xseveN retires from competition

The Finnish rifler will not transition his career into Counter-Strike 2.

HAVU have announced Sami "⁠xseveN⁠" Laasanen's decision to retire from competitive Counter-Strike. The Finn cited a lack of motivation to play professionally after an 11-year-long career, which spanned both CS:S and CS:GO.

The 28-year-old will continue to play for HAVU for the upcoming two tournaments, and will officially hang up his mouse after Elisa Esports eSM 2023. His departure will leave HAVU without their longest-standing player, and the focus of their 2022 rebuild.

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xseveN was a constant presence in the Finnish scene, competing for the likes of iGame.com and Epiphany Bolt until 2018, when he made the move to ENCE. It was alongside Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen and Aleksi "⁠allu⁠" Jalli that xseveN reached the peak of his professional career, bursting into the scene in 2018 to claim trophies at StarSeries i-League Season 6 and DreamHack Open Winter 2018.

The 28-year-old was also an important piece in ENCE's miracle run at IEM Katowice 2019, in which the Finnish quintet defeated Liquid and Natus Vincere on the way to the final. ENCE eventually lost to Astralis in the last match, but their run remains as one of the most iconic Major performances to this day.

BLAST Pro Series Madrid 2019 was the last trophy claimed by xseveN alongside the Finns from ENCE as the roster began to drift apart shortly after, during the Starladder Berlin Major. He departed the squad in August 2020, when the 28-year-old was acquired by HAVU.

"xseveN had an important role in HAVU by having a lot of experience and knowledge in CS. We want to wish him luck for the future and thank him for the three years. I'll be missing him but the friendship stays, thank you Sami," said HAVU CEO Lasse Salminen.

Notable events won by xseveN:

StarSeries i-League Season 6
DreamHack Open Winter 2018
BLAST Pro Series Madrid 2019