There are tons of young talent in eSports, and arguably, if it weren’t for the restriction preventing you from performing in tournaments if you’re under 16, then tournaments would also gather 13–14-year-old CS or Dota players. But it is what it is. The CS.MONEY Blog has compiled a selection of the 5 youngest PGL Antwerp Major attendees, calculating their exact age at the start of the event.
Patsi: 18 years 245 days
Robert “Patsi” Isyanov is a young player on Team Spirit. He joined the club at the beginning of this winter, although he’d already been with the squad for over a year at the time: Patsi had been playing for the academy. And he was the best asset there, too, which earned him an invite to the main roster.
Patsi is already rocking in the Major: he’s had two aces in his first two games, and his team reached the playoffs of the tournament!
Drop: 18 years 114 days
André “drop” Abreu has been representing Furia since August 2021. Before that, he played for the club’s academy, just like Patsi. Andre’s career isn’t going particularly well, what with his recent streak of tournaments which he finished with a negative rating.
Regardless, Furia made it to the Legends Stage of the Major, and Drop got his second personal sticker in his career.
Zyphon: 18 years 96 days
Rasmus “Zyphon” Nordfoss is a Copenhagen Flames member. In like manner, the Dane made himself known in the academy, and on one of Denmark’s best teams, Astralis. A year ago, he was invited to Copenhagen Flames. On board this ship, Zyphon has already taken part in the Stockholm Major, and now he’s attending the event in Antwerp.
M0nesy: 17 years 8 days
Surely many expected to see Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov at the top of this selection. But wait for it: there’s an even younger player.
It seems that everybody knows about m0NESY’s merits, but here’s a quick summary: Ilya was in NAVI Junior and FPL at 14, distinguished himself in small tournaments, and joined G2 at 16. His accomplishments with his new club include an appearance in the IEM Katowice 2021 finals.
On this list, it’s m0NESY who stands the most realistic chance of wining the Major. In case G2 wins, Osipov will become the youngest champion in the history of Valve tournaments.
Techno4k: 16 years 354 days
The only player in the Major who’s 16 years old. Munkhbold “Techno4K” Sodbayar plays for an unusual team: IHC. You have to agree that pros from Mongolia are few and far between in CS:GO and in esports in general.
Granted, IHC is one of the obvious outsiders in the Major. Still, getting to such a cool tournament at such a young age is already a fantastic achievement.
