{"id":41495,"date":"2025-03-05T18:31:40","date_gmt":"2025-03-05T23:31:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/esportbet.com\/?p=41495"},"modified":"2025-03-05T18:31:40","modified_gmt":"2025-03-05T23:31:40","slug":"legendary-counter-strike-awper-guardian-announces-his-retirement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/esportbet.com\/legendary-counter-strike-awper-guardian-announces-his-retirement\/","title":{"rendered":"Legendary Counter-Strike AWPer GuardiaN announces his retirement"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>One of <a href=\"https:\/\/esportbet.com\/counter-strike\/\" title=\"Counter-Strike 2 betting guide\">Counter-Strike\u2019s<\/a> greatest AWPers, Ladislav &#8220;GuardiaN&#8221; Kov\u00e1cs, announced his official retirement from professional play, bringing an end to a remarkable career spanning nearly 20 years.<\/p>\n<p>The Slovakian veteran, who was a staple in the competitive scene from Counter-Strike 1.6 through Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, announced his decision in a video released by BC.Game, citing burnout and a desire to focus on streaming.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The decision was not hard to make,&#8221; GuardiaN shared.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;After spending half of my life competing, traveling, and grinding, I felt it was time to move on.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>A towering figure in the CS:GO era, GuardiaN was known for his pinpoint precision and calm under pressure, making him one of the most feared snipers in the game\u2019s history.<\/p>\n<p>His career saw him represent some of the biggest organisations, most notably Natus Vincere and FaZe Clan, where he enjoyed immense success but also suffered heartbreak on Counter-Strike\u2019s biggest stages.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Thank you for the kind words my fellow friends, opponents and teammates, fans, haters. Hopefully i was a good friend to all of you and that you all had a nice time with me as well as I had with you guys. I loved every single moment of this part of my life \ud83e\udef0<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Ladislav Kov\u00e1cs (@guardiancsgo) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/guardiancsgo\/status\/1897352931013484741?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 5, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>GuardiaN\u2019s professional journey began in 2006, gaining early recognition in Counter-Strike: Source with Reason Gaming before transitioning to Global Offensive, where he cemented his legacy.<\/p>\n<p>His time with NaVi from 2013 to 2017 saw him emerge as one of the world\u2019s best, consistently delivering standout performances.<\/p>\n<p>He helped the team win numerous titles, including <a href=\"https:\/\/esportbet.com\/electronic-sports-league\/\" title=\"ESL betting guide\">ESL<\/a> One New York 2016 and StarSeries Season 2, but fell agonisingly short of CS:GO\u2019s ultimate prize\u2014a Major trophy.<\/p>\n<p>GuardiaN reached three Major grand finals, finishing as a runner-up at DreamHack Cluj-Napoca 2015, MLG Columbus 2016 and ELEAGUE Major 2018.<\/p>\n<p>Despite never claiming a Major, his individual brilliance was undeniable.<\/p>\n<p>He was named in HLTV\u2019s Top 20 players for six consecutive years, peaking at #2 in the world in 2015, and remained a dominant force with his AWP.<\/p>\n<p>His move to FaZe Clan in 2017 gave him another shot at Major glory, leading one of the most stacked rosters in CS:GO history.<\/p>\n<p>He played a pivotal role in FaZe\u2019s ELEAGUE Premier 2017 win and victories at ESL One New York 2017, IEM Sydney 2018, and EPICENTER 2018.<\/p>\n<p>However, his most painful defeat came in the ELEAGUE Boston 2018 final, where FaZe let a 15-9 lead slip to Cloud9 in overtime.<\/p>\n<p>As the competitive landscape evolved, GuardiaN gradually faded from the top-tier scene.<\/p>\n<p>He returned to Na\u2019Vi in 2019 but struggled to regain form, eventually stepping down.<\/p>\n<p>In recent years, he competed with smaller teams such as Sampi, Singularity, and BC.Game, where he briefly explored coaching in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Now, with his playing career officially behind him, GuardiaN is turning his focus to streaming and potential roles in esports analysis or commentary.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve done it all,&#8221; he reflected.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve been to Majors, I&#8217;ve played in finals, I\u2019ve won big tournaments, and I had amazing teammates. A Major trophy would have been nice, but that\u2019s not all it takes to be happy.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>GuardiaN\u2019s influence on Counter-Strike is undeniable.<\/p>\n<p>His mechanical skill, composure, and longevity place him among the greatest AWPers to ever play the game.<\/p>\n<p>His 1v5 clutch against Fnatic in the <a href=\"https:\/\/esportbet.com\/iem-katowice\/cs2\/\" title=\"IEM Katowice betting guide\">IEM Katowice 2018<\/a> final remains one of the most iconic plays in Counter-Strike history, and his rivalry with the world\u2019s best snipers set a gold standard for the role.<\/p>\n<p>While he may be stepping away from professional play, his impact will be felt for years to come.<\/p>\n<p>Future generations of AWPers will look to GuardiaN as a benchmark for excellence\u2014a player who redefined what it meant to be an elite sniper.<\/p>\n<p>As he embarks on this new chapter, Counter-Strike bids farewell to a true legend.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Counter-Strike Legend Ladislav &#39;GuardiaN&#39; Kov\u00e1cs:<br \/>I&#39;m retiring! \u2b50\ufe0f<\/p>\n<p>After an incredible career, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/guardiancsgo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@guardiancsgo<\/a> shares a heartfelt message of gratitude to the whole competitive Counter-Strike scene!<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udcfa Watch the full interview here: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/790V6UG6cr\">https:\/\/t.co\/790V6UG6cr<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/BCGAME?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#BCGAME<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/UnTlJkNFf4\">pic.twitter.com\/UnTlJkNFf4<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; BC.Game Esports (@BCGameEsports) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BCGameEsports\/status\/1896968891328323972?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 4, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/esportbet.com\/news\/\" class=\"contentLinkBtn\">Esports news<\/a><\/p>\n<hr>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of Counter-Strike\u2019s greatest AWPers, Ladislav &#8220;GuardiaN&#8221; Kov\u00e1cs, announced his official retirement from professional play, bringing an end to a&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":41496,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ghostkit_customizer_options":"","ghostkit_custom_css":"","ghostkit_custom_js_head":"","ghostkit_custom_js_foot":"","ghostkit_typography":"","wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[3111,2988,127,3867,132],"class_list":["post-41495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-counter-strike-2","tag-counter-strike-global-offensive","tag-faze-clan","tag-ladislav-guardian-kovacs","tag-natus-vincere"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/esportbet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/esportbet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/esportbet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esportbet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esportbet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41495"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/esportbet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41495\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41499,"href":"https:\/\/esportbet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41495\/revisions\/41499"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esportbet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/esportbet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esportbet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esportbet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}