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G2 Esports have confirmed the arrival of Nikita “HeavyGod” Martynenko, who joins the European Counter-Strike 2 team from Cloud9.
The Israeli’s arrival confirms previous reports of G2 Esports having finalised the deal to sign HeavyGod to fill in the gap left behind by Nikola “NiKo” Kovač’s departure to Team Falcons.
However, he is not expected to be an in-game replacement for the Bosnian superstar.
Instead, G2 Esports will appoint Mario “malbsMd” Samayoa to NiKo’s old roles while HeavyGod takes over the Guatemalan’s position as CT anchor.
Looking ahead at 2025 pic.twitter.com/FngD78Mh4p
— G2 CS (@G2CSGO) January 11, 2025
HeavyGod is the only signing G2 Esports have made this offseason and the first since the arrival of in-game leader Janusz “Snax” Pogorzelski and malbsMd in the summer.
The 22-year-old started his esports journey in 2020 with MAESTRO; however, it was not until late 2022, when he joined Endpoint, that HeavyGod’s career took off.
After a runner-up finish in his first LAN tournament at ESL Premiership Autumn 2023, the rifler joined OG for a short five-month stay.
HeavyGod continued perfecting his craft at OG, and while he failed to lead the team to a single tournament trophy, the Israeli rifler left the team as one of the top-performing players, averaging a 1.14 rating.
After an impressive tenure with the struggling European squad, HeavyGod was signed by Cloud9, where he continued to perform, posting a 1.16 performance rating over 73 maps played.
HeavyGod also played a key role in Cloud9’s successful run through the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 RMR, where he ranked as the fifth-best performing player with a 1.32 rating.
The 22-year-old will have a chance to prove himself at the highest level of play as he joins G2 Esports, and he will not have to wait long for his debut, as G2 Esports are set to participate in BLAST Bounty Spring 2025: Closed Qualifier.
The tournament is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, January 14, with the first four fixtures. G2 Esports will play their first match of the qualifiers on Friday when they face off against B8.
