Twistzz

Last updated
Twistzz
IEM Chicago Final Edits-0027 Twistzz (48353526771).jpg
Twistzz during Intel Extreme Masters Chicago 2019
Current team
Team Team Liquid
RoleRifler
Game
Personal information
NameRussel Van Dulken
Born (1999-11-14) November 14, 1999 (age 24)
NationalityCanadian
Career information
Playing career2015–present
Team history
2016Team AGG
2016–2017 Team SoloMid
2017 Misfits Gaming
2017–2020 Team Liquid
2021–2023 FaZe Clan
2023–present Team Liquid
Career highlights and awards

Russel David Kevin Van Dulken (born November 14, 1999), better known as Twistzz, is a Canadian professional Counter-Strike 2 player for Team Liquid. He has previously played for top teams such as Team SoloMid, Misfits, and FaZe Clan. Twistzz was named the MVP of ESL One New York 2018 [1] and IEM Sydney 2019 by HLTV. [2]

Contents

Early life

Twistzz was born on November 14, 1999. [3] He began playing video games with his dad and his first FPS game was Quake. After his father moved away, Twistzz started playing games for longer periods of time. Twistzz and his mom eventually moved in with her boyfriend and Twistzz started playing Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO). His mom's boyfriend started verbally abusing Twistzz which stalled his progress in CS:GO. In 2014 his mom chose to leave her boyfriend and Twistzz was able to make progress in CS:GO once again. His mom was supportive of him playing CS:GO because she was aware of where he was at all times. [4]

Career

2015

Twistzz joined his first professional team Tectonic in October 2015. In December 2015, Twistzz joined SapphireKelownaDotCom along with veteran In-Game Leader Kyle "OCEAN" O'Brien. SapphireKelownaDotCom were signed by AGG in February 2016. Even at this early stage people would start seeing that he is a promising up-and-comer. [5] [4]

2016

In March, team AGG released their roster and Twistzz joined team KKona with his ex-AGG teammates for 1 week before receiving a stand-in offer from his first large organization, Team SoloMid (TSM), along with another veteran In-Game Leader Sean Gares. Eventually, Twistzz was signed by TSM on a permanent basis. [6]

2017

In January, TSM released Twistzz along with his teammates allowing Misfits Gaming to pick up the roster. [7] In April, Twistzz joined Team Liquid (Liquid) after the departure of Jacob "Pimp" Winneche. [8] On Liquid, Twistzz and Liquid placed 2nd at two big events, ESL One New York 2017 [9] and ESG Tour Mykonos. [10] In November Twistzz's Liquid won the Americas Minor Championship for ELEAGUE Boston 2017.

2018

In January, Twistzz's Liquid placed 14th at the ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018 with their coach Wilton "zews" Prado standing in for Lucas "steel" Lopes, due to roster-lock rules at the time. In February Twistzz's Liquid beat Cloud9 in the finals to win cs_summit 2, which would be their first win at an event in 2018. [11]

In April, Twistzz's Liquid ESL Pro League Season 7 final. Liquid continued to place 2nd against Astralis at the ECS Season 5 Finals and ELEAGUE Season Premier 2018.

In the second major of 2018, The FACEIT London Major, his performances helped Liquid secure 1st place in the new challenger's stage by going 3-0. Twistzz achieved a Performance Rating 2.0 of 1.47 against HellRaisers which Liquid won 16-9 and an even more impressive Performance Rating 2.0 of 1.54 against Vega Squadron in which Liquid won in Overtime 19–17 in the New Challenger's Stage.

Going into the New Legends Stage, Team Liquid would go 3–0, beating Winstrike, where Liquid won 16–7, Twistzz achieving his most impressive Performance Rating 2.0 in the tournament of 1.79. This would be followed by a 16–10 win over NIP, Twistzz getting a Performance Rating 2.0 of 1.44. Team Liquid would then go onto beat HLTV's #1 Rated team at the time, Astralis 19–15, Twistzz having a quiet Performance Rating 2.0 of 1.06.

The next stage of the FACEIT London Major was The Playoffs. Liquid would face HellRaisers yet again winning 2–1 with Twistzz amounting to a Performance Rating 2.0 of 1.16, going through into the Semi Finals of the second Major of 2018. Liquid would go up against Astralis in the Semi Final, this time losing 2–0, going out of the Major. However Twistzz would still get a Performance Rating 2.0 of 0.92.

