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Results have been hard to come by for BIG Clan’s Counter-Strike 2 team in 2025, but they may have found a way to turn that around in the form of a new AWPer. However, that new AWPer will mean more than just a player change for the German team.
German AWPer Marcel “hyped” Kohn will be departing the team moving forward. Signed in December 2024, his stint on the premium German team lasted just ten months, but that is four months longer than his first spell on BIG’s main team back in 2023.
hyped is being benched by BIG Clan. Image Credit: PGL
Although the entire BIG team has struggled in that time, hyped has been the lowest-rated player for the German organisation throughout 2025.
His 0.98 rating across all matches is particularly poor for someone playing the AWP role, so it’s not hard to see why BIG would look to make a change to turn their fortunes around.
BIG Bring in Gr1ks
The new player coming in is Gleb “gr1ks” Gazin, who HEROIC had benched after just weeks on the roster. The change is surprising, as it means the team will be calling in English again.
They have done this on multiple occasions in CS, and to great effect during the spells with Owen “smooya” Butterfield and Ismailcan “XANTARES” Dortkardes, but moved away from it when Mateusz “mantuu” Wilczewski was benched early last year.
We haven’t switched to English in a while 😴
Please welcome @gr1ks24 as our new AWP 🙏 pic.twitter.com/iLYoEXlLKI
— BIG (@BIGCLANgg) October 10, 2025
It is also surprising due to the way gr1ks was benched by his previous team. Only signed by HEROIC in July, gr1ks was benched by the organization just weeks later, with their coach Tobias “TOBIZ” Theo saying that his “playstyle didn’t fully align with how the team is shaping up.”
The benching was met with scrutiny, and at the time, many speculated that there was more to it than TOBIZ was suggesting.
Since then, the Belarusian sniper has been out on loan with Russian team GUN5. gr1ks flourished during that loan spell, recording a 1.14 rating across all of his games as he rebuilt his reputation as one of the most promising AWPers in CS2.
BIG will now have a week to bed in their new player, they’re set to take part in the Playoffs of the NODWIN Clutch Series, which will get underway on October 17.
