GuardiaN announces his retirement from Counter-Strike 2
The legendary sniper Ladislav “GuardiaN” Kovács has officially ended his career as a professional CS2 player. In a video published by BC.Game, the Slovakian said that he made this decision without hesitation and plans to focus on streaming.
"When you spend half of your life playing tournaments and flying around the world, you burn out. It was the perfect time to focus on something else" -Ladislav “GuardiaN” Kovács
GuardiaN made his professional debut back in 2006 and went on to become one of the best AWPers in CS:GO history. His career spanned almost 20 years, during which he represented such top teams as Natus Vincere , FaZe Clan , Virtus.pro and others.
GuardiaN's best achievements
GuardiaN has participated in 14 majors, reached the finals three times (MLG Columbus 2016, DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca 2015, ELEAGUE Major 2018), but never won the main trophy. Nevertheless, he became the champion of ELEAGUE Premier 2017, ESL New York 2016 and 2017, IEM Sydney 2018, EPICENTER 2018, and BLAST Pro Series Miami 2019.
In total, GuardiaN earned more than $802,000 in prize money. His favorite tournament was ESL One New York 2017, and he called 1v5 against Fnatic in the grand final of IEM Katowice the best moment in his career.
"I've been to majors, played in finals, won tournaments, had great teammates... I've done everything. I don't have a major trophy, but this is not the only criterion of success" -Ladislav “GuardiaN” Kovács
The last years of his career
After playing at the highest level, GuardiaN played for lesser-known teams, including Sampi, Singularity , and BC.Game, where in 2024 he even tried his hand at coaching.
What's next for him?
GuardiaN plans to dedicate himself to streaming and possibly stay in esports as an analyst or commentator. According to him, he wants to spend more time with his family and focus on personal projects.
The end of AWP's career as a legend marks the end of an era, as his playstyle and influence on the scene will remain in the history of Counter-Strike.
