The No. 2 rising star on our rankings, kl1m, is at a crossroads. From G2's academy team to starring in South America during his loan spell with MIBR, he has proven that he has outgrown the academy level.
“We believe he has outgrown this level,” G2 General Manager Petar Marković told HLTV, “Our current academy AWPer Junyme plays a bit differently, he is also putting up numbers and developing quite well. So moving kl1m back to the academy would be a step back for both sides.”
If the Russia-Ukraine war had never happened, kl1m might already be in G2's starting five, but due to the increasing difficulties for Russian players to quickly obtain travel visas, G2 opted for r1nkle instead when replacing their sniper in the offseason.
“One of the main reasons we decided not to bring kl1m into the main team is the unfortunate visa issues for Russian players,” Marković added, “and considering we expect constant travel (for example, this August from EWC to Copenhagen, to Porto, and then to China), we didn't want to take that risk — in case we couldn't get his visa sorted in time and would be forced to use a substitute.”
G2's concerns are not unfounded, as kl1m missed PGL Bucharest 2025 due to visa issues while on loan to MIBR, forcing the Brazilian team to compete in Romania with an academy player as a stand-in. However, that setback was only temporary, as kl1m subsequently competed in multiple tournaments across Europe, Asia, and South America while playing for the Brazilian club.
kl1m's future could also have been decided this offseason, as G2's esports director Julius Ylänne told HLTV that G2 "accepted two offers for kl1m, but both deals fell through for reasons beyond our control."
Now, the 20-year-old's future is once again up for negotiation. "We truly believe kl1m can become really excellent, and we remain open to loan and transfer offers to allow him to take the next step and gain more experience," Marković added, "We are currently in talks with a team regarding his future, and we have always been open to offers and willing to listen."
To get to this moment, we first have to go back ten years, when kl1m was introduced to CS 1.6 through his uncle, but it wasn't until the 2017 PGL Krakow Major, when he followed Gambit's run to the title, that he was truly inspired to commit to CS above the many games in his library.
This started out as just a fun activity with school friends who also played CS, playing together. For years, kl1m had no expectations beyond playing the game purely for fun, but in 2021, after he got a new PC and quickly reached Level 10 on FACEIT, his goals changed.
“Why not try to qualify for the FPL-C qualifiers during the summer break?” kl1m described his thinking at the time, “I was grinding FACEIT every day, playing more than 10 matches a day, and then I got an invite to the FPL-C qualifiers. After that, I started to believe I could become a professional player.”
However, kl1m didn't have his breakthrough until 2024, when he was picked up by G2 and signed to their academy team G2 Ares, playing CS under LETN1.
kl1m gained almost no experience against notable opponents during his time with the G2 Ares academy, playing only four maps against top-50 opponents, but the rising star was still the standout player on the academy team, posting a 1.21 Rating in 2025.
“kl1m is a very talented individual, and he learns very quickly,” LETN1 told HLTV, “As soon as I noticed him, we signed him straight from FACEIT, and afterwards he learned and explored very quickly. You could say he and I found a kind of common language.”
LETN1 said it was this talent that impressed him most about the young player. "His mechanics are truly extraordinary," the coach said, "He's an absurdly talented individual."
“Of course, he is only just setting out on his own path, but I truly believe he will have an outstanding career. If he can learn more, and perhaps learn a few more things beyond the server—which he can continue to learn as well—he could very well become one of the best players in this game.”
Having already outgrown the level of the G2 academy team, kl1m was loaned to MIBR in mid-2025. There, his teammates' view of his talent and experience was much the same as LETN1's had been during his time with the G2 Ares academy.
"His mechanics are ridiculously good," LNZ told HLTV at PGL Bucharest 2026, "Sometimes you watch his POV and you think, 'How does he get kills like that?' I think there's something special about him.
“I think as a player, he just needs to gain more experience at a higher level, to learn how to control the pace of the game as a sniper and direct his team a little.”
insani also expressed similar views at CAC 2026, saying "He is still a bit inexperienced, but we are working on it every day. He is a very outstanding player and one of the few I have seen with this style of play."
His time in Brazil was not without its ups and downs, as kl1m was disciplined by MIBR for using offensive language in a ranked match, with the player eventually issuing a public apology and the club enrolling him in a cultural sensitivity training program.
Apart from that minor incident, his time at MIBR was a huge success. He finished his loan spell with a 1.23 Rating, played his first MVP-level events, attended his first Majors in Budapest and Cologne, lifted some trophies in tier-two competitions, and earned a Dust2.com.br MVP medal at Circuit X South America Season 1.
He also quickly closed the gap — from a 0.81 Rating on his international LAN debut at CAC 2025 to much better averages at his other MVP-level events, including 1.06 at CAC 2026, 1.16 at PGL Bucharest 2026, and 1.32 at IEM Cologne Major Stage 1.
As fate would have it, kl1m reunited with LETN1 while playing for MIBR in 2026, as the Serbian coach was brought in to take charge of the team after the winter break.
“He just needs good guidance from a coach, someone who understands him,” LETN1 told HLTV when talking about what he thinks could help kl1m make the breakthrough in taking the next step, “because personality-wise, he may sometimes not show much emotion, and he's not, so to speak, the most outgoing person, but he's not a toxic person either.
“So he's somewhere in between. I wouldn't say he's the type to liven up the whole team, but equally, when he's under pressure, he doesn't show any emotion — he stays calm. So that's both good and bad, but I like working with him.”
Former MIBR teammate Qikert also spoke to HLTV about kl1m, having expressed his admiration as early as CAC 2025. Although he likewise acknowledged kl1m's lack of experience, he brushed that aside, placing greater value on his talent and high-level performance with both the rifle and the sniper.
“He still comes across as inexperienced, but with his extremely high individual level, in CS2 you just don't care whether he has experience or not,” Qikert said, “I haven't seen anyone in a long time who can play the AWP and rifles equally well, at the same level, both at a high level.
“The way he learns, the way he adapts to first-team football, really surprises me, it's crazy. He learns very fast, he surprises me. I think he has a bright future.”
kl1m's hybrid playstyle can be traced back to his early days in CS, as he started out as a rifler, drawing inspiration from players like electroNic and AdreN, before switching to the AWP and watching players such as s1mple and ZywOo. "Now I watch everyone who plays in top teams," kl1m said, "but mainly ZywOo, m0NESY and sh1ro."
Another area where kl1m excels in the game is pistols, as shown in the chart above, placing in the top-right corner among players who are both excellent damage dealers and pistol kings. Joining him in that corner are ZywOo — who is at an elite level in this regard — and tried, who plays mainly domestically and at lower levels but briefly broke into the HLTV Rookie rankings before turning 21 in April.
Right now, kl1m is in a transitional phase, biding his time: too strong for G2 Ares, yet unable to join the main team during the off-season, he can only wait for the outcome of the contract negotiations. "In the short term, I hope to keep competing in tier-one events," kl1m concluded, "and in the long term, I hope to win a few Majors and become one of the best players."