Official: sh1ro joins Spirit

17-12-2023 19:03

The ex-Cloud9 AWPer joins rising star donk on Spirit.

sh1ro returns to competition with Spirit

Spirit have announced the signing of Dmitry "⁠sh1ro⁠" Sokolov from Cloud9, confirming the report released by HLTV on Thursday. sh1ro will take the place of academy product Artem "⁠ArtFr0st⁠" Kharitonov on the starting roster.

Sources: sh1ro set on Spirit move

The signing comes as something of a surprise as Spirit only recently took down Virtus.pro to secure the BetBoom Dacha trophy, and earlier in the year the same lineup bagged the PARI Dunav Party title, also at the expense of Virtus.pro.

According to HLTV's earlier report, an agreement for sh1ro had already been reached prior to Spirit's win at BetBoom Dacha.

ArtFr0st was a key player in both aforementioned LAN victories, performing to a high level and finishing as Spirit's second-best rated player on both occasions, whilst also being among the events' best-rated overall.

The 22-year-old generally impressed since being promoted from Spirit's academy squad, posting a 1.18 rating across his tenure with the main team, second only to Danil "⁠donk⁠" Kryshkovets.

His replacement, sh1ro, is touted as one of the best snipers in the world, having twice been named in HLTV's top 20 players list. sh1ro came fourth on the list in 2021 and rose to third in 2022, behind only Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut and Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev, cementing himself as one of Counter-Strike's superstars.

sh1ro steps down from Cloud9

sh1ro unexpectedly stepped down from Cloud9's starting roster in October following the team's torrid performance at IEM Sydney, the first elite LAN event in CS2. The squad had been underperforming ever since putting together a supposed superteam in the summer player break with the additions of Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov and Ilya "⁠Perfecto⁠" Zalutskiy.

Spirit are now:

Leonid "⁠chopper⁠" Vishnyakov
Boris "⁠magixx⁠" Vorobiev
Danil "⁠donk⁠" Kryshkovets
Myroslav "⁠zont1x⁠" Plakhotia
Dmitry "⁠sh1ro⁠" Sokolov

Sergey "⁠hally⁠" Shavaev (coach)

Artem "⁠ArtFr0st⁠" Kharitonov (benched)

expected

2023-12-17 19:03

17 replies

rip artfrost

2023-12-17 19:06

16 replies

He got the nawwk treatment. Sh1ro is just better even when artfrost is good. But better individually doesnt mean better in the team, we'll see.

2023-12-17 19:15

10 replies

1to1 replacement and i doubt there will be chemistry issues, i really dont see how this wouldnt improve spirit

2023-12-17 19:19

9 replies

sh1ro will be the second most authoritative voice behind chopper huge upgrade

2023-12-17 19:32

8 replies

yeah, should be a great move for spirit

2023-12-17 19:43

3rd imo, 2nd is magixx as they said in their vlogs

2023-12-17 20:43

5 replies

if you think sh1ro, who left c9 in part because his voice was being suppressed, and who was extremely vocal in former gambit, is less vocal than magixx, you’re… you’re special

2023-12-17 22:27

4 replies

holy shit youre another one of those who gatekeeps russian tier2/3 insides you can keep projecting if you like so but sh1ro said himself on stream that being "the vocal one" wasn't the reason he left and it were solely "internal issues"

2023-12-17 23:28

3 replies

Sounds like overlapping reasons tbh.

2023-12-18 00:09

one of those internal reasons that was discussed on hltv confirmed numerous times was electronic and sh1ro’s clashing vision of the game

2023-12-18 03:31

1 reply

vision of game =! being leading voice in game

2023-12-18 15:20

democratic ArtFr0st > authoritarian Sh1ro

2023-12-18 09:11

THEY DID HIM DIRTY

Put him on ence

2023-12-17 19:23

2 replies

ence doesn't really want to sign russian players

2023-12-17 19:40

he is going in bleed probably

2023-12-17 20:59

Well same age than shiro, and shiro proven on t1 allready

2023-12-17 23:53

Nice

sad for artfrost

Undeserved, I hope he finds a good team

+1 sh1ro will make spirit worse you will see.

