Dauren AdreN Kystaubaev - the eleventh Major MVP

We are finally getting to the Major which is loved and cherished by a great number of fans in our region. For the first time in the history of major tournaments in the CS:GO industry, the Russian team, represented on the world stage by players from Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine, was able to become the strongest team in the world. Dauren Kystaubaev's way to the top was truly arduous, and in our new article, we'll be taking a look at his journey to the dream.   

On February 4, 1990, in the city of Almaty, Kazakhstan, the little Dauren was born. The boy took an interest in sports since he was little. More than anything, he wanted to play soccer and become a professional player. Kystaubaev confessed that soccer became an important part of his life after he saw the England team perform in the World Cup in 2002. A little later, Kystaubayev broke his nose, so he had to stop training. During his recovery, he started playing Counter-Strike 1.6. The game drew the guy in, and Dauren never returned to professional soccer, becoming merely an active fan. At first, his parents didn't notice the great amount of time their son spent playing video games, but they got worried when he started to have problems with his grades. AdreN didn't like the idea of studying, but he actively practiced chess at school. It would later aid him in making quick decisions and reading his opponent's actions in his professional career. 

In our previous articles, we've often described how the older brothers helped develop their little siblings' cyber-sports careers because they had their parents' trust and their voices could be heard. Many of them defended their younger siblings so that they would continue to train hard. The situation was different in the Kystaubayev family. Even though the eldest son was a former gamer and the one who introduced Dauren to CS 1.6, he was against his brother's professional training, wanting a solid academic future for his sibling. Everything changed after AdreN (then AdreNalin) won the championship of Kazakhstan together with the K23 team, and then made it to the finals of a major tournament in Singapore. From 2008 until the end of his career in Counter-Strike 1.6 he played under the guidance of Konstantin groove Pikener winning many tournaments with him. After his playing career ended, Dauren went to study in China for a year, but with no success. Our protagonist returned to cybersports in 2013 in CS:GO as a member of Virtus.pro, for the first time joining Mikhail Dosia Stolyarov in the same team. Together they managed to break the incredible winning streak of Ninjas in Pyjamas at LAN tournaments, inflicting the first defeat on the Swedes. After that, Kystaubaev played for Astana Dragons and HellRaisers until he joined Gambit Esports in 2016. After Daniel Zeus Teslenko and Abay HObbit Khasenov joined the team in October, several key developments occurred in the history of the organization. The team, which also included Rustam mou Telepov and Dosia at that time, won 2 trophies, made it out of the group at the Major in Atlanta, and arrived in Krakow as the "gray favorites”.

The audience saw the results of their serious and long joint preparations in the group stage already, where Gambit was undefeated and qualified for the playoffs with a 3-0 stats. Mousesports, G2, and Virtus.pro were all beaten. The first opponent of the playoff games was fnatic, the British organization, with JW, KRIMZ and flusha who had returned in its ranks, while olofmeister remained one of the strongest players in the world. The CIS team finished the match 2-0 in their favor after a fierce struggle. The semifinal match became the jewel of the whole tournament. The current winner Astralis team, that had defeated the major favorites SK Gaming one stage earlier, faced a focused game of Gambit where every player was determined to make it to the final. After the rivals shared picks the outcome of the battle was determined on a decider (Train), where the two legendary decisions of the captain Zeus took place. Danylo Teslenko sacrificed a round discussing the preparation for the next one with his teammates at the base (the famous SK Gaming split), and then repeated the combination after a successful execution. The Danes surrendered the key point of the game and were out of the tournament. AdreN became the player of the match by shooting 59 fractions. The final opponent for Gambit was the team Immortals, which was even more surprising to see in the decisive meeting. The start was extremely hard for our team, they lost on the opponent's pick (Cobblestone) 16-4, but got back into the game on Train. The decider of the meeting was Inferno, where Gambit started as the defensive side with 11-4, and the spectators witnessed a history-making moment.

Dauren set the pace of the game with his performance and helped the team bring the meeting to a winning conclusion. Gambit Esports became the first CIS team to be named a Major winner. AdreN became the most valuable player of the tournament without any alternatives, by finishing the tournament with a rating of 1.26, thus marking a place for himself in the history of Counter-Strike forever.

Unfortunately, the organization failed to further develop its tremendous success. Zeus returned to Natus Vincere, the other players also left the team after a while. AdreN was among the last to do so. His new team surprised everyone. In January 2019 it was reported that Dauren Kystaubaev moved to FaZe Clan, where he was to replace the captain Finn karrigan Andersen. NiKo, Guardian, olofmeister and rain became his teammates. The Kazakh eSports player failed to perform at his best in such an all-star group, but he managed to win two trophies before joining the new organization in May of the same year.

The AVENGER team, represented by the young Jame, quikert, Sanji and buster, took the most valuable player of the Major under their wings. Dauren once again had to take the path of the "dark horse" at the Starladder Major Berlin 2019. In Germany, the team unexpectedly reached the final to fight against the formidable Astralis, sending home Renegades, ENCE and G2. At that, AVANGAR had to face Renegades and ENCE twice during the tournament. There was no struggle in the finals, and Dauren could not repeat the success of 2017. After some time, the team's lineup moved under the auspices of Virtus.pro (Kystaubaev's first team in CS:GO). In 2020, AdreN was replaced by the extremely promising Marex YEKINDAR Galinskis. The rifler returned to his hometown team K23, where he quit at the end of 2021. Now Dauren is often seen as an expert, actively participating in show matches and tournaments with bloggers on Twitch and Youtube. Many people in Kazakhstan consider him the best player in the history of the country, and the most successful one as well. No one has done this much for the development of this country's eSports. Kystaubaev has won 8 trophies, made it into the top 20 of HLTV once in 2017 (17th place), and was voted Most Valuable Player once at the Major in Poland.

Today AdreN lives in St. Petersburg, actively speaks out about the modern CS, and enjoys a well-deserved retirement. His career is an example for the cyber athletes of the CIS region.