After the FACEIT London Major, Twistzz and Liquid would go on to place 2nd at ESL One New York 2018 (Twistzz receiving the MVP award), IEM Chicago 2018 and at the ESL Pro League Season 8 Finals. However, Liquid would win SuperNova CS:GO Malta which did have the caveat of not having Astralis in attendance and was not considered a High Tier tournament.

2019

In January, HLTV named Twistzz the 12th best professional player of 2018. [5] Liquid were finally able to beat their rival Astralis in a best of 3 final at the iBUYPOWER Masters 2019 tournament. [12] Team Liquid would place 5th-8th at the major, losing to the underdogs ENCE in the quarterfinals. [13] In May, at IEM Sydney 2019, Liquid went undefeated and secured 1st place, and Twistzz won his first big event. Twistzz was named MVP at this event and had an average HLTV rating of 1.25. [14] In June, Liquid won DreamHack Masters Dallas 2019 and the ESL Pro League Season 9 Finals, beating their rivals Astralis in the round of 6. [15] At ESL One Cologne 2019 Liquid won the Intel Grand Slam worth $1 million in addition to the tournament itself. [16] Despite Team Liquid coming into the Starladder Berlin Major as heavy favorites, they scraped out of the group stage 3–2, and lost to Astralis in the quarterfinals. [17] [18]

2021

In January, Twistzz joined FaZe Clan, replacing Kjaerbye⁠. [19] Twistzz had mostly mediocre results for the rest of 2021 with FaZe Clan other than an impressive showing at IEM Cologne 2021, finishing in a respectable 3rd-4th position in the first CS:GO LAN event since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. [20]

2022

In January, HLTV named Twistzz the 17th best professional player of 2021. [21] Going into 2022, FaZe Clan removed long time player Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer in favour of four-time HLTV Top 20 player, Robin "ropz" Kool. [22] Following the addition, Twistzz and FaZe got off to a hot start, finishing 1st-4th in the BLAST Premier Spring Groups, advancing to the Spring Finals, 1st in IEM Katowice 2022 and 1st in ESL Pro League Season 15. [23] [24] [25] In May, Twistzz won his first Major championship at the PGL Major Antwerp 2022, making him the second North American player (other than Stewie2K) to win both a Major championship and an Intel Grand Slam in his career to date. After two disappointing results post-Major, [26] the FaZe team played in the online Roobet Cup, where they finished second, losing to BIG Clan. [27] After the successful Roobet Cup run, which was used to enlarge FaZe's map pool, the team went into IEM Cologne as favourites despite dropping to the #2 team in the world [28] by HLTV. They would meet #1 ranked Natus Vincere, where Faze won 3-2 [29] (On Maps), becoming the first team in CS:GO history to win all 3 of: IEM Katowice, The Major, IEM Cologne in one year.

2023

In March, FaZe placed 1st in ESL Pro League Season 17 and won the Intel Grand Slam Season 4, making Twistzz the first player to win two Grand Slams. [30] [31]

In December, Twistzz left FaZe Clan to return to Team Liquid. [32] [33]

Tournament results

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

Related Research Articles

Mouz, formerly mousesports, is a professional esports organisation based in Germany. It fields teams in several games but is particularly known for its CS:GO team. MOUZ was one of the founding members of the G7 Teams. MOUZ's League of Legends team currently competes in the ESL Pro Series, having formerly competed in the European Challenger Series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natus Vincere</span> Ukraine-based esports organisation

Natus Vincere, commonly referred as abbreviated name NAVI, is a Ukrainian esports organization based in Kyiv. Founded in 2009, the organization has teams and players competing in various games, such as Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, FIFA, Brawl Stars, World of Tanks, Paladins, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, Clash of Clans, Apex Legends, Rainbow Six Siege, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Fortnite, and VALORANT.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">G2 Esports</span> European professional esports organisation

G2 Esports is a European esports organization headquartered in Berlin, Germany, with players competing in League of Legends, Valorant, Counter-Strike 2, Hearthstone, Rocket League, Rainbow Six Siege, Fortnite, and iRacing. The organization was founded in Spain on 24 February 2014 as Gamers2 by former League of Legends pro Carlos "ocelote" Rodríguez Santiago and investor Jens Hilgers. The organization rebranded as G2 Esports on 15 October 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allu (gamer)</span> Finnish esports player (born 1992)

Aleksi Jalli, better known as allu, is a Finnish professional Counter-Strike 2 player for JANO. He previously played for Ninjas in Pyjamas and FaZe Clan as their AWPer. He has also played for 3DMAX, mousesports (mouz), ENCE, Rats of the Year, Team Curse, RAIDERS, The Hawks, and Team WinFakt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anders Blume</span>

