PGL CS2 Major Copenhagen 2024Meet PGL Copenhagen Major's 34 rookies
Nearly one year out from the last Major, 34 new faces are preparing to play in the biggest event of their careers to date.
Update March 16, 12:35 :
9 Pandas encountered travel issues and have been replaced at the PGL Major Copenhagen by GamerLegion. The article has been adjusted, as the Russian side featured four players who would have made their first Major appearance.
Of the 24 sides slated to participate in CS2's first Major in Copenhagen, 12 are set to feature players who have never attended a Major before. This group varies wildly in a number of different categories; age, nationality, prior LAN experience, how close they have come to reaching the Major berth previously, and how competitive they are now.
This article will look to shine a light on the many rookies headed to Copenhagen, ranging from players already contending for titles and young guns learning alongside experienced cores to those serving as examples for underrepresented regions and other inexperienced squads.
Already gunning for the top
The smallest group of Major debutants are those who enjoy the luxury of a direct placement in the Elimination Stage of the event, bypassing the first round as a result of their team's stature in the Valve Regional Standings. Among the 34 rookies making their way to Copenhagen, just three players will be starting their campaign in the top 16.
By far the most notable player in this category is Russian phenom Danil "donk" Kryshkovets, whose inconceivable 1.70 average rating at IEM Katowice propelled Spirit to a dominant run in Poland that saw them hoist the trophy after suffering only a single lost map across the entire tournament. donk "cooled off" in the team's next outing at Europe RMR B, but still posted a stellar 1.25 rating, the fifth-highest of the event. donk put up similarly astounding performances at the final outing before the Major, averaging a 1.53 rating across seven maps at the BLAST Premier Spring Showdown.
While donk has acted as the tip of Spirit's spear in their recent run of form, it is only thanks to the help of the remaining four players that the young star has been able to pierce through the armor of his foes. Here, we may highlight Spirit's other Major rookie, Myroslav "zont1x" Plakhotia, a crucial piece of the team often overlooked in favor of the headliners of donk and Dmitry "sh1ro" Sokolov.
The eighteen-year-old Ukrainian has been putting up solid numbers as the team's third star, drawing comparisons to Emil "Magisk" Reif and his previous role on Vitality. Rounded out by the supportive duo of Leonid "chopper" Vishnyakov and Boris "magixx" Vorobiev, Spirit are undoubtedly one of, if not the outright favorite for CS2's first Major title.
The remaining member of the most elite group of Major rookies is young Finnish rifler Jimi "Jimpphat" Salo, who has been an important element in MOUZ's deep runs since the European side overhauled their roster in July 2023. Despite losing star player and long-time MOUZ member David "frozen" Čerňanský to FaZe at the end of 2023, Kamil "siuhy" Szkaradek's troops continue to shine, with Jimpphat taking a leading role in the team's 3-0 run through Europe RMR B, which was capped off with a 2-0 victory over Spirit.
Despite entering the Major as the team with the second-lowest average age, Jimpphat and the rest of MOUZ are in a prime position to achieve a deep run, finding themselves in the list of title-contenders alongside far more aged lineups.
Pumping new blood into battle-tested cores
While donk, zont1x, and Jimpphat enjoy their extra practice time, the remaining 35 Major rookies are poised to duke it out in the tournament's Opening Stage for a shot of reaching the top 16. For many of these players, their first-time Major appearance simultaneously serves as their first Big Event outing, a daunting prospect for those hoping to make a deep run. A fortunate few of these rookies head to Copenhagen alongside battle-tested veterans, who will no doubt be looking to impart their wisdom as they march into the biggest event of CS2 so far.
Despite being on the radar of very few as Europe RMR A kicked off, Russian side AMKAL are a prime example of such a squad featuring first-time Major players who will enjoy the support of those with previous Major experience. Aleksandr "TRAVIS" Timkiv and Kaisar "ICY" Faiznurov will be heading into their debut Major match versus fellow CIS side 9 Pandas alongside the core trio of Aleksei "NickelBack" Trofimov, Vladislav "Krad" Kravchenko, and Igor "Forester" Bezotecheskiy.