2023-12-17 19:20

7 replies

Worse than missing all big rournaments except bookies ones ? last good tournament for spirit was thundepick qualifayers , and if we dont count it , last one was paris rmr, they will either stay at this place in rankings , or get better

2023-12-17 20:10

6 replies

PARI Dunav 2023 and BetBoom Dacha are still big tournaments, on LAN aswell, especially if you put thunderpick qualifiers and rmr as comparison, and they won both It's not that simple choice to replace an awper that is delivering, it's the better decision but he could possibly make spirit worse if they don't get a grip rapidly

2023-12-17 20:29

Paridunav isnt and dacha is barely

2023-12-17 21:37

N.B. especially if you put thunderpick qualifiers and rmr as comparison

2023-12-17 22:24

they improved significantly throughout the year and if you can't see that you're just dense lol

2023-12-17 21:01

keep overrating sh1ro in spirit , like everyone overrated CLOUD9 at begging of 2023 with the perfecto + elec joining.

2023-12-17 21:38

Well, Spirit has real IGL and real awper at the same time

2023-12-17 22:55

expected spirit going to be crazy with this 1

no they are not , he is apassive player doesn´t fit them. same shit as everyone hyping cloud9 roster with perfecto + electronic at begging of the year. PEOPLE NEVER LEARN.-

doesnt matter because artfr0st cant hit shots vs top teams

2023-12-17 19:26

They need a passive player when they have donk

2023-12-17 19:46

donk and zontix are aggressive. passive awper fits perfectly.

2023-12-17 19:51

11 replies

but sh1ro has some moments where he straight up baits

2023-12-17 20:19

yes he will bait donk and zontix as i said and win them the clutches

2023-12-17 20:20

that doesn't work, look at astralis who have baitF

this works perfectly. this is how every good team works. mix of aggressive and passive players.

2023-12-17 20:22

passive doesn't mean baiting

2023-12-17 20:32

and?

2023-12-17 20:33

he replied to wrong person prob meant the prev one

2023-12-17 20:46

nah he just doesnt what he is talking about.

2023-12-17 20:47

porb yes cuz he was arguing about baiting and this is that #130 said

2023-12-17 20:49

THERES A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PASSIVE HOLDER like a wall like some pros like to call it. and theres baiting with unrealistic chance of winning the round doing the WRONG PASSIVE move + getting kill when that kill doesn´t matter anymore , instead of RIGHT PASSIVE MOVE.

no shit, Sherlock. winning is right, loosing is wrong.

2023-12-17 21:59

artfr0st is a passive awper aswell, so this shouldn‘t be a bad fit

2023-12-18 20:19

ur crazy, they have the best entry in the world aka donk, sh1ro is passive, top 1 soon

2023-12-21 05:49

nice

Spirit ERA?

feels bad for artfr0st but spirit is looking scary right now

2023-12-17 19:04

Expected

cringe

hope artfrost find a good team

SPIRIT ERA 2024

maybe heroic or og should sell them a blast premier spot

2023-12-17 19:05

heroic will get decent team soon , but og is just a wasted spot, same with EG but they are in the Americas region

2023-12-17 20:12

artfrost was good but when you have an opportunity to get a player of shiro's caliber, you just dont walk past that

damn, insane firepower

i like it

Very nice roster

Oh boy

NICE

replace zont1x and we are talking about a top 5 roster

12 replies

delusional? zont1x, donk and artfrost used to carry botixx and chopper consistently

2023-12-17 19:07

bro said botixx and is calling me delusional also if artfrost was carrying them, they are going to be a top 1 team now lol, that guy sucked dick

2023-12-17 19:09

magixx is definition of mid

Magixx is so bad lol

2023-12-17 19:49

guys u both being delusional not even mentioning chopper

2023-12-18 00:14

he's mad at him because he trashtalked furia and mibr

2023-12-17 19:16

idk about furia, but saying that spirit would smash mibr 5-0 is trashtalk? more like facts

people interpret things differently

Is this a joke? zontix is fine and definitely not is a problem, especially versus top opponents

