First-Time Major Appearances At The Copenhagen Major

The first CS2 Major, PGL Copenhagen 2024, is right around the corner. Let’s check out which participants will play on Counter-Strike’s biggest stage for the first time. The list of players include teenagers, and also players who are over 30 years old – a mix of prodigies and commitment!

Team Spirit 

World Ranking: #2

Major Rookies:

• Danil “donk” Kryshkovets (17 years old)
• Myroslav “zont1x” Plakhotja (18 years old)

The Team Spirit squad has recently leveled up since promoting two players from their academy roster, donk and zont1x. Though these youngsters have only broken through the Tier 1 scene recently, they have already lifted the trophy in IEM Katowice 2024; these kids are no joke. 

MOUZ 

World Ranking: #4

Major Rookies:

• Jimi “Jimpphat” Salo (17 years old)

Jimpphat, the younger brother of an experienced Finnish professional player, sergej. Similar to donk, the 17-year-old was promoted from the MOUZ academy roster not too long ago. With MOUZ, the Finn has already won ESL Pro League Season 18, defeating Na’Vi 3-0.

Eternal Fire

World Ranking: #11

Major Rookies:

• Ali “Wicadia” Haydar Yalçın (19 years old)

Wicadia is considered the future of Turkish Counter-Strike by his experienced teammates at Eternal Fire. He is known for being one of the highest rated players in the FACEIT Pro League. Wicadia had a rough start transitioning from the academy league to top tier Counter-Strike, but his skills are finally flourishing. 

Apeks

World Ranking: #14

Major Rookies:

• Ådne “sense” Fredriksen (20 years old)
• Aleksandar “CacaNito” Kjulukoski (23 years old)

Despite being the youngest member in the roster in the presence of veterans like STYKO tyk and jkaem, 20-year-old sense has been tasked with the responsibilities of the in-game leader. CacaNito, on the other hand, is the team’s star rifler. 

SAW

World Ranking: #18

Major Rookies:

• Christopher “MUTiRiS” Fernandes (31 years old)
• Ricardo “roman” Oliveira (31 years old)
• João “story” Vieira (21 years old)
• Rafael “arrozdoce” Wing (21 years old)
• Michel “ewjerkz” Pinto (23 years old)

SAW’s qualification is one of the greatest storylines the Copenhagen Major had so far. MUTiRiS and roman, two players pushing forty, have finally qualified for their first Major after over a decade of competition. Their passion and commitment is unmatched, and will be accompanied by three Portuguese prodigies. 

9 Pandas 

World Ranking: #20

Major Rookies:

• Timur “clax” Sabirov (21 years old)
• Artyom “iDISBALANCE” Egorov (27 years old)
• Aleksandr “glowiing” Matsiyevich (30 years old)
• Daniil “d1Ledez” Kustov (20 years old)

Another beautiful run comes from the 9 Pandas team. Ex-Natus Vincere player, seized, will finally return to the peak of Counter-Strike with four Major rookies. 30-year-old glowiing stepped up for his team in the Last Chance Qualifier to help 9 Pandas qualify for their first Major. 

The MongolZ 

World Ranking: #22

Major Rookies:

• Ayush “mzinho” Batbold (16 years old)
• Azbayar “Senzu” Munkhbold (17 years old)
• Usukhbayar “910” Banzragch (21 years old)

The Mongolian squad is no stranger to playing in Counter-Strike Majors, but the team made a massive roster shuffle, recruiting mzinho, Senzu, and 910. They dominated the Asian RMR to get to this point. At only 16, mzinho is the youngest player at the Major. What are they feeding these kids?!

AMKAL

World Ranking: #26

Major Rookies:

• Aleksandr “TRAVIS” Timkiv (26 years old)
• Kaisar “ICY” Faiznurov (18 years old)

AMKAL, previously the core roster of Entropiq, will return to playing at the Major with new faces. TRAVIS had been competing in the Tier 2 scene for quite a while, and it’s honestly surprising that Copenhagen will be his first Major. Meanwhile, the new kid on the block, ICY, has been displaying an impressive performance as the team’s AWPer. 

KOI 

World Ranking: #27

Major Rookies:

• Tiago “JUST” Moura (27 years old)
• Renato “stadodo” Gonçalves (27 years old)
• Adam “adamS” Marian (22 years old)

JUST had a similar story with the boys from SAW. After years of perseverance, he has finally made the Major with a capable squad. The Spanish organization had to battle it out in the European RMR, and finished 3-1, a respectable run. 

ECSTATIC

World Ranking: #28

Major Rookies:

• Jason “salazar” Salazar (19 years old)
• Magnus “Nodios” Olsen (24 years old)
• Patrick “Patti” Larsen (25 years old)
• Tobias “kraghen” Kragh Jensen (21 years old)
• Jonas “Queenix” Dideriksen (24 years old)

Owned by popular skin enthusiast zipeL, ECSTATIC defied all odds and passed their biggest test. Before the RMR, ECSTATIC was a team playing in Tier 3 online tournaments. All five players will be making their first appearance in Tier 1 Counter-Strike. 

Imperial

World Ranking: #31

Major Rookies:

• Lucas “decenty” Bacelar (20 years old)
• Kaiky “noway” Santos (18 years old)

The Imperial roster had parted ways with FalleN, and it looked like the roster was done for. However, after bringing in the new recruits, decenty and noway, the roster surged through the Americas RMR. Veteran player VINI said the team made the right call by picking up the two youngsters, as they are incredible. 

paiN Gaming 

World Ranking: #38

Major Rookies:

• Vinicius “n1ssim” Pereira (22 years old)
• Kaue “kauez” Kaschuk (20 years old)
• Lucas “lux” Meneghini (21 years old)

The Brazilian squad of paiN Gaming will attend the Major as a heavy underdog, especially when three inexperienced players, n1ssim, kauez, and lux, will play on a big stage for the first time in their careers. It will be interesting to see if the roster can deal some damage and make a name for themselves. 

Lynn Vision 

World Ranking: #43

Major Rookies:

• Niu “westmelon” Zhe (23 years old)
• Zhang “z4kr” Sike (21 years old)
• Lizhi “Starry” Ye (19 years old)
• Tang “EmiliaQAQ” Junjie (19 years old)
• Ji “Jee” Dongkai (19 years old)

The lowest-ranked team in the Major, Lynn Vision, upset Grayhound at the Asian RMR. All members of the roster are very young, and will make their Major debut in Copenhagen. It is quite a miracle that they made it to the event, so they can play their games with no pressure at all. 

The PGL Copenhagen Major will run from March 17 to March 31. 

Header: Team Spirit