nafany: “For me, it’s like a dream” as rebuilt 1WIN roster passes first EWC playoff test

Vladislav “nafany” Gorshkov spent much of 2026 trying to make a Counter-Strike project work without the stability of a proper organization. Now, after reuniting with familiar faces, adding two proven pieces and moving the former TDK roster under the 1WIN banner, the Russian in-game leader finally feels that the pieces have fallen into place.

“For me, it’s like a dream,” nafany told HLTV at the Esports World Cup 2026 Open Qualifier.

The comment carried more weight than a routine honeymoon-period endorsement. Earlier in the year, nafany had described the financial and organizational strain of running TDK, including paying expenses and handling tournament logistics while trying to remain focused on his own game. By August, that project had become 1WIN, with Sergey “Ax1Le” Rykhtorov, Artem “ArtFr0st” Kharitonov, Petr “fame” Bolyshev and Andrey “BELCHONOKK” Yasinskiy completing the lineup around nafany and coach Konstantin “groove” Pikiner.

And less than a day after nafany discussed the team's potential, 1WIN gave his optimism something tangible behind it.

They eliminated Liquid 2-1 in the opening round of the EWC qualifier playoffs, winning Dust2 13-5, losing Anubis 6-13 and closing the series 13-7 on Cache. BELCHONOKK was the standout with a 1.52 series rating, while nafany and Ax1Le helped 1WIN establish the dominant 10-2 T-side half that decided Dust2.

Quick Context

Detail	Information
Player	Vladislav “nafany” Gorshkov
Team	1WIN
Role	In-game leader
Event	Esports World Cup 2026 Open Qualifier
Location	Paris, France
Interview angle	New roster, organizational stability and EWC ambitions
Latest completed match	1WIN 2-1 Liquid
Current tournament step	Round of 16 vs. Acend
Main quote	“For me, it’s like a dream.”
Main storyline	The self-funded TDK project has found organizational backing and is beginning to test itself against stronger opposition

The current five-man lineup consists of Ax1Le, nafany, BELCHONOKK, fame and ArtFr0st, with groove coaching the team. HLTV listed 1WIN at No. 63 in its world ranking ahead of the Acend series.

Why this interview matters

To understand nafany's enthusiasm about 1WIN, the more important comparison is not with his Gambit or Cloud9 peak. It is with where he was only a few months earlier.

After AMKAL ceased operations at the end of 2025, nafany, Ax1Le and groove reunited to build TDK. The project competed while several players remained contracted elsewhere, creating the constant possibility of losing pieces back to their parent organizations. Nafany also said the team was spending its own money on travel, accommodation and tournament participation while he personally handled organizational work that would normally fall to management.

The results were still promising. TDK won the ESL Challenger League Season 51 Europe Finals in May to qualify for ESL Pro League Season 24, and the team later strengthened its roster with fame and BELCHONOKK. The latter changes came in July, replacing Xant3r and sugaR before the lineup transferred to 1WIN on August 1.

That progression explains why nafany spoke less about a new employer and more about finally getting the team he had been trying to assemble.

On finally building the roster he wanted

The current 1WIN lineup did not arrive through a clean off-season rebuild. According to nafany, much of it remained uncertain until late in the process.

BELCHONOKK had been available after being benched by PARIVISION, but his contractual situation still needed to be resolved. fame was attached to Virtus.pro and had been on the bench there since February. Ultimately, fame moved permanently to 1WIN, while BELCHONOKK and ArtFr0st joined on loan.

For nafany, however, the most important element was that the final group consisted of people who actively wanted to work together.

“We wanted to work with each other for a long time, and it happened,” he said. “And after that things just got better, at least from my POV, so I’m really happy.”

There is an obvious familiar core. nafany, Ax1Le and groove share history from Gambit and Cloud9, while nafany had openly identified groove earlier this year as the best coach he had worked with. Their attempted reunion had been discussed long before the current roster became possible.