Anders Blume is a Danish Counter-Strike: Global Offensive commentator and co-founder of RoomOnFire. He has been present as a caster at all of the Valve sponsored CS:GO Majors, with the exception of EMS One Katowice 2014. He has worked for a wide variety of tournament organisers including Electronic Sports League (ESL), Dreamhack and Gfinity. He is more often than not paired with Auguste 'Semmler' Massonnat, also a co-founder of RoomOnFire and Jason "Moses" O'Toole, for his casts. He is famous for his energetic casts, including the use of what has become his catchphrase, "Are you kidding me?". In 2015, he won the Golden Joystick award for esports icon of the year.

olofmeister Swedish Counter-Strike player

Olof Kajbjer Gustafsson, better known as olofmeister, is a Swedish professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player for FaZe Clan. He has previously played for H2k, Absolute Legends, LGB eSports, Fnatic, and FaZe Clan. Gustafsson is widely regarded as one of the best CS:GO players in history. He has won two CSGO Majors, ESL One Katowice 2015 and ESL One Cologne 2015, as well as many other tournaments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Astralis</span> Danish esports team

Astralis is a Danish esports organization. Best known for their Counter-Strike 2 team, they also have teams representing other games, such as FIFA, League of Legends and Rainbow Six Siege. The parent group of Astralis is the Astralis Group, who previously managed Origen and Future F.C. before the merger of all teams under the Astralis brand. Astralis Group became the first esports organization to conduct an initial public offering, and is traded as ticker Nasdaq Copenhagen: ASTRLS. Astralis's CS:GO team holds the most CS:GO Major Championships won at 4.

<i>ELeague</i> Esports league and American television show

ELeague, shortened as EL, and stylized as ΞLEAGUE is an esports league and American television show that airs on TBS. It was announced in September 2015 as a partnership between Turner Broadcasting and talent agency WME/IMG. The name "ELeague" was officially unveiled later that year.

FACEIT is an esports platform founded in London in 2012. The company has administered leagues for games such as Counter-Strike 2, League of Legends, Rocket League, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege, Dota 2 and Team Fortress 2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NiKo</span> Esports athlete

Nikola Kovač, better known as NiKo, is a Bosnian professional Counter-Strike 2 player for G2 Esports. NiKo is often cited by many professionals and analysts alike to be one of the greatest players of all time in the history of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and the best rifler in the history of Global Offensive, and his 8x HLTV Top 20 Player Of The Year placings put him as joint 2nd for most top 20 player appearances in Global Offensive history.

<i>Counter-Strike</i> Major Championships Valve-sponsored tournaments in Counter-Strike

Counter-Strike Major Championships, commonly known as the Majors, are Counter-Strike (CS) esports tournaments sponsored by Valve, the game's developer. The first Valve-recognized Major took place in 2013 in Jönköping, Sweden and was hosted by DreamHack with a total prize pool of US$250,000 split among 16 teams. This, along with the following 18 Majors, was played in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. As of the 2023 release of Counter-Strike 2 (CS2), Counter-Strike esports, including the Majors, are played in CS2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IEM Katowice Major 2019</span> International tournament in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

The Intel Extreme Masters Season XIII – Katowice Major 2019, also known as IEM Katowice Major 2019 or Katowice 2019, was the fourteenth Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major Championship and the world championship for the thirteenth season of the Intel Extreme Masters. It was held in Katowice, Silesian Voivodeship, Poland from February 13 – March 3, 2019. Fourteen teams would qualify for the IEM Katowice Major 2019 based on their top fourteen placements from the last Major, the FACEIT Major: London 2018, while another ten teams would qualify from their respective regional qualifiers. The top eight teams from the London Major ("Legends") received a bye to the second phase of the group stage while the other sixteen teams ("Challengers") had to go through the first and second group stages in order to reach the playoffs. It featured a US$1,000,000 prize pool, the seventh consecutive Major with that prize pool. It was hosted by ESL, their first Major since 2016. This event was the start of the second season of the Intel Grand Slam.

s1mple Ukrainian gamer

Oleksandr Olehovych Kostyliev, better known as s1mple, is a Ukrainian professional Counter-Strike 2 player for Natus Vincere. He is considered to be one of the best players in Counter-Strike history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gla1ve</span> Danish esports player

