Endpoint and picking up an Israeli rifler to fill a gap when one of their players gets poached has been synonymous over the last few years. However, the British organisation have shifted their focus towards Estonia, picking up Denis “swicher” Baranov. And with Nikita “HeavyGod” Martynenko departing to OG, this marks the first time Endpoint hasn’t had an Israeli in the lineup since November 2021.
swicher recently stood in for Endpoint at the Intel Monsters Reloaded 2023 in Turkey where Endpoint took home the crown. Seemingly swicher impressed the team with his 1.41 rating in the BO5 finals versus Eternal Fire, and specifically coach Felix “Frøg” Bergeron as he spoke to UKCSGO about the impression the Estonian left them in Turkey:
We interviewed a lot of great candidates over the player break, but ultimately I’m very happy we’ve decided to go for swicher. He’s a very humble and hardworking guy with a very high skill ceiling. During our LAN in Turkey, he showed a lot of the attributes and values I felt represent Endpoint, and I think his addition will be instrumental in laying a stable foundation that we can build upon in the coming months.
Aside from this recent stand-in with Endpoint the Estonian started his career regionally with Levadia eLions, winning some regional LANs but nothing to note much Internationally. From there swicher moved across the pond to America to play for Davenport University. Even though he didn’t play in ESL Challenger, he was a part of the roster that qualified for the second-highest ESL division and was the top-rated player in ESEA Advanced Season 43 NA playoffs with a stellar 1.45 HLTV rating across 10 maps. Notably, this was the first ever College team to qualify for ECL.
Unfortunately, his time in America was cut short due to “out-of-server issues including homesickness and financial constraints for the young player.” and swicher returned to Europe. Some of those out-of-server issues may be connected to the controversial ending Davenport University had. Even though this was supposed to be a trailblazer for College CS, it turned into a dumpster fire with players concluding conversations with Dust2.US with “allegations of broken promises, gross mismanagement, and negligence by the upper management.”
Regardless, returning at the beginning of 2023, we didn’t see a whole lot of the Estonian rifler. Competing once again with Levadia eLions in a CCT Closed Qualifier, and similarly with mix team ‘STORMZz’. However, the 21-year-old rifler will now be filling the shoes of HeavyGod, making his debut in the PGL CS2 Copenhagen Major RMR qualifiers this week.
Endpoint enters 2024 as such:
Max “MiGHTYMAX” Heath
Kia “Surreal” Man
Henrich “sl3nd” Hevesi
Oscar “AZUWU” Bell
Denis “swicher” Baranov
Felix “Frøg” Bergeron (coach)
