Klimentii "kl1m" Krivosheev, the #2 prospect in our ranking, is at a crossroads after having proven that he has outgrown the academy circuit by going from G2's youth squad to excelling in South America while on loan with MIBR.
"We trust he outgrew the tier," G2's General Manager, Petar Marković, tells HLTV. "Our current AWPer at Ares, Junyme, has a bit of a different playstyle, and he's also delivering the numbers and developing decently. So moving kl1m back to Ares would be a step back for both sides."
Had Russia's invasion of Ukraine never happened, kl1m would perhaps be in G2's starting five, but with the growing complications involved in Russian players quickly acquiring travel visas, G2 instead went with Artem "r1nkle" Moroz when they changed AWPers in the off-season.
"One of the primary reasons we decided not to get kl1m on board for our main team is the unfortunate visa situation with Russian players," Markovic adds, "and with the constant travel we anticipated (EWC to Copenhagen to Porto to China, as an example now in August), we did not want to take a risk of having to go for stand-ins in case we don't manage to secure his visa on time."
G2's fears are not unfounded, as kl1m had to miss PGL Bucharest 2025 while on loan with MIBR due to issues acquiring a visa, and the Brazilian team had to play the tournament in Romania with an academy player standing in. That setback was only momentary, however, and kl1m went on to play at several events in Europe, Asia, and South America during his time in the Brazilian organization.
kl1m's future could have also been decided this off-season, as Julius Ylänne, G2's Director of Esports, tells HLTV that G2 "accepted two offers for kl1m, but both deals fell through for reasons outside of our control."
Now, the 20-year-old's future is once again under negotiation. "We do believe kl1m can be really good, and we are still open to both loan and transfer offers, so he can reach his next step and build his experience further," Markovic adds. "We are currently in talks with one team regarding his future, and we have always been open and listening to offers."
To get to this moment, we first have to go back a decade, when kl1m discovered CS 1.6 through his uncle, although it wasn't until the PGL Krakow Major in 2017, when he followed Gambit's championship run, that he was really inspired to play Counter-Strike above the other games in his library.
It started as a fun activity with other friends from school who were also playing CS, and they all played together. For years, kl1m had no expectations other than to play the game for the fun of it, but in 2021 he got a new computer, and after quickly reaching level 10 on FACEIT, his goals changed.
"Why not try to get to the FPL-C qualifier during the summer holidays?" kl1m says of his thoughts at the time. "I was grinding FACEIT every day, playing 10+ games, and I got an invite to the FPL-C qualifier. After that, I started believing I could become pro."
It would still take until 2024 for kl1m to get his break, when he was scouted by G2 and signed to G2 Ares, their academy team, where he played under Nestor "LETN1" Tanić.
kl1m barely got any experience against notable opponents at G2 Ares, playing only four maps against top 50 opposition, but the starlet was nonetheless the standout for the academy team with a 1.21 rating in 2025.
"kl1m is a very talented individual, and he learns fast," LETN1 tells HLTV. "Once I noticed him, we just picked him up from FACEIT, and after that he was learning and exploring fast. We kind of found a common language, me and him."
That talent, LETN1 says, is what impressed him the most in the youngster. "His mechanical skills are really beyond normal," the coach says. "He's an insanely talented individual.
"Of course, he's just starting on his path right now, but I really believe he will make a great career. And if he learns more and just maybe some things outside the server, which he can also learn more, he can probably be one of the best players in this game."
kl1m, having outgrown G2's academy team, was loaned to MIBR midway through 2025. There, his teammates felt much the same about his talent and experience as LETN1 had during his days in G2 Ares.
"He has insane mechanics," Linus "LNZ" Holtäng told HLTV at PGL Bucharest 2026. "Sometimes you spec him, and you're like, 'How does he kill the way he does?' And I think it's something special about him.
"I think he, as a player, just needs to have more experience on a higher level to learn how to dictate the game when you're an AWPer and control your team a bit."
Felipe "insani" Yuji made a similar statement at CAC 2026, saying that "he's still a bit inexperienced, but we're working every day on that. He's a very good player, and one of the few I've seen with this kind of gameplay."
The stint in Brazil didn't come without incident, however, as kl1m was issued a disciplinary sanction by MIBR for using a slur during a pickup game, which ended in the player making a public apology and the organization enrolling him in a cultural literacy program.
Other than that hiccup, his time on MIBR was a resounding success. He ended his loan spell with a 1.23 rating, got to play his first MVP-caliber events, his first Majors at Budapest and Cologne, and even took home some silverware at tier-two events, as well as a Dust2.com.br MVP medal at Circuit X South America Season 1.
He also quickly bridged the gap from a 0.81-rated debut in international LANs at CAC 2025 to much better averages at his other MVP-caliber events, including a 1.06 rating at CAC 2026, 1.16 at PGL Bucharest 2026, and a 1.32 at Stage 1 of the IEM Cologne Major.
As fate would have it, kl1m also reunited with LETN1 during his time on MIBR in 2026, as the Serbian coach was brought on to head the team after the winter break.
"He just needs good guidance from a coach and someone who will understand him," LETN1 tells HLTV about what he thinks will help kl1m break through whenever he takes his next step. "Because, personality-wise, he might sometimes not show the most emotions and not, let's say, be the most cheerful person, but he's also not a toxic one.
"So it's somewhere in between. I wouldn't say he's the guy who cheers the team, but also, when he's under pressure, he will not show any emotion — he'll stay calm. So this is a good and a bad side, but I like to work with him."
Former MIBR teammate Qikert also spoke with HLTV about kl1m and showed is admiration as far back as at CAC 2025, and while he also acknowledged kl1m's inexperience, he brushed it away in favor of raw talent and high-level play in both rifling and AWPing.
"It still feels like he's inexperienced, but with his high individual level, you don't care in CS2 if he is experienced or not," Qikert said. "I haven't seen it in a long time how a guy can shoot with AWP and rifles the same way, on the same level, both at a high level.
"I was really surprised by the way he's studying, how he's getting used to tier-one; it's really crazy. He learns really quickly, and I am surprised by him. I think he has a bright future."
kl1m's hybrid style can be traced back to his early days in Counter-Strike, since he started as a rifler and followed players like Denis "electroNic" Sharipov and Dauren "AdreN" Kystaubayev for inspiration before switching to the AWP and watching the likes of Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev and Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut. "Now I watch everyone who is playing on top teams," kl1m says, "but mostly it's ZywOo, m0NESY and sh1ro."
Another area of the game where kl1m excels is in pistols, as can be seen in the chart above, where he's in the top right corner of players who are both good fraggers and pistol kings. He's in that corner with ZywOo, who does it at an elite level, and Gleb "tried" Kholmogorov, who plays mostly locally and in lower tiers, but made a brief incursion in the HLTV Prospects ranking in April before turning 21.
Now, kl1m is in a transitional stage and biding his time; too good for G2 Ares, but unable to join the main team in the off-season and waiting for contract negotiations to resolve. "In the short term, I would like to get to play tier-one events constantly," kl1m concludes, "and in the long term, I would like to win a few Majors and become one of the best players."
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