Entering the new year Monte has decided to pivot back to an English-speaking lineup. Poles Szymon “kRaSnaL” Mrozek and Kamil “KEi” Pietkun have been removed and in their place, we see academy duo Jack “Gizmy” von Spreckelsen and Gytis “ryu” Glušauskas promoted for the second time. They will be joined by their coach from Monte Gen’s Ivan “AiyvaN” Semenets replacing Piotr “nawrot” Nawrocki.
Previously both Gizmy and ryu had been promoted from Monte Gen to the main team on a three-month trial basis. During this period they had three tournaments to prove themselves; IEM Chengdu, Global Esports Tour Rio 2024 and ESL Pro League Season 19. Unfortunately, right off the bat misfortune struck as the team couldn’t attend IEM Chengdu due to visa issues. It, unfortunately, didn’t get any better as Monte placed dead last at Global Esports Tour Rio 2024, and even though they did make playoffs at ESL Pro League Season 19, the duo went back to Monte Gen.
This did not deter the duo as across their seven-month stint back in the academy team they had some impressive results. Two playoff appearances in CCT, one culminating in a semi-final run, and a win in Exort Series 5, followed by a second-place finish in Exort Series 6. (Not to forget Gizmy‘s second-place finish at EPIC.LAN 43.)
Alongside the promotion to the main team, Gizmy will also be taking up the captaincy role previously held by AWPer Olek “hades” Miskiewicz. Gizmy was not calling when he played on Monte previously, but took on calling duties on his return to Monte Gen. Not only did he bring the team to new heights under his leadership, but still maintained a respectable 1.05 HLTV rating.
Monte’s director of Esports Denys “Dance” Yashniev stated that the academy project will be renewed:
We are not shutting down our academy project. Two players and the coach were promoted to the main roster and the rest are allowed to explore for the opportunities, as everyone in Monte Gen project outgrew academy level. Therefore, we put this project on hold until we find the new coach and we are planning to keep scouting young talents in the future!
Unfortunately for Monte Gen their success coincided with the rebuilding of Monte’s main team, and in the end the two squads ended up clashing for tournament invites. Naturally, two teams from the same organisation are not allowed to compete in the same tournament. So as Monte rebuilt and entered CCTs amongst other tier-two tournaments, that is when we started seeing less and less of Monte Gen on HLTV. This is most likely what Dance means by outgrowing the academy level.
Monte heading into 2025 is now:
Paweł “dycha” Dycha
Olek “hades” Miskiewicz
Sergiy “DemQQ” Demchenko
Gytis “ryu” Glušauskas
Jack “Gizmy” von Spreckelsen
Ivan “AiyvaN” Semenets (coach)
Kamil “KEi” Pietkun (benched)
OUR UPDATED ROSTER FOR #2025
🇬🇧 @Gizmyyy (IGL)
🇺🇦 @demqqqq (Rifler)
🇱🇹 @ryucsgo1 (Rifler)
🇵🇱 @Dychacs (Rifler)
🇵🇱 @hadesCS2 (AWP)🇺🇦 @AiyvaNCSGO (Coach)
Wish good luck for our GANG! 🙌🏻 pic.twitter.com/AIzXWMCULi
— MONTE ESPORTS 🇺🇦 (@Monte_Esports) January 6, 2025
