yel retires from playing, open to coaching offers

After almost a year since his last official, yel has decided to step away from active play.

yel has opted to pursue a new role in the Counter-Strike scene

Gustavo "⁠yel⁠" Knittel has announced earlier today that he has decided to step away from active play, putting an end to a lengthy playing career spanning nearly 10 years that saw the Brazilian player ply his trade on a number of different sides in the domestic scene.

yel further clarified in his announcement that he had decided to pursue the prospect of coaching, stating that this was "a decision that I have been thinking about and studying for a while". The 31-year-old former in-game leader also highlighted the wealth of experience he had accrued over the course of his time as a player as a boon to any team who was interested in his coaching services.

yel spent time with various Brazilian squads throughout his playing career, with the most notable stint being a nearly two-and-a-half-year period with Luminosity. During this time, yel and his team participated in a number of international events, securing 7-8th place at IEM Chicago 2018 alongside runner-up finishes at DreamHack Open Valencia 2018 and DreamHack Open Atlanta 2018

After departing Luminosity to make way for the team's addition of Ricardo "⁠boltz⁠" Prass, yel and former Luminosity teammate Lucas "⁠destiny⁠" Bullo joined sides with INTZ, under whose banner the two would secure their first and only Major appearance to date at StarLadder Major Berlin 2019. Here, yel and co. struggled to leave their mark, ultimately bowing out of the Challengers Stage with a 0-3 record after being eliminated by Grayhound.

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Following his tenure on INTZ, yel spent his time on BOOM and MIBR. Although this period of his career was marred by a lack of LAN opportunities due to the COVID-19 pandemic, yel's sides did particularly well domestically during this period notching wins and deep runs in a number of South American competitions.

After a brief period with O PLANO, where the team's most notable result was an exit from the IEM Rio Americas RMR with a 1-3 record, yel moved on to Paquetá, the final banner under which he would compete. This squad had mixed finishes domestically but came tantalizingly close to an appearance at the BLAST.tv Paris Major, bowing out of the Americas RMR with a 2-2 record. Just over a month after their RMR exit, yel would be moved to Paquetá's bench, marking the end of his lengthy playing career.