The word on the street is that Team Spirit are set to make further CS2 roster changes, with HEROIC’s tN1R coming in for zont1x following the conclusion of the Esports World Cup 2025. This shocking move, should it come to fruition, would arrive no later than three weeks after Team Spirit’s huge win at IEM Cologne 2025, which many expected to put the team back on the right track for the rest of 2025.
Changing a winning roster is always a gamble. Sure, tN1R for zont1x has some very obvious upsides on paper, but the downsides equally have the potential to see Team Spirit flying too close to the sun when all is said and done with this one.
tN1R’s lack of maps against the top CS2 teams makes this move a gamble
For Team Spirit, -zont1x +tN1R is being made with one goal in mind: to topple Vitality as the best CS2 team in the world. I get it. But to be the best, you have to beat the best. They were lucky to avoid Vitality at IEM Cologne 2025, but they won’t be given such good fortune at every event. And tN1R? He’s never beaten Vitality. As a matter of fact, he’s never even played them at all.
That is, admittedly, a simplistic look at one facet of tN1R’s resume. But it’s part of a wider point about his overall lack of maps against the best teams, and how that makes this move such a gamble. Let’s look at the teams he’ll be competing against (besides Vitality). MOUZ? Never played them. The MongolZ? Nope. Falcons? Yes, actually! He faced pre-kyousuke Falcons at IEM Dallas 2025 but could only muster a 0.89 rating, a far cry from his 1.17 average. Even teams like NAVI, G2, and FURIA – teams he’ll be expected to face regularly during tournament Playoffs – tN1R has never played in an official for HEROIC.
The above doesn’t mean that tN1R is going to fall flat, obviously. The Belarusian has continuously stepped up to levels he previously hadn’t shown before, and he could take like a duck to water with more maps against the best teams. But that lack of games has to be filed under the “Negative” column until proven otherwise.
zont1x’s consistency is an underrated trait, and positions may prove a problem
The eye test suggests that zont1x’s form comes in swings and roundabouts, with ups and downs in equal measure. The reality is quite different: since the start of 2024, zont1x has only dropped two event ratings below 1.00 at IEM Cologne 2024 (0.56) and BLAST Rivals Season 1 (0.99). Compare this to the now-benched magixx, who had nine events rated below 1.00 in that same timeframe. Basically, zont1x is pretty much never terrible, and for the third piece in a roster with the firepower of donk and sh1ro, that’s the kind of consistency required for trophies.
He didn’t pop off as often as tN1R has the potential to, but is that really what Spirit needed from him in his roles? I’m not sure, even more so following their IEM Cologne win.
If tN1R was a one-to-one positional swap for zont1x across the board, I could understand the gamble a little more. But delving a little deeper only makes me a little more flummoxed – neither player shares a single position on CT side (assuming tN1R takes zont1x’s positions from the off). Where tN1R plays mid on CT Ancient, zont1x plays as the A Anchor. On Nuke, tN1R occupies Door, while zont1x plays Ramp. Overpass: tN1R is the B Short player, while zont1x takes B Monster. It’s the same story on Dust2, Mirage, and Train, too. It doesn’t really look any better on T side, either, with the pair only sharing the role of the B Extremity player on Overpass. Besides that, they are two different players.
Again, it’s entirely possible Team Spirit have a plan that involves tN1R getting a few more of his preferred positions as he comes into the active roster, with responsibilities dished out elsewhere. But even then, tN1R will still have to learn some new positions, while playing a level of team he has never faced before. In making this change, Team Spirit could fly too close to the sun, right at the time when things might have started to come together.
