seized: "I'll use [CS2] as motivation and I feel like it will help me a lot"

The Russian veteran has set his sights on qualifying for the first CS2 Major in Copenhagen.

Denis "⁠seized⁠" Kostin is most known for his time in Natus Vincere, an organization he represented for over four years and won nine Big Events with. Towards the end of his stint in Natus Vincere, his individual level dropped off significantly, and the 28-year-old was removed from the active roster at the end of 2017.

His next team, Gambit, was an unsuccessful venture, as the lineup failed to recover from losing Danylo "⁠Zeus⁠" Teslenko after their shock Major win. All of that meant that the Russian rifler's stock decreased even more, and he found himself playing in regional teams such as TRIDENT and Cyber Legacy that failed to give him any longevity.

That was until he signed for 9 Pandas, who he has represented for over a year. The roster has been steadily climbing the rankings under his leadership, breaking into the top 40 in July of this year. "I'm really enjoying the game," the 28-year-old began in the interview. "The last two months have been really tough for us in terms of the number of games. I think we had the most maps played for the last three months of all players, we played like, I guess 160, maybe 170 maps. So I think it's so much, and right now we really feel tired. But still I will not say we are burnt out after these marathons, I'm really enjoying it."

seized's success at 9 Pandas means that he has returned to a competitive LAN for the first time since 2019, attending the PARI Dunav Party held in Belgrade, Serbia. "It feels nice to be back, even though it feels like we are playing some Moscow LAN. Seven of the eight teams are Russian. We know each other, we are laughing and having fun with each other. It doesn't feel like some big tournament, but still, it's good to be back on LAN and play against good teams.

"For our team, especially with this lineup, it's the first LAN, so we need to get some experience before the next big game. If we qualify for the RMR, we need that experience to play on LAN. So it's really good, I really missed that. I also think I'm playing much better on LAN than online."

His team was put in a group with two top 30 teams in Virtus.pro and Aurora, and seized says they have a grudge match with the latter. "It feels nice because we have a rivalry with Aurora, our organizations are close to each other. So the game against them is always special for us. We played against them a few times online before and never won, but one week ago we finally beat them. They have some slump, I guess, but it doesn't matter.

"In the first game we played against them [at PARI Dunav Party], we had some PC problems which cost us the first map and that's why I think we lost. Today, we wanted to get our sweet revenge so much and we got it, so I'm really happy with that. About other teams, we didn't play with Virtus.pro in our group, which is my favorite for this tournament. And CYBERSHOKE, they're a new team, new talent. So we were confident that we're going to win against them. We should because of our level. So it's nice to advance from the group stage with revenge against Aurora."

seized has also taken on a more veteran role within the team alongside calling the shots in the game. "Right now I'm not a star player as before. I'm playing for my team, trying to help them as much as I can in-game and outside of the game, and I'm feeling good. The team believes in me and believes in my calls. I'm trying to give my experience to the young guys," he told HLTV in Belgrade. "We have some promising players like d1Ledez, he's like our star player and he's playing well on this first LAN. I'm really happy that he's not nervous.

"And for me especially it's really important to have the same vision of the game with your coach. In the previous lineup with liTTle we didn't have that, so right now it's much easier. Also the meta right now is not only IGL calling, players need to communicate with each other, help each other with information, calls and things like that. Some days everyone is good in that way, some days not because they are young."

When talking about his plans, seized said he remains motivated to compete in CS2. "My goal is to qualify for the first Major in CS2. I think we have a good chance if we will prepare and practice well. It's good to learn something new after playing this game for 10, maybe more years. When you are getting older, you want something fresh to give you more motivation. So I'll use it as motivation and I feel like it will help me a lot."