Along with the development of CS:GO, 2021 continues to be a year in which young talents rise to assert themselves in the professional arena.
1/ Dmitry `sh1ro` Sokolov
Team: Gambit Esports.
Age 19.
Achievements: MVP at IEM Katowice 2021, runner-up of ESL Pro League Season 13.
Rating in 2021: 1.27.
It is not an exaggeration to say that SH1RO is one of the most impressive names of 2021. The talent of this 19-year-old player has been known for a long time when he was honored by HLTV in the series `One For The Future`.
Unlike other teammates in the CIS region like JAME or even s1mple, Sh1ro does not often play aggressively or enter, but he often stands behind to support his teammates.
2/ Mareks `YEKINDAR` Gaļinskis
Team: Virtus.Pro.
Age: 21.
Achievements: Champion of CS Summit 7, Runner-up at IEM Katowice 2021.
Rating in 2021: 1.23.
After joining Virtus.Pro in May 2020, YEKINDAR quickly proved himself and quickly left his mark on the world professional arena with his teammates.
Playing as an entry fragger, YEKINDAR is famous for his excellent individual skills and extremely proactive playing style.
3/ Sergey `Ax1Le` Rykhtorov
Team: Gambit Esports.
Age 19.
Achievements: Runner-up at IEM Katowice 2021, MVP ESL Pro League Season 13.
Rating in 2021: 1.20.
Along with teammate sh1ro, Ax1le is also a name that cannot be ignored when mentioning the success of Gambit Esports.
4/ Valerii `B1T` Vakhovskyi
Team: Na`vi.
18 years old.
Achievement: Champion of BLAST Premier Global Final 2020.
Rating in 2021: 0.99.
Brought up by Na`vi from the youth squad as the 6th member of the team, B1T has made great strides in maturity since the beginning of 2021 until now.
In early April, Na`vi officially announced that B1T would replace Flamie in the first RMR tournament of the year and at DreamHack Masters Spring 2021. This is definitely a worthy reward for the efforts.
Some other notable names
Junior
Recruited by FURIA in January 2021 to replace the HEN1 position, Junior quickly adapted and integrated with the fast and dynamic playing style of this South American team.
FlameZ
Considered one of the most promising young talents in the Israeli CS scene, FlameZ is widely known after being drafted by four players: huNter-, NiKo (G2 Esports), syrsoN (BIG) and ropz (Mouz).
Recently, FlameZ was recruited by OG to replace ISSAA and at the BLAST Premier Spring Showdown 2021 tournament that took place a few days later, they made a big surprise by defeating Astralis and eliminating the Danes.
