In a year dominated by the historical streak of 37 consecutive Bo3/Bo5 wins, an ESL Grand Slam, a Major trophy, and a record 7 trophies in a row by Team Vitality, very few teams have been able to contest the hegemon and still leave a mark. But in spite of the undisputed domination of the Dan “apEX” Madesclaire-led lineup, many eyes are fixed on one player’s greatness: the wonderchild who took the professional scene by storm, lifting an IEM Katowice, Major, and now, an IEM Cologne trophy — also winning the MVP awards in all of them in his first 2 years as a Tier 1 competitor — Danil “donk” Kryshkovets.
Just a couple of days ago, the #1 player of 2024 led Team Spirit to one of the most prestigious trophies in the long history of the game — that of IEM Cologne. Spirit dominated the competition all the way from the Group Stage through the Playoffs and put the cherry on top with a loud and proud 3:0 win over MOUZ in the Grand Final, winning their 3rd event of the year and completing the “Legacy Bingo Card” of winning Katowice, Cologne & a Major.
But regardless of donk’s phenomenal performance and terrifying potential to become the greatest player of all time before even turning 20, this article won’t be about the best player in the world — but about the 17-year-old youngster who joined Team Spirit and found himself standing on the stage of the legendary Lanxess Arena, lifting the Cologne trophy just 26 days after joining his first Tier 1 team. This article is about the story of a young man who was able to go from the Faceit Premium queue, through Tier 2, and reach the top of the world in just 15 months — Ivan “zweih” Gogin.
Early days
At the early stages of his career, zweih was just like any other talented CIS player — trying to break through the mold via playing as much as possible in various Russian mixes and grinding on Faceit.
The earliest records of his “career” go back to August 2023, when the 15-year-old played on mixed teams like Saints, HOTU Academy, POLET, and Vaseline Worms — participating mainly in CCT Open Qualifiers and local Russian online events that didn’t even have HLTV coverage. By spring 2024, his most notable showing consisted of playing two Bo3s in the ESEA Advanced Season 47 EU with his early teammates from Vaseline Worms, which — if I may add — is an excellent choice for a team name. But zweih’s individual performance was not necessarily outstanding. Averaging a 0.98 rating in his only HLTV officials and having some decent performances in qualifiers did not scream “special” to anyone. That’s not to say his potential wasn’t there — rather, it needed the right eye for talent to reach out a hand to the youngster.
Thankfully, right around the time zweih left the already mentioned project, another Russian talent — Timur “FL4MUS” Marev — moved from Nemiga to GamerLegion, causing a seismic plate movement in the higher echelon of CIS Counter-Strike. Belarusian veteran and Nemiga coach, Anton “boX” Burko, needed a replacement for his star. I won’t go into much detail on boX’s career or his tendencies in picking up players, but a quick and efficient way to describe him would be: a visionary who has always preferred working with the next generation and shaping them from the ground up rather than opting for more seasoned players in his region. And that was exactly what young zweih was waiting for.
In June 2024, zweih got picked up by Nemiga to replace FL4MUS and help them stay on their upward trajectory — one they had built with FL4MUS in the first half of the year — leading to a #36 world ranking and regular competition for online titles and LAN qualifications.
At first, the move didn’t really make much sense, considering zweih’s more passive and lurking nature compared to his predecessor’s flamboyance and aggressiveness. But it all started to clear up pretty quickly. Zweih ended up posting a showstopping 1.20 rating in his first tournament as a Nemiga player, leading his new team to the RES Regional Series 5 Europe title after besting teams like Zero Tenacity, BLEED, and Rhyno. To this day, I’m still happy to say I had the pleasure of casting his first official games in that tournament. Watching him, I was instantly captured by his calmness, calculated nature, and ability to approach situations like a player with at least 2 years of experience at that level.
In the following months, zweih played his first-ever LAN event — the RES Regional Champions 2024 — where once again, his 1.13 rating over 14 maps and spectacular performances against Aurora, Fluxo, and UNPAID (ex-BLEED) led Nemiga to first place and the trophy.
