gr1ks on turning down FURIA: "I just thought this wasn't for me"

Ahead of his FISSURE Playground 1 debut, gr1ks sat down with HLTV to talk about the offers he received over the summer and why he chose HEROIC.

For the second consecutive off-season, HEROIC were forced to scour the transfer market for AWPers after Álvaro "⁠SunPayus⁠" García went to G2 along with coach Eetu "⁠sAw⁠" Saha.

At the end of it, they got their hands on one of the biggest prospects in the tier-two scene, Gleb "⁠gr1ks⁠" Gazin, who has shown promise with Aurora and later Astrum.

HLTV got to sit down with the 19-year-old Belarusian to talk about the offers he received during the off-season, which also included FURIA and GamerLegion out of the bigger teams.

He delved into why he chose HEROIC instead, the challenges of joining an international roster for the first time, and his upcoming debut with the team at FISSURE Playground 1, where they are one of the favorites to make it out of Group D.

Date	Matches
FISSURE Playground 1
15/07/2025	HEROIC 20:35 BIG	Match

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This interview was translated from Russian.

Your first team recorded on HLTV was Aurora's academy. Tell me how you got into it.

I was just invited to the tests for the academy, Vova pixel messaged me. They checked me out, and I did fit. It worked out like that.

Then you got promoted to the main roster, where you replaced deko. How did that move happen?

As I understand, deko wanted to... not really end his career but take a break, he got tired of everything. So I was told that yeah, you're moving into the team.

How did you react to that? You've been in the academy for only half a year at that time.

Positively, of course. I definitely wanted to play, it was a boost for me as a player. Teammates of a higher level, a coach of a higher level, and it was an obvious level-up for me. I was happy.

Before getting invited to Aurora's academy, what was your playing experience? Was it FACEIT, or did you play for any teams?

I was playing FACEIT, but I was also playing for some mix teams. ESEA Main, things like that. I was grinding FACEIT. The first academy I was playing for was Nemiga academy in 2021-2022 where I was playing for a year or so. It didn't go well for me there, because I was a bad player back in the day. I mean, really, I wasn't thinking. So then my path [there] ended. After Nemiga Academy, I almost did not play CS. I had a year of inactivity, predominantly. I was messing around and sometimes playing CS, and that's it. My focus was primarily on life, I guess.

Then I went through tests for Spirit Academy, and I didn't make it through. Then the tests for FORZE Reload: I survived till the last stage, and then I was turned down. And after that, I was like, 'I gotta work harder.' And in April-May of last year, I joined the academy of Aurora.

tN1R told me a similar story about how he was playing on a tier-3 level where he was just hanging with not very strong performance. But at one point, he pulled himself together, started showing better results, and then he was noticed. What was the moment that allowed you to unlock more of your potential?

I wouldn't say I have fully unlocked my potential yet because there's somewhere to grow and something to work on.

But the key aspect of it is probably me having a good micro play: shooting and feeling the model. And it really helps me sometimes, be it in clutches or just in understanding some corners/angles, and so on. I always knew that this was one of my stronger sides, so I decided to work on my head. Watch the demos, go through the basics for round starts, rotations, and so on. From that point, it went up. Also, the experience that I got passed on from the academy, Vova pixel was helping me a lot. Aurora also helped me, like some in-game situations were discussed: some mistakes, some good things... And from all of that, the basics are building up in my head, so that's it.

Who would you name as your primary mentors?

It's a very hard question. I probably can't point out a specific person, but every person I worked with, regardless of whether we kept playing or not, has made a great contribution in me. You know, everyone has added a piece to that picture. And day-by-day, pieces keep getting added.

Which players and which styles do you look up to?

In CS:GO, I was following s1mple, I liked his aggressive and confident game. He was the sharpest among those I followed. But now I guess I take a little bit from everyone.

I like how sh1ro plays. When playing against him on praccs, he can appear anywhere and catch you off guard really well. I like the way m0NESY plays because he feels the player model, movements on the map, and every pixel very well. And he also clutches very well. It's nice to watch him move, he has really cool micro tricks that you can notice. So all in all, I take some bits from everyone.

Sometimes I watch MOUZ demos, but it's more of a team play: their setups, movements, and how and where their sniper reacts, and this is how you build your game.

Shortly after you moved into Aurora's main team, the organization bought the Eternal Fire's roster, forcing them to give up the team you were a part of. How did you learn about what had happened, and what was your reaction?

In general, it was okay. I understand that it's esports, it's a competition. Considering that there's a top 5 roster that plays in the tournament playoffs consistently and doesn't ever drop below top 10... My reaction was okay.

I don't have a goal to play under a certain tag, I play to become stronger, I play for the emotions. Victories, losses and the negativity from them, it all sums up. This is a competitive game, and I get a high from this competitive spirit. That's what matters most to me, which is why it really didn't change much for me.

How did your move to HEROIC happen? Did you have other offers?

Yes, I was contacted by BetBoom, but it was a bit late, when I had already made up my mind on HEROIC. I was contacted by FURIA, GamerLegion, and then HEROIC, yeah, and my choice was them.

And I'm very happy to play with tN1R, for me it's a sort of boost that... there's this man who came in and who had gone through that path in terms of getting to communicate in English from zero. In general, for CS, my level of English is not bad, but sometimes there are moments when it's tough, because I can't communicate my thoughts, emotions, calls in seconds — I'm a sniper, I have to do it. And I'm learning. Sometimes he helps me out, and it makes it way easier.

How would you evaluate your English level? Is it rather comfortable or more of a difficulty?

There's no difficulty, like there's no real big difficulty. I understand everything that goes on inside the game, but there's probably some discomfort when it comes to my calls. I can't speak English the way I speak Russian.

But it's also probably a temporary issue that will gradually go away. It's getting easier day by day. I understand 95-98% of things, and I can look the translation up or ask Andryuha [tN1R] if I don't understand something. So it's not a major difficulty.

You said that you got offers from multiple teams that all had something to offer, but why did pick HEROIC?

Let's just say, I wanted to join an international team. It's a major boost to you as a player and... I wanted to play be on an English-speaking team. Why HEROIC? One of the reasons was tN1R, because I want to play with him. He's a sharp guy with whom we can play even better together, I believe.

Also, a thing about FURIA... I don't know, I just thought this wasn't for me. That it wouldn't be my Counter-Strike at places. I would still have invites by the end of the season, and I wanted to wait and see. And I'm happy about the way it's going so far.

This will be your first big LAN event. What are your expectations?

I don't build expectations. It's not a thing that I do. I just have certain goals. We've just had a bootcamp with a team, and we keep working in the practices, talking through things all the time. So it's just about showing good CS, and how I can play. Just showing the way I can play, that's it.

The playoffs will have a stage, not as big of an arena like some other events, but still. Do you have this specific goal of playing in front of an audience?

Of course. I for sure do want it. And if we play the way we can and do things right, we will be there in front of the audience. I want that, of course.