Cloud9 reportedly turns to ousted CS2 rifler in desperate move

Cloud9 has turned to the past in its Counter-Strike 2 revamp ahead of the next season, reportedly recruiting former rifler Timofey “interz” Yakushin to join a new core for the American org.

Interz will lead a new-look C9 roster at BLAST Premier Fall Groups, according to a June 8 report from Dust2.us, with Kaisar “ICY” Faiznurov and Nikita “HeavyGod” Martynenko also linked to the squad. They’ll join Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhaylov and Sergey “Ax1Le” Rykhtorov—the only remaining players from C9’s roster implosion last season.

C9 formed what many believed was the next Counter-Strike superteam back in July 2023 with NAVI’s Denis “electronic” Sharipov and Ilya “Perfecto” Zalutskiy joining the fold, but what followed was a nine-month stint of disappointment. C9 failed to reach the lofty expectations of the CS2 community; apart from top-four finishes at BLAST’s Fall Final and the Thunderpick World Championship, the squad was completely absent from the winner’s podium let alone the playoff stage.

After a quarterfinal appearance at the PGL Copenhagen Major and a missed finals opportunity at IEM Chengdu, the squad as we knew it was done and dusted. Electronic was acquired by Virtus.pro in April, while Perfecto and Hobbit were benched—both of whom remain inactive at this time.

Instead, C9 will reportedly turn back to interz, who previously played for the organization in 2023. The 23-year-old support player was an essential piece of the Gambit core that maintained its form after switching to C9, with the Russian squad constantly making playoff events and even claiming a title win at IEM Dallas. Interz was benched from C9 at the end of 2022—some believed he was made a scapegoat for a poor finish to the season—but returned as a stand-in for the squad at an event in May.

Joining interz is ICY, a 19-year-old Kazahkstani AWPer, who, up until last week, played for AMKAL Esports. AMKAL released the prodigy on July 2 to an “undisclosed organization”; many believe this to have been Cloud9, which is believed to be planning an announcement for the squad. HeavyGod, meanwhile, represented the British organization Endpoint before joining OG at the beginning of 2024.

Cloud9 has still not officially announced its squad for the season ahead at the time of writing. C9 is expected to take part in its first event since the player break, BLAST Premier Fall Groups, on July 26.