He also got to play his first Major championship at the Perfect World Shanghai Major. In spite of Nemiga’s 12th–14th exit, he was able to steal the show in their only win, which saw them eliminate the Polish side Rebels Gaming. Sadly, with experience-heavy teams like MOUZ, Cloud9, and BetBoom as their other opponents, the chances for success were minuscule, and zweih wasn’t yet experienced enough to make a big difference.
After a successful 2024 — with two online trophies, a Major debut, and a LAN trophy — zweih’s 2025 didn’t start as brightly. A series of early Playoff exits in CCT, YaLLa Compass, and ESL Closed Qualifiers saw Nemiga drop in the rankings. But thanks to the already accumulated VRS points from the end of 2024, the lineup got to participate in the 21st season of ESL Pro League, where Ivan Gogin once again stood out with a 1.14 rating — including a striking 60–55 score and a 1.20 rating performance in Nemiga’s only win, eliminating Heroic in a 2:1 match.
The Breakthrough – BLAST Austin Major 2025
Nemiga might’ve been struggling as a team, but heading into the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 Europe Regional Qualifier, zweih was determined to show the world what he was made of and become the superstar of his team. Nemiga couldn’t qualify with a clean record, but despite a 0:2 loss to Heroic, zweih was simply spectacular and played a big role in Bo1 wins over GamerLegion and BetBoom, as well as a 2:0 victory over BIG Clan. Moreover, he became the highest-rated player of the entire MRQ with an impressive 1.39 rating — ahead of names like SunPayus, tN1R, device, and MATYS.
At this point, one thing was clear — zweih played best when no one believed in his team and the odds were stacked against him. The crazy part? That wasn’t it.
Nemiga entered Stage 1 of the Major as many people’s 0–3 pick — or at least, a team not expected to win more than one match. But the same story kept repeating. I won’t dissect every game, but just two weeks after entering the Major as complete underdogs, Nemiga found themselves in Stage 3 after going 3–1 in Stage 1 and 3–2 in Stage 2. Zweih was shining — posting a 1.21 and 1.28 rating in the respective stages.
Sadly, with Natus Vincere, Team Vitality, and paiN Gaming in their way in Stage 3, Nemiga finally crumbled and exited with a 0–3 score. Despite a strong performance on Ancient (24–15 and a 1.72 rating) against paiN Gaming in the only map they won, zweih couldn’t prevent the end of the Cinderella story. And yet, the world could not ignore the Russian’s undeniable potential and his role in the organization’s best-ever Major finish. Zweih didn’t just play — he dominated. A quiet, patient, and incredibly efficient lurker, this 17-year-old pushed Nemiga far beyond expectations, showing he was ready for something more — even if that meant an instant jump into one of the best teams in the world.
In the Right Place, at the Right Time
The circumstances of zweih’s transfer to Team Spirit were definitely different from his Nemiga journey. One year ago, the youngster was tasked with becoming the next driving force of a Tier 2 team, fighting to break through. But when Spirit came knocking, everything was clear: they needed more. More firepower. More reliability. More support for donk — so they could return to the conversation of being the best in the world.
The move was unorthodox. From a year-long Tier 2 career where zweih had freedom and wasn’t part of an “all for one” system, there were — and still are — questions about how well the move to Spirit will work out.
However, zweih seems to be his teams’ and his own lucky charm. Becoming a free agent just before Nemiga parted ways with FL4MUS, lifting his team with a stellar Major showing — just as Spirit was ready to risk it all on a youngster who could elevate their game.
Zweih seems to always be in the right place at the right time — performing when it matters and becoming exactly what a team needs. From working under a respected Tier 2 coach like boX to playing for hally alongside the world’s best player, his career looks like a string of lucky breaks — backed by undeniable effort and results.
Zweih didn’t shine in Spirit’s Cologne win and seemingly took over magixx’s roles and positions — which didn’t fully align with his previous tasks in Nemiga. Will that continue, or is Spirit giving their new prodigy time to grow into donk’s trusted #2? Time will tell.
But who really is zweih?
He is a practical, calculated, emotionally stable, and controlled teenager who won his first events with both professional teams and went from — I’m ecstatic to say this again — the Vaseline Worms to lifting the IEM Cologne 2025 trophy with Team Spirit in under 2 years. He is potential. He is a new beginning. And he might just be exactly what Team Spirit needed to make the most of donk’s spectacular talent.