2023-12-17 19:11

He’s Brazilian lol zont1x called their teams shit, he’s coping

Zont1x is better than chopper and magixx

2023-12-17 19:29

still mad about what zontix said about mibr ahahaha

friendship ended with ax1le now donk is my best friend

Hah classic

Lmaoo

i get that this is a joke , but still best friend of sh1ro in C9 was nafany and electronic , not Ax1le , even they were playing in duet on most of the maps

2023-12-17 20:14

i think donk alone made the 1,75 mill buyout for Sh0r0

2023-12-17 22:06

F BotFrost

ArtFr0st :( But Spirit now top 5 mb

artfrost to C9

Sad for ArtFr0st

2023-12-17 19:08

artfr0st to c9

lets goooooooo

justice for artFROST

I hope artfr0st finds a good team, he shows great promise, especially around a great entry fragger. I still think this isnt a good move for spirit, but we'll see.

artfrost to heroic

2023-12-17 19:22

Heroic would be a cool pickup, I'd be sad if he went to ence because that would mean no podi. Could also go to sprout aince slime isnt ready yet.

2023-12-17 19:25

Expected but sucks for artfrost

Omg

artf0rst :(

2023-12-17 19:10

gl!

2023-12-17 19:12

Now C9 pick artfrost please.

groove clearly said they dont want awper now, but when time comes to make changes i think they will get deko.

So does this make spirit good?

HOLY FUCK WHAT Bad luck for artfrost I hope he finds a good team that treats him well But damn spirit are hopefully going to be a crazy good team now

I dont think C9 will take artfrost, at least for now 9pandas artfrost ?

2023-12-17 19:13

If anything C9 will get s1mple or deko later because the navi core has always played with an aggressive AWPer and i think this is the reason sh1ro decided to leave because they probably wanted him to play more aggrerssive than usual

2023-12-17 19:41

there is no way s1mple is going to play anytime soon, at least not before major, especially in a full russian team

I didnt say C9 will get s1mple or deko before the Major

2023-12-17 20:50

N.B. especially in a full russian team

2023-12-17 21:15

GL ARTFR0ST! Hope maybe c9 gives him a tryout.

2023-12-17 19:14

Poor Artem :(

rip artfr0st, but this is still exciting.

this roster is scary

Sad for ArtFr0st :(

Expected?

2023-12-17 19:17

LETS FUCKING GO HOLY

Imagine having 1.18 rating on your first year in top level and getting replaced. Must suck.

2023-12-17 19:18

hltv.org/stats/players/21348/artfr0st?ra..

get a real IGL instead of chopper and they cooking

Im surprised. Until the last moment, I thought the transfer rumors about him were false. ArtFrost, very sorry and gl

2023-12-17 19:21

As a sh1ro fan I‘m happy, but artfr0st was good and he is an aggressive awper and unlike sh1ro he isn‘t constantly whining about cs2 I hope this works fine. Sh1ro donk and zontix are a good trio

crazy move

night because it won't be good until artfrost finds her team

artfrost wanted to get benched so he doesnt have to play real tournaments where he would have to take off his hat when playing. Now he can keep coping with balding with the hat on.

2023-12-17 19:24

Is he bald? I can't imagine what he looks like without a cap, btw: I'm impressed how Russians and Poles have a high rate of baldness men

2023-12-17 19:36

Its so over for everyone Finally a worthy opponent for vitality

2023-12-17 19:27

pog

Retard move ArtFrost is Very good.

2023-12-17 19:31

shoutout to whoever that predicted TS era back in 2020

I feel like C9 is still a better team and idk why sh1ro left. But let's see what Spirit looks like now, there's potential for top 10

perfecto and electronic are superstars I am not sure but I thonk he left because of pressure. sh1ro is too emotional , u could see this when he was crying while they were loosing the fame , maybe that’s why he left

If I dropped 30 bombs every time and my team still managed to lose I would cry too lol Although I believe Sh1ro started having thoughts about leaving after nafany was kicked, they are like best friends basically

