Spirit add w0nderful as degster's replacement

The now Serbia-based team have added one of Eastern Europe's most-touted youngsters.

Spirit have confirmed the addition of 17-year-old sniper Ihor "⁠w0nderful⁠" Zhdanov in the wake of Abdul "⁠degster⁠" Gasanov's departure. An honourable mention in Mareks "⁠YEKINDAR⁠" Gaļinskis's bold predictions for 2022, the young AWPer has been labelled as one of the firepower-rich CIS region's hottest prospects for a while and has now got his big move.

He replaces previous star player degster, who could not relocate to Serbia at the speed the organisation required. They are big shoes to fill but Spirit will hope w0nderful can recreate his form from the lower tiers, where he posted a 1.30 rating in the last 12 months.

w0nderful started his career proper with Trasko in 2021 and immediately impressed, the highlight being a 1.37 rating against FORZE on Overpass that showed a glimpse of the wonderkid's potential against top 20 opposition.

He then joined up with 'Gucci Gang' at the backend of 2021 just before the squad were signed by HellRaisers. At HellRaisers, w0nderful continued to post high statistical output, finishing all three events there with more than a 1.24 rating.

After the war in Ukraine "forced" HellRaisers to transfer-list their young squad in February, w0nderful has been waiting patiently for his move, entering free agency in March. That move has now transpired with Spirit, who he joins in time for IEM Cologne's play-in, which starts on the 5th of July.

Spirit's announcement emphasised the "lengthy screenings and tests" w0nderful and other trialists had to undergo, tests where he apparently "demonstrated high professional and social communication skills." Coach Sergey "⁠hally⁠" Shavaev also added comment:

"We are very happy to welcome Igor to Team Spirit. He proved himself perfectly during the tests and showed uncharacteristic determination and confidence in his actions for his age. We can already claim that he has high chances to become a top level player with the right amount of diligence and effort. I can say that w0nderful suits us stylistically and mentally, so I do not think he will have any problems with communication."

He continued, "I expect him to integrate smoothly but surely into our team. I want to see his progress from match to match. That is why I wish him to get used to us and experience the taste of big wins together in the near future."

Spirit are now:

Leonid "⁠chopper⁠" Vishnyakov
Boris "⁠magixx⁠" Vorobiev
Robert "⁠Patsi⁠" Isyanov
Pavel "⁠S1ren⁠" Ogloblin
Ihor "⁠w0nderful⁠" Zhdanov

Sergey "⁠hally⁠" Shavaev (coach)