Envy Return to Counter-Strike, SunPayus Leaves G2 and a 62-Kill LAN Record: CS2's Big Week

Counter-Strike has had a busy news week ahead of ESL Pro League Season 24. A famous name has returned, a long-running G2 story has ended, and a Bulgarian rifler has set a LAN record, even though his team lost the map.

Envy are back after six years

Envy announced their return to Counter-Strike on 29 September, close to six years after they last fielded a team. Their last lineup, in 2020, was an international roster with players including Michał "MICHU" Müller, Noah "Nifty" Francis and Thomas "Thomas" Utting.

The American organisation has signed the former 3DMAX roster, all of them French:

• Bryan "Maka" Canda
• Lucas "Lucky" Chastang
• Kévin "misutaaa" Rabier
• Filip "Graviti" Brankovic
• Jeremy "Kursy" Gast

Signing a French team has historical weight for Envy. HLTV notes that their only Major title came with a French lineup at DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca 2015. The new team is ranked 20th in the world and 21st in Valve's VRS standings, and is chasing a spot at the Singapore Major. Its first event as Envy will be Stake Pulse Beat III, starting on 12 October.

SunPayus leaves G2

Spanish AWPer Álvaro "SunPayus" García has officially left G2 after 14 months. He joined in July 2025 to replace m0NESY, who had moved to Falcons, and G2 won BLAST Open London 2025 within a month of his arrival.

Results became less consistent after that. SunPayus was benched in June 2026 and spent three months on the sidelines while Artem "r1nkle" Moroz took the AWP. HLTV reports he is widely expected to join FUT and replace AWPer Nikita "cmtry" Samolotov.

G2's current lineup is Nemanja "huNter-" Kovač, Guy "NertZ" Iluz, r1nkle, Nikita "HeavyGod" Martynenko and Matúš "MATYS" Šimko, with Eetu "sAw" Saha as coach.

62 kills in a 60-round map

The most unusual story of the week came from Urban Riga Open Season 7 in Latvia. On 29 September, Bulgarian player Slaven "AwaykeN" Lyubenov of INFURITY got 62 kills on Dust2 against Inner Circle Academy. The map went to six overtimes and 60 rounds in total, and INFURITY still lost 29-31.

HLTV says it is the most kills by one player on a single map at a CS2 LAN. The previous LAN record was 60 kills, set by both Alexander "Altekz" Givskov and Nils "k1to" Gruhne in the same map at Digital Crusade DraculaN Season 2. Including online matches, AwaykeN's total ranks third in CS2, behind xelex's 67 and sstiNiX's 63. He finished with a 1.59 rating and 105 average damage per round.

Other results

• NIP won their first title with Krimbo at 1win Private Club Season 1.
• Team Liquid won the IBP Masters title over Wildcard.

ESL Pro League Season 24 starts on Saturday

The next big event is ESL Pro League Season 24 in Katowice, Poland, from 3 to 11 October. Sixteen teams will play a best-of-three Swiss group stage. The top teams go to single-elimination playoffs with a best-of-five grand final. The prize pool is US$1 million.

The field includes Spirit, Vitality, FURIA, MOUZ, Falcons, G2, Legacy, Aurora, NAVI, BetBoom, 9z, PARIVISION, M80, TYLOO, 1win and ShindeN. For Asian fans, TYLOO are the team to watch.

Key takeaways

• Envy have returned to CS2 with the all-French former 3DMAX roster and will debut at Stake Pulse Beat III on 12 October.
• SunPayus has left G2 after 14 months and is widely expected to join FUT.
• AwaykeN's 62 kills in a 60-round loss is a new CS2 LAN record for a single map.
• ESL Pro League Season 24 runs from 3 to 11 October in Katowice, with US$1 million in prize money.

FAQ

Who is on Envy's new CS2 roster? Maka, Lucky, misutaaa, Graviti and Kursy, the former 3DMAX lineup.

What was the previous CS2 LAN kill record? 60 kills, shared by Altekz and k1to from the same map at Digital Crusade DraculaN Season 2.

When does ESL Pro League Season 24 start? 3 October in Katowice, Poland. It runs until 11 October.

Sources: HLTV