2023-12-18 05:08

Sad for ArtFr0st, I thought Spirit would hold off making any roster changes until the Major, but when a player of sh1ro's caliber is on the market, you can't pass up on this opportunity I think it's a move in the right direction. As much as I love ArtFr0st, he's nowhere near sh1ro. It's not about the mechanics since ArtFr0st is on a par with most of T1 awpers in that regard but it's more about reading the game and being able to show up in clutches when your team needs you the most ArtFr0st would often just hold some weird angle while being exposed to other positions and eventually get caught off guard sh1ro on the other hand has cemented himself as one of the best clutchers in the game. He can and he should elevate Spirit to tier 1 in no time. Best of luck to ArtFr0st. Hopefully he'll be picked up by a good team. If he steps up his gamesense a little bit, he can be a valuable asset to a lot of teams

2023-12-17 19:33

Why is artfrost always wearing a hat? Does he sleep with a hat on?

it keeps his head warm

2023-12-18 15:07

sh1ro's playstyle dont work with donk's playstyle, Artfr0st used to bait for donk, now donk will have to bait for sh1ro

? donk always going first wtf

2023-12-17 19:42

idk what donk videos are you watching but he is an aggressive entry rifler always going first with confidence, maybe you watching a wrong timeline of donk sir.

2023-12-18 01:44

f ck off sh1ro go somewhere else dont you dare ruin this team

mfs are comparing artfr0st to sh1ro and suggets spirit shouldve missed on sh1ro hltv idiots never stopp impress me

2023-12-17 19:44

Artfr0st is good, but sh1ro has a so much experience

2023-12-17 19:48

artfr0st to PARI might be good, xsepower is so washed up

why he should chose PARI, if Heroic needs an awper, and ArtFr0st has good enough english. only if Heroic want someone else ofc, but it feels like great choice for both

2023-12-17 20:09

i like artfr0st aggressive awping with Jerry I think they will be good again

i mean, in PARI he wont play at big tournaments, like in heroic

2023-12-17 20:11

wtf Artfrost does everything right but still gets booted

2023-12-17 19:50

Any info on where ArtFr0st is going to land? This guy is a huge talent.

2023-12-17 19:54

OMG

2023-12-17 19:58

ax1le dropped off a bit and sh1ro said fuck you im playing with donk

2023-12-17 19:59

"a bit" xD

2023-12-17 20:03

i dont wanna call him washed just yet he's only 21

2023-12-17 20:04

rip artfrost, but this surely is an upgrade

lol just like when devve got nawk booted

first cs2 major to be falcons vs spirit

2023-12-17 20:05

I'm a bit sceptical about this, but hopefully sh1ro will fit. If he'll play as he used to play in c9 before reshufle, and donk will continue donking people, there's a chance for Major for spirit as for me. Would be cool for Spirit to win majors both in Dota and CS. The only org that has majors in both games is Navi, right?

idc about navi majors in dota, cuz they are shit already for 10 years

2023-12-17 20:24

Spirit very interetasting team

2023-12-17 20:17

Good luck artFrost, hello Dima, lesgo!

unluko artfrost, but this is hype

Poor artfr0st. Hopefully he gets a place on C9 or something. Still, great move for Spirit, sh1ro is an absolutely monster star to have on your team.

2023-12-17 20:21

Why would artfrost get a place in c9

He most likely wouldn't as C9 are happy to remain sniper-less for now, it was just food for thought.

2023-12-17 22:29

Why would c9 consider artfrost lmao

2023-12-17 23:12

SICK f for artfr0st tho

2023-12-17 20:25

unrelated but hope spirit change their logo, look how cool the dragons on their jersey look, compared to their goofy minimalistic one as their logo

2023-12-17 20:34

TS logo >>> every other in esport

2023-12-17 23:42

Now monesy go to c9?

2023-12-17 20:36

chopper needs to do 0.9 k/d or more and this team can go very far

2023-12-17 20:39

Now replace Magixx, and we have a fighting chance

2023-12-17 20:44

Good signing ig but mann C9

POG move, gl spirit and sh1ro

2023-12-17 21:00

ArtFrost english is high level, he should join Heroic / ENCE

On paper it’s great, but it could ruin the chemistry in the team.