These latter three players came just shy of Major playoffs at PGL Major Stockholm, almost two and a half years ago, under the Entropiq banner. In the Legends Stage, the Russian squad secured an early 2-0 start but faltered in three consecutive BO3s to get sent packing with a 2-3 record. In Copenhagen, NickelBack and company will be looking to learn and grow from their mistakes of years past, their eyes firmly set now on breaking into the Elimination Stage.
Eternal Fire share a similar story to AMKAL; Ismailcan "XANTARES" Dörtkardeş, Buğra "Calyx" Arkın, and Engin "MAJ3R" Küpeli came just rounds away from reaching the Champions Stage as Space Soldiers at ELEAGUE Major Boston, but were ultimately unable to overcome MOUZ in the critical 2-2 match.
United under Eternal Fire years later, the former Space Soldiers core struggled to find consistency, culminating in frequent roster moves that recycled many of Turkey's already-known quantities. After reincorporating experienced AWPer Özgür "woxic" Eker into their lineup and moving rookie Ali "Wicadia" Haydar Yalçın up from their academy squad, Eternal Fire have emerged as favorites to reach the next stage, enjoying the fruits of a finally stabilized lineup.
The final set of rookies who enter Copenhagen with experienced teammates are Lucas "decenty" Bacelar and Kaiky "noway" Santos, who posted astounding ratings at the Americas RMR to fuel their team's 3-0 campaign in Mexico. The young Brazilian duo had very little international experience between the two before their acquisition by Imperial, with decenty having previously played in six seasons of WePlay Academy League alongside FURIA Academy while noway had outright no team experience outside of his time on stream team Seleção do bt0,
Despite having little exposure to top competition, the pair have a wealth of experience to fall back on in the team's remaining players, composed of Henrique "HEN1" Teles, João "felps" Vasconcellos, and Vinicius "VINI" Figueiredo. With five Major playoff appearances between the team's three veterans, the young guns of Imperial will enjoy extensive support heading into their daunting opening game versus ENCE.
Carving a path for smaller regions
The next set of Major rookies will carry on their shoulders not just the weight of their own anticipation and anxieties, but also the hopes of fans from nations who rarely get to see outings at top events from their countrymen, let alone at Majors.
The country that has enjoyed the most success in this Major cycle relative to its historical showings is without a doubt Portugal. Prior to PGL Major Copenhagen, just one player from the small European nation, Ricardo "fox" Pacheco, had achieved Major qualification. SAW came tantalizingly close to adding to the tally at PGL Major Antwerp but were defeated in a heartbreaking loss to Outsiders in their 2-2 match in Europe RMR A.
Looking for vengeance after their ill-fated Antwerp RMR run, the 31-year-old duo of Christopher "MUTiRiS" Fernandes and Ricardo "roman" Oliveira returned to the Major cycle once again under the SAW banner. Alongside Michel "ewjerkz" Pinto, Rafael "arrozdoce" Wing and João "story" Vieira they recovered from an early 0-2 deficit in Europe RMR A with three consecutive BO3 victories to book their tickets to Copenhagen, earning all five players their first Major qualification. With a recent successful outing at BLAST Premier Spring Showdown, the Portuguese side will no doubt have their sights set on breaking into the Elimination Stage.
SAW were not the only side to expand upon Portugal's presence at the Major. KOI's qualification also earned Tiago "JUST" Moura and Renato "stadodo" Gonçalves, members of the aforementioned SAW lineup that fell at the final hurdle before Antwerp, their first Major appearances. These qualifications have brought the grand total of Portuguese competitors in attendance to seven, the fourth-most of any nationality competing in Copenhagen. These two are not the only KOI players poised for a Major debut, with rifler Adam "adamS" Marian becoming the fourth Romanian player to reach Counter-Strike's most coveted event, alongside Mihai "iM" Ivan, Sebastian "volt" Maloș and Laurențiu "lauNX" Țârlea.
The final side to breathe new life into oft-underrepresented nations is Apeks, under which banner Ådne "sense" Fredriksen and Aleksandar "CacaNito" Kjulukoski make their first Major showing. The latter player follows in the footsteps of former Apeks IGL Damjan "kyxsan" Stoilkovski, giving North Macedonia their second Major-bound player. Meanwhile, sense's debut brings Norway's total to four at Copenhagen, the most players from the Scandinavian nation at a Major since ESL One Katowice 2015.