The additions around them bring a different kind of experience. fame is a Major winner from his Virtus.pro period, while BELCHONOKK arrived after winning BLAST Bounty Season 1 earlier in 2026.

The question is no longer whether nafany can assemble a competitive five. It is how quickly players from different systems can become one team.

On the problems 1WIN still have to solve

nafany did not portray the new lineup as a finished product.

That was clear after 1WIN's group-stage defeat to BC.Game. Rather than searching for excuses, the IGL said the opposing team had simply been better. He pointed to 1WIN's lack of time together and the difficulty of connecting players shaped by different approaches to Counter-Strike.

His assessment of the team's overall level was equally measured.

“Sometimes we can beat the best teams and sometimes we can lose to really crazy guys,” nafany said while discussing their chances of reaching the EWC main event.

That volatility is probably the most important part of his interview.

The names on 1WIN make the ceiling easy to see. Ax1Le has years of tier-one experience, ArtFr0st provides a dedicated AWPer, fame brings experience from high-pressure international events, and BELCHONOKK has already shown that he can decide maps individually. But the lineup was assembled late enough that nafany was still describing moments when players were unsure what was happening in TeamSpeak.

The Liquid series illustrated both sides.

1WIN looked organized and decisive on Dust2, with nafany's calling helping produce a 10-2 attacking half. On Anubis, however, Liquid punished a much less convincing 1WIN offense and forced the series to Cache. BELCHONOKK then took control of the decider, including a four-kill Deagle round, to push 1WIN through.

For a new lineup, that is encouraging without erasing nafany's warning. Their individual quality can already rescue imperfect games; the longer-term test is whether they can reduce how often those rescue jobs are necessary.

On what 1WIN changes for nafany

One of the clearest differences between TDK and 1WIN has little to do with server roles.

“It’s way easier when you have a big name behind you,” nafany said.

Earlier in 2026, he was describing a team paying its own expenses and an IGL splitting his attention between Counter-Strike and administrative work. Under 1WIN, he highlighted the support surrounding the roster and specifically pointed to SweetyPotz, who previously worked with him during his Gambit and Cloud9 years, as someone he trusts.

The practical benefit is straightforward: nafany no longer needs to be the captain, organizer and de facto team manager at the same time.

“All I need right now is just to focus on CS,” he said.

For an in-game leader trying to blend five players into a new system, that may be as valuable as any roster upgrade.

The long route back to groove

nafany's comments also put his post-Cloud9 career into perspective.

He described the years after leaving Cloud9 as a difficult stretch that took him through BetBoom, mix teams and AMKAL before the current project emerged. In the EWC interview, he said he did not connect with the coach during his BetBoom spell and viewed that relationship as one of the central issues with the team.

His view of groove has been very different.

In an earlier interview this year, nafany said that after working with five coaches, he considered groove the best of them. The two had repeatedly tried to find a way to work together again, only for potential projects to fall apart. When AMKAL ended, groove and Ax1Le became the foundation of another attempt.

That is why the “dream” line is more meaningful than it first appears. nafany is not simply pleased that TDK found a buyer. He finally has organizational backing for a team built around relationships he had spent years trying to restore.

Liquid win gives nafany's confidence an early test

Before the playoffs began, nafany was careful not to promise qualification.

He believed 1WIN were capable of beating anyone at the event when their key players performed, but he repeatedly returned to the same problem: inconsistency.

Against Liquid, his point was immediately tested.

1WIN's 13-5 Dust2 victory came from the kind of collective performance an IGL wants to see. Liquid answered on Anubis, but the Russian side recovered on Cache, where BELCHONOKK finished the map with a 2.46 rating according to HLTV's match report. Overall, he posted 48 kills and a 1.52 rating across the series. nafany finished 39-36 with a 1.01 rating.

It was not a flawless series. It was, however, precisely the kind of win that makes the potential nafany described easier to take seriously.