2023-12-17 21:09

Why tf did he leave C9?

cuz they kicked nafany

2023-12-17 22:22

we saw this in the past and it did not work out

2023-12-17 21:16

rip donk no more open roles

2023-12-17 21:18

If they can make that puzzle work, Spirit will be a real threat next year.

2023-12-17 21:20

good luck artfrost, I hope C9 sign him

T2 spending 1 mil for a player

2023-12-17 21:31

Spirit started with good decisions since they signed a Yellow Submarine in Dota 2, since then just great things happened in this club. GL Spirit

2023-12-17 21:32

2023-12-17 21:56

Well, we Brazilians are more f-ed than ever.

2023-12-17 21:58

Most undeserved bench ever

2023-12-17 22:05

What a benger this is like replacing nawwk for device you have to even if artfrost is pretty good

2023-12-17 22:12

Hope artfrost will get a nice team!

2023-12-17 22:23

Artfr0st sadge

People hyping ArtFrost like he was next zywoo. Good player but nowhere near Sh1ro's level especially against elite opponents.

2023-12-17 22:51

+1 for name and + 1for comment Hope C9 signs him, still better than hobbot, and I think with experience he will be decent AWPer for C9

2023-12-18 03:23

sick

2023-12-17 23:15

Might affect team Spirit map pool, as Sh1ro’s ex-teams used to permo-ban Nuke and TS were quite confident on Nuke with previous squad

2023-12-17 23:22

Interestingly that every single of his ex-Gambit teammates are now playing Nuke. Also I believe Nafany was saying during confirmed that Sh1ro really liked Nuke.

2023-12-18 00:34

you really got balls when you bench your 1.15 awp I don't rly like it but gl

2023-12-17 23:25

niceeee

2023-12-17 23:33

This is massive. Spirit are now one of the most interesting rosters to watch out for in 2024

2023-12-17 23:48

Rip Artfrost he was quite good and underlooked cause of Donk

2023-12-18 00:07

He definitely won Spirit a few crucial maps leading to the trophy win

2023-12-18 10:39

Spirit is cooking

2023-12-18 00:42

Upgrade but feels bad for artfrost

2023-12-18 01:24

I Hope Artfrost finds a home, unfortunate way for things to work out but when a guy as good as Sh1ro is willing to join you gotta do what you gotta do

2023-12-18 01:50

Somebody will sign him. Just maybe not tier1, not many teams left

2023-12-18 02:16

Glad he’s back.

2023-12-18 02:15

Nice Spirit top 5 for sure

2023-12-18 02:25

artFr0st⁠ to cloud9 post major

2023-12-18 03:02

+1 -hobbit +artfrost and C9 is back in competitive

2023-12-18 12:06

artfrost still goos af, this move is weird but okay... feel sad to see ax1le and sh1ro spread out :((

2023-12-18 03:09

Damn VP were also thinking of signing sh1ro would've been quite the lineup

2023-12-18 03:10

bot team and donkey fraud gon be exposed soon

2023-12-18 04:42

hey zhong xina hows tyloo doin ?

2023-12-18 05:00

Artfr0st :(

2023-12-18 05:09

sh1ro deserves more than $1.75mln

2023-12-18 07:41

hltv.org/forums/threads/2845205/spirit-i..

2023-12-18 09:04

He's going to bait Donk now

2023-12-18 09:40

if C9 m0NESY doesn't happen, Artfr0st would be the way to go

2023-12-18 09:47

C9 MONESY HYPE

2023-12-18 13:15

I said 1 week ago -artfrost +shiro or simple and this will be the best team in the world leggo!

2023-12-18 11:04

L, artfr0st deserved better than this

2023-12-18 12:12

Spirit just became a powerhouse????

2023-12-18 12:19

sh1ro back to 1.3 rating form and easy tournaments for Spirit

2023-12-18 12:51

sh0r0 will show how to bait

2023-12-18 14:29

Not gonna win shit with magixx lol

2023-12-18 14:58

i said it when the c9 squad was first announced and everybody lost their shit. Spirit will win tournaments. C9, on the other hand, with all their stars and hype, will not win any tournament, not even A-tier tournaments.

2023-12-18 16:20