Counter-Stike 2: HEROIC Drops gr1ks, Adds Alkaren to Lineup

It's official: HEROIC has benched Gleb ‘gr1kz’ Gazin from the Counter-Strike 2 lineup. It took just one month and nine days. 

The team, which nails from Norway, said that his playstyle “didn’t fully align with how the team is shaping up.”

HEROIC Announcement

Confirmation of the benching came on Aug. 7, 2025. gr1kz appeared in just two events. 

HEROIC was eliminated quite early at FISSURE Playground 1, but they advanced to the second stage of IEM Cologne 2025. HEROIC beat MIBR and Virtus.pro at IEM Cologne 2025. 

Now, HEROIC has signed Alimzhan ‘Alkaren’ Bitimbai. He comes over from Team Spirit's academy on loan. 

“Our management made a number of moves to get the team into the right spot. Now we have to accept that not all the pieces we put together have fit as well as we hoped, and we take full responsibility for that,” said HEROIC in a statement.

“Even though it was short, we want to give a heartfelt thank you to gr1ks for everything he brought to HEROIC, both in-game and behind the scenes.”

In June, HEROIC established its lineup with the return of Linus ‘nilo’ Bergman. He was on the bench for six months before that. 

Now What?

Alkaren will take on the role of the team's AWPer.

HEROIC's new roster will debut at the Esports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The event occurs from Aug. 20 to 24. 

Speaking of the Esports World Cup 2025, the event signed a multi-year partnership with Hilton, and Ronaldo was named the ambassador of the event. 

HEROIC is currently competing at BLAST Bounty Season 2. On Aug. 8, they competed against Complexity and got the win. 

Next up, they play Aurora in the Round of 16 as the 11th match on Sunday, Aug. 10. 

If Alkaren works out, they have the option to sign him to the roster.