Former Spirit captain Leonid "chopper" Vishnyakov has confirmed to HLTV his retirement from the game after a career spanning more than 10 years and that included a Major title.
chopper rose to prominence as a member of the Vega Squadron team that beat Ninjas in Pyjamas 16-2 on Cache at the ELEAGUE Major 2017 Main Qualifier, knocking them out and making it the first time that the iconic NIP core missed a Major.
The 29-year-old went on to play 40 notable LANs, of which 11 were Majors, and, after teaming up with Spirit in 2019, won nine trophies, including the Perfect World Shanghai Major, IEM Katowice 2024 and IEM Cologne 2025, several BLASTs and a PGL.
"I spent most of my competitive Counter-Strike career in two organizations: Vega Squadron and Team Spirit," he told HLTV in a statement. "For me, they became much more than just the teams I played for, since I spent 10 years there.
"I’m grateful to Vega Squadron for helping me take my first steps in esports; this organization opened up new opportunities for me and gave me the momentum to continue growing.
"In Team Spirit, I established myself as a player, evolved professionally and improved my media skills. Besides, here I achieved the major milestones of my career. I'd like to extend my gratitude to Nikolay "Certus", who entrusted me with the role of IGL, and to Sergey "hally" — we learned to win together.
"Working at Team Spirit also gave me an inside look at the scale of the organization. Behind the scenes is a large team of professionals, each of them has their own area of responsibility. I learned a lot from my colleagues and am grateful to them for our fruitful collaboration. Looking back, I realize that they've become an extremely important part of my life."
chopper was IGL of the Year finalist in 2024, and missed out on that distinction in 2025 by just one point. Since his benching by Spirit at the end of 2025, he has taken on other projects as a streamer and community broadcaster.
On Friday, Spirit released a tribute video honoring chopper and thanking him for his contributions to the organization.
"I’d also like to give a special thanks to the fans," chopper said. "All these years, your support has been a vital part of my journey, both during moments of triumph and during times when things didn’t go our way. You shared our ups and downs, believed in the team, and helped us move forward.
"Thank you for being there for us, and see you on the streams!"
Ninjas in Pyjamas
Christopher 'GeT_RiGhT' Alesund
Richard 'Xizt' Landström
Patrik 'f0rest' Lindberg
Adam 'friberg' Friberg
Jacob 'pyth' Mourujärvi
Leonid 'chopper' VishnyakovPast 3 months
Spirit
Dmitry 'sh1ro' Sokolov
Boris 'magixx' Vorobiev
Andrey 'tN1R' Tatarinovich
Myroslav 'zont1x' Plakhotia
Danil 'donk' Kryshkovets
Sergey 'hally' Shavaev
Vega Squadron
Leonid 'chopper' Vishnyakov
Dmytro 'jR' Chervak
Nikolay 'mir' Bityukov
Sergey 'keshandr' Nikishin
Pavel 'hutji' Lashkov