New faces looking to leave their mark
The remaining 20 Major rookies are spread across five sides, each of widely varying age, nationality, and previous Big Event experience, only having in common cores that have never before qualified for a Major.
The most prominent of these five squads is certainly The MongolZ, who feature Major rookies Azbayar "Senzu" Munkhbold, Usukhbayar "910" Banzragch, and Ayush "mzinho" Batbold. Although the core of this team has only just now claimed their first Major outing and enter the event with the youngest average age of only 19.5 years thanks to featuring three of the seven youngest players in attendance, The MongolZ are solid candidates to reach the Elimination Stage.
In addition to dominating the local Asian scene, the young side have also accrued a fair amount of Big Event and LAN experience, with their most recent showing at IEM Katowice only halted early by the hands of eventual winners Spirit and semifinalists ENCE.
paiN are also a familiar name returning to the Major, but this time around the Brazilian side features a trio of young players new to the circuit. Vinicius "n1ssim" Pereira, Lucas "lux" Meneghini, and Kaue "kauez" Kaschuk each have a handful of international experience, accruing outings at BLAST Paris Major Americas RMR, ESL Challenger Rotterdam, and WePlay Academy League, respectively, but their appearance at PGL Major Copenhagen will represent a significant departure from the quality of opposition they are used to.
The only Major experience on the side comes from Lucas "nqz" Soares and Rodrigo "biguzera" Bittencourt, who both failed to move past the Challengers Stage in their previous ventures. The Brazilian side will be hoping to break paiN's streak of early Major exits, kicking off with their opening game versus Apeks slated to set the tone for their campaign.
9 Pandas were set to attend the Major with four rookies following a hard-fought campaign through the second RMR and Last Chance Qualifier, where they beat Astralis and GamerLegion. In a heartbreaking turn of events, passport issues meant they could not travel to Copenhagen in time in a complete roster, and they were replaced at the event at the last minute by GamerLegion.
One of the few sides composed entirely of fresh faces to the Major circuit is Lynn Vision, who head to Copenhagen after accruing some international outings last year at ESL Pro League Season 18 and IEM Sydney, with mixed results against domestic competitors TYLOO and The MongolZ. While Lynn Vision were unable to best The MongolZ at the Asia RMR, the Chinese side's wins over TYLOO and Grayhound earned their country a Major appearance for the first time since PGL Major Stockholm, a moment which clearly meant the world to the inexperienced side.
Rounding out the list of Major rookies are ECSTATIC, the only fully Danish side in attendance at PGL Major Copenhagen, and another team attending composed entirely of rookies. The hometown heroes had previously spent much of 2023 grinding online events with limited success, with their most notable outings coming from their participation in two ESL Challenger events.
The Danes barely scraped by into Europe RMR B, finishing Europe RMR Closed Qualifier A with a 2-3 record, forcing them into the Decider Qualifier where Patrick "Patti" Larsen and co. laid claim to one of the five spots up for grabs. Once at the RMR, ECSTATIC pieced together a hard-fought run that saw them best Monte, OG, and Guild Eagles en route to qualification, earning them dual accolades of being the only fully Danish lineup and the sole team from the Decider Qualifier to reach the Major.
Ismailcan 'XANTARES' Dörtkardeş
Myroslav 'zont1x' Plakhotia
Robin 'ropz' Kool
Tomáš 'oskar' Šťastný
Chris 'chrisJ' de Jong
Miikka 'suNny' Kemppi
Martin 'STYKO' Styk
Omar 'arki' Chakkor
Joakim 'jkaem' Myrbostad
Tim 'nawwk' Jonasson
Jack 'Gizmy' von Spreckelsen
Szymon 'kRaSnaL' Mrozek
Dan 'apEX' Madesclaire
Lotan 'Spinx' Giladi
Rigon 'rigoN' Gashi
Bram 'Nexius' Campana
Nils 'k1to' Gruhne
Andrew 'kaze' Khong
Ádám 'torzsi' Torzsás
Helvijs 'broky' Saukants
Aleksandar 'CacaNito' Kjulukoski
Christopher 'MUTiRiS' Fernandes
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