The once-Natus Vincere turned 9Pandas player Denis “seized” Kostin has officially announced his retirement from Counter-Strike. After having spent the last 3 months in inactivity, the player decided to finally hang up his boots following a lengthy career at the highest level. He further clarified that his reason for retiring was a result of a lack of options for advancing his career in the sport.
Denis “seized” Kostin is a proficient rifler hailing from Russia who has been active in the esports scene from as far back as 2012. Although starting out as a Counter-Strike 1.6 player, he managed to seamlessly transition into CS:GO, kicking off his career with Natus Vincere back in 2013. He spent about 4 years with NAVI, a couple playing for various other teams like Gambit, and then finally 9Pandas, where he spent the rest of his career up until his retirement.
Finishing my career as a pro player, thank u everyone for following my journey as a pro player. pic.twitter.com/vV5vBgGJKQ
— Denis Kostin (@seizedwf) September 6, 2024
Soured relationship with 9Pandas
From the look of things, his tenure at 9pandas seemed to be a rocky one, especially in recent months. Seized was onboard with 9Pandas from its inception back in 2022 and was part of the organization’s pioneer squad. Seized joined 9Pandas with the intention of building a team from the ground up that could compete with the top brass in esports, a tall order. His vision for the team only started to take shape after multiple shuffles and changes to the squad, which helped strengthen them significantly, allowing them to see minor success.
Seized marked an incredible milestone with 9Pandas in qualifying for the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024, their first ever major competition. Making it past the European RMR was unbelievably difficult for the team, but against all odds they managed to get it done.
He further aired out his frustration on X (formerly Twitter), highlighting his rollercoaster tenure with the organization while also giving his thanks and appreciation to everyone involved.
Hi everyone!
Here comes the news that has been rumored for the past few weeks: I was benched by 9Pandas.
It was very unexpected news for me and hard to digest because this organization became my second home and the team became my family.
FULL READ BELOW [1/6]— Denis Kostin (@seizedwf) June 3, 2024
From his statements, it was clearly seen that although feeling short changed by being left out of the roster, he still had a lot of respect for the organization and was interested in taking on any other role in the organization that could help further the team’s success.
What next from here?
Siezed stated that based on how much the game is changing, he doesn’t see himself being competitive anymore and feels that he could lend his skills and expertise to other fields in the space. He still has an intention of staying in the industry but within other sectors such as coaching or broadcasting. Whatever the future holds for Kostin is still up in the air, but the only thing we can do now is respect his contributions and wish him the best in his endeavors.
Header: img: Seized at CIS Minor Katowice 2019 – (ESL | [Photographer, uncredited])