Acend presents a different problem

The victory over Liquid moved 1WIN into a round-of-16 match against Acend, who reached the same stage by beating FOKUS 2-1. At the time this article was updated, that best-of-three was live.

The veto produced Anubis as Acend's pick, Ancient as 1WIN's pick and Dust2 as the potential decider. That last map is particularly notable after 1WIN's 13-5 victory over Liquid earlier in the day.

There is no meaningful recent head-to-head history to lean on. HLTV's match page listed the two teams at 0-0 in their head-to-head record before the series, making current form and the map matchup more useful indicators than past meetings.

The qualifier brings nafany back to his early LAN days

The other revealing part of nafany's interview was how much he enjoyed the environment itself.

The packed open qualifier, with teams and established names playing within the same venue, reminded him less of modern closed tier-one competition and more of the early stage of his career.

“I feel like I’m back in the times where I’m in Gambit Youngsters and we’re playing Copenhagen Games,” nafany said.

He also argued that more European teams should take advantage of similar LANs, particularly organizations and unsigned lineups trying to earn VRS points and create opportunities for themselves.

That observation fits his own year. TDK's entire 2026 project was built around playing enough events to gain ranking points, prove that the lineup had value and eventually secure more stable conditions. The team has now achieved the organizational part of that plan.

The EWC run will help determine how quickly the competitive part follows.

Interesting Facts

• 1WIN only signed the former TDK lineup on August 1, little more than a week before the EWC qualifier playoffs.
• fame joined permanently from Virtus.pro, while ArtFr0st and BELCHONOKK arrived on loan from their respective organizations.
• The TDK core had already qualified for ESL Pro League Season 24 by winning the ESL Challenger League Season 51 Europe Finals.
• The earlier TDK roster reached No. 36 in the global VRS during its first-half run before fame and BELCHONOKK joined.
• 1WIN and Acend had no recorded head-to-head wins against each other before their EWC round-of-16 series.
• The EWC qualifier awards four places in the main Counter-Strike event, which runs from August 19-23.

What comes next?

When nafany gave the original interview, 1WIN needed three playoff victories to qualify for the Esports World Cup.

One of those is now in the books.

The 2-1 victory over Liquid moved them into the round of 16 against Acend, leaving two series wins between 1WIN and one of the four available EWC berths. The broader section of the bracket also includes 100 Thieves and BC.Game, the latter being the team that handed 1WIN their only group-stage defeat.

That gives nafany's comments an immediate measuring stick.

The new lineup has already shown that it can beat a recognizable international opponent. What it has not yet shown is that it can reproduce that level across multiple elimination series on the same day.

For a roster that, in nafany's words, still makes too many mistakes, qualification would be a significant early result. Even without it, the trajectory is markedly different from the one he described earlier this year: instead of worrying about funding trips and coordinating tournament schedules himself, he is back to worrying primarily about the Counter-Strike.

For nafany, that alone is part of why 1WIN feels like the project he had been waiting for.

FAQ

Who is nafany?

Vladislav “nafany” Gorshkov is a Russian Counter-Strike in-game leader currently playing for 1WIN. He previously represented Gambit, Cloud9, BetBoom, AMKAL and the organization-less TDK project.

What did nafany say about joining 1WIN?

nafany said that finally bringing together the players and staff he wanted to work with felt “like a dream.” He also emphasized that organizational backing allows him to concentrate more fully on Counter-Strike.

What happened in 1WIN vs. Liquid?

1WIN won the EWC Open Qualifier playoff series 2-1, taking Dust2 13-5 and Cache 13-7 around a 6-13 loss on Anubis. BELCHONOKK led the team statistically with a 1.52 series rating.

Who does 1WIN play next?

Following the Liquid victory, 1WIN advanced to face Acend in the EWC qualifier round of 16. The match was live when this article was last fact-checked.

Have 1WIN and Acend played before?

HLTV showed no previous head-to-head wins for either team ahead of their current meeting, so there is no meaningful recent series history between these lineups.