Farewell, legend. Just five days shy of his 36th birthday,
Kyrylo "ANGE1" Karasov announced on X that he
is officially retiring as a player. “
After taking a small break, I understood that it takes too much focus and energy for me to compete at the highest level. I truly did my best in the last two years, but expectation and reality unfortunately did not meet,” wrote the Natus Vincere player.
The former
Counter-Strike professional clarified that he will remain active in the competitive scene, though in a different position. “
I still believe in my vision of the game. And there are a lot of things I learnt during this long-ass career. So let’s not be sad; one journey ends, and another begins. Starting next season, I will try myself as a coach.”
ANGE1 retires as one of the most seasoned veterans in global FPS esports. Having competed since 2006, he spent nearly 15 years in
Counter-Strike without ever capturing an S-Tier title. In May 2020, the Ukrainian was among the first to transition to
VALORANT, joining his first team within months of the game’s release. It was here that ANGE1 would go on to secure the most notable achievements of his career.
In 2021, ANGE1 claimed his first major trophy in Riot Games’ title, winning the VCT 2021: Europe Stage 2 Challengers 1 with
FunPlus Phoenix — then the highest level of regional competition. The following year, still with FPX, he captured the VCT 2022: EMEA Stage 1 Challengers before securing the Masters Copenhagen, the first and only S-Tier title of his long career. Later that same season, FPX reached the semifinals of
VALORANT Champions, after which ANGE1 departed to join NAVI.
It was with Ukraine’s most prominent organization that ANGE1 spent the final three years of his playing career. With NAVI, he reached another international semifinal at the 2023 LOCK//IN São Paulo and participated in Champions later that year. But as ANGE1 himself admitted in his post, results steadily declined thereafter. Since 2024, NAVI have failed to secure a single VCT EMEA podium finish and have not qualified for another international event.
