chapters talking about his first tenure with Natus Vincere, the team he helped to create in 2009 and that would go on to dominate the 1.6 scene a year later, when they won Intel Extreme Masters IV, ESWC and WCG. Na`Vi struggled to find the same kind of success during the early years of CS:GO, with Zeus eventually being released from the team in the summer of 2016 to make way for Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev, who "had dreamt" of playing for the famed organisation "since his childhood".

Zeus, who retired from gaming in September, ends the book by sharing details of his time with Gambit - with whom he fulfilled his dream of winning a Major - and offering advice to young players who are looking to go down the esports path.

Below you can find a snippet from the book about Gambit's success at PGL Major Krakow:

"More than one million people from around the world watched the final. When we won ... we all yelled, hugged, kissed being overflowed with delight!

"That's how my dream to win the Major came true. It was happiness, joy, pleasure, a sense of complete moral satisfaction, thousands of greetings from relatives, friends, e-Sports fans ... My mother prayed for us; our girlfriends supported us... Everyone helped as best as they could. We celebrated the victory all together, it was very cool and fun.

"Well, after that everyone went their own way. After a little while I realized that the guys got a tiny problem – now they felt they are celebrities. And its symptoms appeared surprisingly quickly! Even before the Major I understood that we had some problems. But nevertheless, we got together and managed to overcome them by performing a real miracle, by becoming the champions. But afterwards for some reason the guys decided they needed to get rid of the coach, the one with whom we won this Major, the one who chose the most important third map in the semifinal) ... We had a long discussion of the coach, I tried to persuade them strongly that it would be a big mistake. I recorded a video on YouTube where I honestly and openly explained the situation ... I really wanted to save the team, but, apparently, the team itself did not comprehend that in full. They didn’t even understand that if Misha left, there would be a high probability that I would also leave to follow a friend, which I told them repeatedly. Meaning it was a challenge from them to me also."

The printed version of "Against All Odds: The Way to Victory" is already available in paperback and can be ordered on Amazon. A digital version can be found here.