AMKAL Benches Full CS2 Roster as Organization Announces Seasonal Hiatus

On December 1, 2025, AMKAL officially announced that their full Counter-Strike 2 roster – including the coaching staff – has been benched, as the organization enters a pause in its CS activities for the remainder of the season. 

Reason behind the decision

The announcement cites a string of disappointing results as the driving factor. AMKAL recorded only two wins in their last ten series, prompting the organisation to admit that “results are far from what we expected.” 
The roster in question had been formed in August 2025, centred around well-known names such as IGL Vladislav “nafany” Gorshkov and rising star Aleksandr “KaiR0N-” Anashkin. 
Despite initial optimism, AMKAL struggled to gain momentum: they failed to make significant headway in online qualifiers and could not secure themselves a LAN-tournament appearance. 

In late September the organisation attempted to stabilise the project by replacing Dmitry “sstiNiX” Khlebnikov and Artem “iDISBALANCE” Egorov with Aleksandr “KENSI” Gurkin and Abdurakhim “mo0N” Issa. This lineup change yielded a short-lived upswing: the team placed 2nd at OMEN Retake Season 11, their best result to date. 

However, that momentum failed to carry over. The team continued losing key qualifiers — most notably for major events under the CCT Season 3 Europe structure — and ultimately the organisation elected to bench the entire project and evaluate the next direction. 

The roster benched

The roster that was moved to the bench includes:

• Vladislav “nafany” Gorshkov (IGL)

• Aleksandr “KaiR0N-” Anashkin

• Aleksandr “TRAVIS” Timkiv

• Aleksandr “KENSI” Gurkin

• Abdurakhim “mo0N” Issa

• Pavel “PASHANOJ” Legostaev (coach)

At present, AMKAL has not made any public statements regarding transfer listings for the benched players or whether individual departures are already underway. The organisation simply said that the roster would remain inactive while they “take a pause until the end of the season to determine a new direction.” 

Historical context

This is not the first time AMKAL have overhauled their roster dramatically. Earlier in the year, on January 4, 2025, the organisation benched its then-roster and announced a rebuild for the 2025 season. 
At that time, AMKAL’s earlier squad had qualified for the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024 – a significant achievement – but the team posted a weak major performance, followed by an extended slide down the global rankings. 

The roster signed in August 2025 had been framed as a fresh start: the acquisition of veterans nafany and KaiR0N- alongside other young talent was intended to invert the downward trajectory. 
Yet, by early December 2025, the project has been suspended.

Why it matters

For AMKAL, benching an entire roster signals a full reset rather than incremental tweaks. It implies that the organisation does not believe in the performance of the current unit and will reconsider everything from coaching, roster structure, to competitive strategy.
The move may impact the wider Russian/CIS esports scene: players like nafany and KaiR0N- are notable in the region, and their benching opens questions of where they will end up or whether AMKAL will re-sign them under new terms.
For tournaments and qualifiers, the pause means that AMKAL will not be fielding the lineup for upcoming events, which may create slots and opportunities for other squads to step into. Indeed, according to the team’s public profile, they currently have no active players listed and no upcoming matches. 

What’s next

• AMKAL has committed to reviewing its strategy through to the end of the season and plans to announce its next steps thereafter.

• It remains unclear whether AMKAL will rebuild with the same players, bring in new talent, or withdraw from the CS2 scene entirely for a period.

• Benched players may seek new organisations, though no specific transfers or intentions have been confirmed publicly.

• The CS2 competitive path forward for AMKAL will likely hinge on both internal evaluation and external factors such as the evolving Russian/CIS landscape, tournament invites, and sponsor obligations.