Arctic Raptors have announced the final player to round out their star-studded roster, Slaven “AwaykeN” Lyubenov. The starting five for the team is now complete, bringing an end to the rumours of who would take over from William “wfn” Maskrey’s AWPing duties. This comes after the Raptors’ recent signing of Reegan “ReegaN” Ward in the place of Seán “Atrox” Greene, and Finn “Mischief” Farrer as the team’s analyst.
AwaykeN began to make a name for himself in Europe’s tier-two scene in 2022. Under “Beyond Impossible”, a Bulgarian mix-team, he qualified for the European segment of CCT’s inaugural Central Series 1, where he placed 9-16th out of 24 teams. In October, he was signed by OG Academy and had access to the WePlay Academy league, among other tournaments dedicated to these academy teams. Over the duration of 2022, AwaykeN posted a modest 1.01 HLTV rating.
AwaykeN looks to translate his experience in high-tier CS to the domestic competition that is UK CS. ESL Premiership, EPIC.LAN and other tournaments are on the horizon for Arctic Raptors this season. Some may doubt the convenience of getting AwaykeN to UK LAN events, but since he resides in the UK already, these concerns are for nought. Recently, he made an appearance at EPIC.LAN 38 alongside Jack “JackB” Burton playing as “3 Friends 2 Foreigners”, where they placed 7-8th after a 2-0 defeat to Vitalize in the lower bracket of playoffs.
During an interview at LAN, teammate Arkadiusz “ifan” Dabkowski shared his thoughts on the Bulgarian AWPer after getting a chance to play with him side-by-side at an offline event.
He’s an unreal AWPer, he’s good at calling and understanding the game, what to do in certain situations, and he’s a pleasure to play with. – ifan on AwaykeN
UKCSGO reached out to the team’s coach, Daniel “papp” Hart, to comment on their newest AWPer:
The guys and I are very excited to work with Slaven [AwayKeN]. He brings a much-needed breath of fresh air to our roster. I feel he can bring great experience and knowledge to our team and help take us to the next level.
Arctic Raptors continue their journey forwards with:
Euan “synergii” Wilson
Mohamad “Ducky” Nourelden
Rasmus “zodi” Frølich
Reegan “ReegaN” Ward
Slaven “AwaykeN” Lyubenov
Finn “Mischief” Farrer (Analyst)
Daniel “papp” Hart (Coach)
