Zeus will retire from CSGO after BLAST Pro Series Moscow

Natus Vincere legendary CSGO player Danylo “Zeus” Teslenko announced his retirement after the upcoming BLAST Pro Series Moscow event. BLAST Pro Series Moscow will take place between Sept. 13 and 14. A previous interview hinted that 2019 would be the end for his professional career. 

⚡️@ZeusCSGO is retiring
Details: https://t.co/bjbBmhOvaG#GoodByeZeus #navination pic.twitter.com/6P1why6jkh

— NAVI (@natusvincere) September 9, 2019

Danylo “Zeus” Teslenko

Zeus began his career in 2002 with Counter-Strike 1.6. He started competing under organizations like Arsenal, pro100, Virtus Pro, forZe, DTS Gaming, KerchNET, and ultimately Na’Vi. He transitioned to CSGO under the same organization where he played between 2012 and 2016. 

Zeus moved to a role on Gambit Esports in October of 2016. This roster change was with Natus Vincere head coach Mykhailo “kane” Blagin. While with Gambit Esports, the organization went on to place first at Season 3’s Acer Predator Masters event, 2016’s DreamHack Open Winter, and 2017’s DreamHack Open Austin. The Gambit roster also went on to defeat Immortals and secure first at 2017’s PGL Major Kraków. 

Zeus was later reacquired by Na’Vi in August of 2017, where he has stayed ever since. He is currently the team captain and in-game leader of the Na’Vi roster. The organization went on to place first at Season 5 of StarSeries & i-League, 2018’s ESL One: Cologne, and Season 7 of StarSeries & i-League. This is in addition to a first-place finish at 2017’s DreamHack Open Winter, 2018’s CSGO Asia Championship, and 2018’s BLAST Pro Series: Copenhagen. Na’Vi almost won 2018’s London FACEIT Major as well, but ended up losing 0 – 2 to Astralis. 

Life after competitive CSGO

“There were rumors I could leave after BLAST, but I believed our new roster could win a Major, or make it into the finals at least,” says Zeus on his retirement. “But we lost early on, and I realize I need to give way to the youth. It’s rough, honestly: I have devoted 20 years of my life to Counter-Strike, and it’s about time to wrap it up.” He writes that it was a tough decision that he thought about for a while but ultimately doesn’t see it as an end.

Instead, Zeus will continue participating in the esports scene. He is already the president and founder of pro100, a team he previously competed under. He is also the founder of the ZeusCyberSchool and the CIS Esports League. He writes in his retirement statement that he wishes to build a professional academy to help younger players but will not go into a coaching role for now. 

Na’Vi started looking for players to replace Zeus during the StarLadder Berlin Major. However, the organization was not successful the last time it released Zeus from the roster in 2017. Na’Vi will face opponents like Team Vitality, MiBR, Ninjas in Pyjamas, and ENCE at Blast Pro Series Moscow.