zweih: "I saw FL4MUS leaving Nemiga and went, 'whatever, I will message boX'"

zweih scouted himself for Nemiga and is flourishing at just 17 years of age.

Ivan "⁠zweih⁠" Gogin's journey to his first Major at the age of 17 is an uncoventional one for his region.

There was no Spirit Academy, only the Vaseline Worms mix team and a hopeful message to Anton "⁠boX⁠" Burko after Timur "⁠FL4MUS⁠" Marev went to GamerLegion.

Date	Matches
BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 Stage 2
09/06/2025	Nemiga Finished 2:0 M80	Match

"Before Nemiga, I typed to the manager of Spirit Academy that I was ready to sign a contract [to be a reserve]," zweih recounts to HLTV. "When I didn't join anyone, I saw FL4MUS leaving Nemiga for GamerLegion and went, 'whatever, I will message boX.'"

He'd still be on Spirit's bench now but, instead, his shot in the dark at Nemiga paid off and he was parachuted into winning a LAN at RES in Belgrade and the Shanghai RMR.

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Bold Predictions for 2025: Who are they?

Six months later, the young anchor-lurker has blossomed. In Austin, zweih is top-fragging for the team with a 1.22 rating over 10 maps.

He has more than justified his selection as Danil "⁠donk⁠" Kryshkovets's bold prediction in the 2024 top players list, and put his name right near the top of the list of the scene's best prospects. And he's just getting started.

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Did you enjoy that game?

Yeah, it was kind of easy.

How is it to play your first Major, are you enjoying that?

I said it three times already, I don't really care which tournament I play. I just play CS. I don't mind what stage, Major, anything.

How different is it to Shanghai, when you played there? How have you changed as a player?

In Shanghai I didn't have as much confidence as I have right now. I learned a lot from Shanghai, it was my first tier-one tournament. Then EPL, and at least [now] I have some experience from playing tournaments like this and showing how I can really play CS.

What's it like working with 1eer and boX?

They're genius players, well 1eer player and boX coach. They've been with each other for three and a half years, in a team, and they have a lot more experience than me. I'm learning new things every day, it's a pleasure to play with them.

Can you give an example? What have they taught you?

I don't think it's something special. Just basic things I didn't understand before joining Nemiga, easy things that you can understand while out of game but in-game, you need experience to understand in the moment. That's what I've learned while playing with them.

I read an interview with you, about how you joined Nemiga with you messaging boX. Can you tell us about that?

I played pracs with a lot of teams, like tests, and there was some problems with that. I didn't join anywhere. When I didn't join anyone, I saw FL4MUS leaving Nemiga for GamerLegion and went, 'whatever, I will message boX.' No is no, and yes is yes, and whatever.

It's a different journey. How different has it been for you to go straight into a team instead of an academy, like Spirit or Vp?

I can't really compare it to academy teams. I don't know what kind of career I would have had if I had joined Spirit Academy or VP.Prodigy. I think it was the right decision that I went to Nemiga instead of Spirit Academy.

You know the story? Months ago, before Nemiga, I typed to manager of Spirit Academy that I was ready to sign a contract on the bench of Spirit Academy [as a sixth player]. Like kyousuke, syph0, Mokuj1n, they were on bench before they joined Spirit Academy. I was ready to sit on the bench. If I signed the contract then, I would be testing for Spirit Academy right now because they are disbanding.

A crazy story, right? How happy are you that you're playing Majors already when you could be sat on the bench?

If I compare it to other ways my career could go, it's the best one of course. I could go to so many Russian teams, academies, new teams, but Nemiga is the best one. If I compare them to other teams, where they are now, where I am playing right now, it was the best way for me.

How did you react when you saw donk pick you as bold prediction?

I knew before. He typed to me, that he would choose me. When it was official a lot of people congratulated me. Of course I was kind of happy that I got attention from the number-one player in the world. I got some confidence from that.

I wanted to ask as well about what type of player you are. You play a lot of anchor-lurker roles, is that a long-term thing? Is that how you see yourself?

Yes, that's the most comfortable role for me right now. I don't know how it would go if I changed my role. The best zweih is anchor and lurk, for now. Maybe one day it will change but for now it is.

Final question, 2-2 now, what would you be happy with leaving the Major?

Playoffs.

Yeah?

Of course.