GuardiaN
Ladislav "GuardiaN" Kovács is a Slovakian professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) player and former Counter-Strike: Source (CS:S) and Counter-Strike (CS) player.[2] GuardiaN has played at a high level in all three mentioned Counter-Strike games. He is known for being one of the best players with the AWP and one of the best players overall.[3] He played for team Natus Vincere (Na'Vi) for most of his career in CS:GO and is currently benched on Natus Vincere (Na'Vi).
GuardiaN | |
---|---|
Ladislav Kovács | |
GuardiaN (right) at Dreamhack Leipzig 2016 | |
Personal information | |
Born | Komárno, Slovak Republic, Czechoslovakia (present-day Slovakia) | July 9, 1991
Nationality | Slovak |
Nickname(s) | GuardiaN |
Career information | |
Status | Active |
Current team | Natus Vincere |
Games | Counter-Strike: Global Offensive |
Role | AWPer |
Career prize money | $804,723[1] |
Career history | |
2013 | 3DMAX |
2013 | Virtus.pro |
2013–2017 | Natus Vincere |
2017–2019 | FaZe Clan |
2019–2020 | Natus Vincere |
2020–present | Na'Vi (inactive) |
Professional career
Before the release of Counter-Strike : Global Offensive in 2012, the Slovak played both CS and CS:S professionally. He was first introduced to Counter-Strike by his brother, who bought the game on a CD when it was not well known at the time.
He liked the game, so he kept playing it and developing as a player and some time later he found himself a team and took part in his first LAN tournaments. Due to the low number of CS events at his home soil, he decided to switch onto CS:S. He had been playing for the ranks of Reason Gaming for two years. This led him to a lot of victories while playing CS:S. Despite having been offered a spot from a number of top European teams, GuardiaN switched back to CS and started playing for such squads as IQFIGHTERS, DEFEATERS, Corecell, and SGC as well as for his national team, Slovakia. In addition, he was frequently honored with a number of different awards (both as a team member and as a player).
GuardiaN moved on to CS:GO in the middle of 2012. He played for myDGB.net, ePz, TCM-Gaming and 3DMAX before playing well in the Virtus.pro roster. He joined the ranks of Natus Vincere in December 2013. After a 4-year long tenure with Natus Vincere, he left the organization in August 2017 to join FaZe Clan as the AWPer, taking over from Aleksi "allu" Jalli.[4][5]
Despite saying that FaZe would be his last team,[6] GuardiaN returned to Natus Vincere in September 2019.[7] GuardiaN was benched in January 2020 to be replaced by Ilya "Perfecto" Zalutskiy.
During March 2020, GuardiaN was a stand-in for Dignitas at Flashpoint for Håkon "Hallzerk" Fjærli, due to visa issues.
Awards and Recognition
Competition record | ||
---|---|---|
Representing Na'Vi | ||
Premier League Top 4 Placings | ||
1st | 2015 StarLadder StarSeries XIII | |
1st | 2015 Electronic Sports World Cup | |
2nd | 2015 DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca | |
1st | 2015 Intel Extreme Masters X – San Jose | |
2nd | 2015 ESL ESEA Pro League Season II – Finals | |
1st | 2016 DreamHack Leipzig 2016 | |
1st | 2016 Counter Pit League Season 2 – Finals | |
2nd | 2016 MLG Major Championship: Columbus | |
2nd | 2016 DreamHack Masters Malmö 2016 | |
3rd–4th | 2016 ELEAGUE Season 1 | |
1st | 2016 ESL New York – Finals | |
1st | 2017 ESL New York – Finals |
- Was named the 10th best player of 2013 by HLTV.org.[8]
- Was named the 11th best player of 2014 by HLTV.org.[9]
- Was named the 2nd best player of 2015 by HLTV.org.[10]
- Was named the 17th best player of 2016 by HLTV.org.[11]
- Was named the 9th best player of 2017 by HLTV.org.[12]
- Was named the 11th best player of 2018 by HLTV.org.[13]
- Was named the MVP of 8 different tournaments.[14]
References
- "Ladislav "GuardiaN" Kovács". e-Sports Earnings.
- http://www.sport-express.ru/cybersport/csgo/news/moment-dnya-snayper-guardian-oformil-eys-za-8-sekund-1046877/
- Top 20 players of 2015: GuardiaN (2), HLTV.org
- "GuardiaN and seized step down from Natus Vincere". HLTV.org. Retrieved 2018-05-23.
- "GuardiaN replaces allu in FaZe". HLTV.org. Retrieved 2018-05-23.
- Steiner, Dustin (2018-01-30). "Guardian: FaZe Will Be My Last Home Before I Retire". Unikrn. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
- Švejda, Milan "Striker". "GuardiaN returns to Na'Vi, B1ad3 moves to coach". HLTV. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
- "Top 20 players of 2013: GuardiaN (10)". HLTV.org. Retrieved 2018-05-23.
- "Top 20 players of 2014: GuardiaN (11)". HLTV.org. Retrieved 2018-05-23.
- "Top 20 players of 2015: GuardiaN (2)". HLTV.org. Retrieved 2018-05-23.
- "Top 20 players of 2016: GuardiaN (17)". HLTV.org. Retrieved 2018-05-23.
- "Top 20 players of 2017: GuardiaN (9)". HLTV.org. Retrieved 2018-05-23.
- "Top 20 players of 2018: GuardiaN (11)". HLTV.org. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
- "GuardiaN player stats". HLTV.org. Retrieved 2019-01-29.