Team Spirit has announced that Myroslav ‘Zont1x‘ Plakhotia has been benched from its Counter-Strike 2 roster due to personal reasons.
In addition, the organisation has also announced the acquisition of Andrey ‘tN1R‘ Tatarinovich from HEROIC.
Zont1x Becomes Inactive
According to a statement from Team Spirit, the rifler had requested some time off from the organisation to ‘solve certain personal issues’.
“It took us a while to provide him with such an opportunity,” Team Spirit added. “Avoiding negative consequences for the roster’s stability at the same time. We undoubtedly respect Miroslav’s choice.”
The organisation would go on to say that the player is not leaving the organisation outright, and that his return is ‘highly anticipated’.
Before being benched, Zont1x last played in the BLAST Open Fall 2025 Closed Qualifier, where Team Spirit placed eighth overall after losing 1-2 to G2 Esports, just missing out on the LAN Finals in London.
After joining Team Spirit in 2023, Zont1x has achieved several notable accolades in the 2025 season so far. This includes helping his roster place first in BLAST Bounty Fall after winning 3-0 against The MongolZ in the Grand Finals.
Team Spirit also came out on top in the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne event, winning 3-0 against MOUZ to take home $400,000 (~£296,000) in prize funds. Additionally, Team Spirit saw success in PGL Astana 2025, beating Astralis 3-1 in the Grand Finals.
Team Spirit Welcomes tN1R
Amidst news of Zont1x’s break from competing, Team Spirit shared that tN1R would join its active roster after acquiring the Belarusian player from HEROIC. The players’ debut with Team Spirit was celebrated with a 34-second trailer on YouTube.
The rifler boasts some notable successes in the 2025 season while competing for HEROIC. The team placed first in the MESA Nomadic Masters Spring 2025 offline tournament, winning 3-1 against BIG to take home $135,000 (~£99,900). Beforehand, tN1R played with HEROIC to secure first place in the CCT Season 2 Global Finals. However, this year HEROIC has failed to make a significant impact across CS2’s tier-one events, with its highest finish being at the Esports World Cup (5th-8th).
Fans can expect to see the new player in action across several upcoming Counter-Strike 2 tournaments. Team Spirit is anticipated to play at IEM Chengdu in November and ESL Pro League Season 22, starting on September 27th.