Lukas Egholm Rossander, better known as gla1ve, is a Danish professional Counter-Strike 2 player for ENCE. Considered one of the best captains in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, he became the first to win 4 majors in CS:GO, and to win 3 majors consecutively.

ropz Estonian esports player

Robin Kool, better known as ropz, is an Estonian professional Counter-Strike 2 player for FaZe Clan. Kool has played in eight Majors and won the PGL Major Antwerp 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heroic (esports)</span> European professional esports organisation

Heroic is a Norwegian esports organization with teams competing in Counter-Strike 2, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, Sim racing and Rainbow Six Siege.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Furia Esports</span> Brazilian esports organization

Furia Esports, stylized as FURIA Esports or simply FURIA, is a Brazilian professional esports organization. Furia competes in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Rocket League, League of Legends, Valorant, Rainbow Six: Siege, Apex Legends and Super Smash Bros.

broky Professional esport player

Helvijs Saukants, better known as broky, is a Latvian professional Counter-Strike 2 player for FaZe Clan as the AWPer and a former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player.

References

  1. ↑ "TWISTZZ EARNS ESL ONE NEW YORK MVP MEDAL". HLTV.
  2. ↑ "TWISTZZ SCOOPS IEM SYDNEY MVP AWARD". HLTV.
  3. ↑ Biazzi, Leonardo (January 20, 2019). "Twelve top CS:GO players who are younger than the franchise itself". Dot Esports. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  4. 1 2 "The Story of Twistzz". theScore esports.
  5. 1 2 "TOP 20 PLAYERS OF 2018: TWISTZZ (12)". HLTV.
  6. ↑ Mira, Luis "MIRAA". "Official: Twistzz joins Liquid". HLTV. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  7. ↑ "Misfits acquires TSM's former CS:GO roster". Misfits Gaming. February 2017.
  8. ↑ "OFFICIAL: TWISTZZ JOINS LIQUID". HLTV.
  9. ↑ "ESL One New York 2017". HLTV.
  10. ↑ "ESG Tour Mykonos 2017". HLTV.
  11. ↑ "cs_summit 2". HLTV.
  12. ↑ "iBUYPOWER Masters 2019". HLTV.
  13. ↑ Chiu, Stephen. "How ENCE beat Liquid at IEM Katowice 2019". VPEsports. Archived from the original on 13 February 2021. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  14. ↑ "IEM Sydney 2019". HLTV.
  15. ↑ "DreamHack Dallas 2019". HLTV.
  16. ↑ "Intel Grand Slam the latest achievement in Team Liquid's banner year". ESPN. 8 July 2019.
  17. ↑ Shields, Duncan "Thorin" (10 August 2019). "Thorin's Top 10 Biggest Favourites to Win a CS:GO Major". Dexerto. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  18. ↑ "Astralis beat Liquid in two maps; to face NRG in semi-finals". HLTV.org. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  19. ↑ Švejda, Milan. "FaZe sign Twistzz *". HLTV. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  20. ↑ Miles, Lucas. "NAVI defeat FaZe to set up Grand Final Match against G2 *". HLTV. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  21. ↑ Švejda, Milan. "Top 20 Players of 2021: Twistzz (17) *". HLTV. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  22. ↑ Rizzo, Marco. "Official: FaZe complete ropz transfer *". HLTV. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  23. ↑ Allana, Danish. "FaZe beat BIG to advance to BLAST Premier Spring Finals *". HLTV. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  24. ↑ Miles, Lucas. "FaZe sweep G2 to win IEM Katowice *". HLTV. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  25. ↑ Švejda, Milan. "FaZe win ESL Pro League Season 15 *". HLTV. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
  26. ↑ "IEM Dallas 2022". HLTV. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  27. ↑ "BIG vs. FaZe at Roobet Cup 2022". HLTV. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  28. ↑ "Counter-Strike Ranking | World Ranking". HLTV. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  29. ↑ "Natus Vincere vs. FaZe at IEM Cologne 2022". HLTV. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  30. ↑ "ESL Pro League Season 17". HLTV. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  31. ↑ "Russel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken's Counter-Strike Player Profile". HLTV. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  32. ↑ "FaZe Confirm Twistzz Departure". HLTV. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  33. ↑ "Team Liquid CS on X: "The moment you've been waiting for... our CS2 roster is finally complete. Welcome Twistzz to Team Liquid CS. https://t.co/JKuctC8FEm" / X". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved 2023-12-07.{{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.