G2 Esports Finalize m0NESY Signing

After weeks of speculations and rumors, G2 Esports finalized the signing of a Ukrainian Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pro, Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov. The 16-year-old is set to leave NaVi Junior and will join G2 Esports for the 2022 season.

M0NESY will leave NaVi Junior academy team and join the current third-highest-rated team in the world, G2 Esports. It will mark the Ukrainian CS:GO esports pro’s first foray into the top-tier CS, having up to now played for only academy rosters.

The 16-year-old began his CS:GO career in 2019 with NewBALLS, before joining S-Gaming and eventually landing a spot at Natus Vincere. In January 2020, m0NESY got acquired by NaVi Junior on trial, and after proving his worth, joined the main roster in March.

Over his stint with NaVi Junior, m0NESY emerged as one of the most exciting young players in the scene and played a crucial role in his team’s success. Most recently, m0NESY led NaVi to the finals of WePlay Academy League Season 2.

Even though NaVi Junior haven’t won a single tournament in 2021, m0NESY stood out with his individual performances. He has been averaging a 1.31 rating across the last three months and an exceptional 1.29 since joining the team.

Proving he has a natural gift for the game at only 16-years of age, m0NESY got quickly spotted by some of the top teams in the scene. And it was only a matter of time before he got picked up by a top-tier organization.

M0NESY is expected to fill in a much-needed role in G2 Esports, taking over as the AWPer. G2 has been without a dedicated AWPer since Kenny “KennyS” Schrub stepped down in March.

Since then, G2 appointed François “AmaNEk” Delaunay to the role of the team sniper, despite not being a dedicated AWPer. Lacking an efficient player wielding the “big green” saw G2 struggle against other top teams, so it was only a matter of time before G2 made changes.

By signing m0NESY, G2 esports should fix the issue that has been plaguing the roster since losing KennyS. However, there are more questions and answers.

Most notably, it remains to be seen whether m0NESY will be able to compete at the highest level and put up the same performances as he did with NaVi Junior. Although the 16-year-old believes he is ready to take a step into the big boy league.

With the addition of m0NESY, G2 Esports’ roster for the 2022 season seems to be more or less locked in. As already reported earlier in November, G2 are set to bring in more players; however, there are still some moving parts.

Most notably, it remains to be seen whether G2 will convince MOUZ’s Robin “ropz” Kool to join the team. The latter is currently deciding between FaZe Clan and G2 after he has already declined offers from Vitality and Liquid.

Besides the question marks above ropz, G2 are also in conversations with Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen. The Finnish in-game leader has been tied with G2 for a while now, but the deal has yet to be finalized.

G2 Esports are also looking for a solution for their coaching staff. Initially, it was believed that G2 would replace the recently departed Damien “maLeK” Marcel with Luka “emi” Vuković, but the organization has yet to reach a deal with the Serbian strategist.

If G2 Esports finalize the rumored player transfers, AmaNEk and Audric “JaCkz” Jug would be the first two players to leave the team. The duo is still contracted with G2 but only until the end of 2021.