Big moves are coming in the CS:GO scene as Andrey “tN1R” Tatarinovich is about to join Spirit after the Esports World Cup (EWC) wraps up later this month. This shift matters because it changes the dynamic of both teams and shakes up the competitive roster scene just ahead of some major tournaments.
Reports say Spirit has been eyeing tN1R for a while. The 24-year-old Belarusian player is currently with HEROIC, but HEROIC recently announced they sold him to an undisclosed team, which sources confirm is Spirit. HEROIC’s Director of Esports, Robin Nymann, mentioned they repeatedly declined bids for tN1R but had to accept because of a buyout clause favoring the team he is heading to.
tN1R will still compete with HEROIC at the Esports World Cup in Riyadh, where his first match will ironically be against his future team, Spirit. That’s gotta be a wild feeling, right? Facing off against your next squad before officially joining them…
Here’s a quick look at that upcoming match:
| Date | Match | |
|---|---|---|
| 20/08/2025 | Spirit vs HEROIC at Esports World Cup 2025 | 12:00 |
Sources suggest tN1R will replace Myroslav “zont1x” Plakhotia on Spirit’s roster, ending the Ukrainian player’s two-year run with the team. This would be the second anchor change for Spirit in just over a month after Ivan “zweih” Gogin joined, replacing Boris “magixx” Vorobiev. That switch kicked off a strong season for Spirit, who took home the IEM Cologne trophy with a convincing win over MOUZ in the grand final.
Spirit’s expected lineup after this change will be:
Leonid “chopper” Vishnyakov
Danil “donk” Kryshkovets
Dmitry “sh1ro” Sokolov
Ivan “zweih” Gogin
Andrey “tN1R” Tatarinovich
Coach Sergey “Hally” Shavaev will continue to lead the team.
Wonder how tN1R will fit in with Spirit’s current setup? The team’s recent success sets a high bar so that expectations will be sky-high. Will he help them keep that momentum going? Guess we’ll find out soon enough.
