HEROIC scored an upset in their opening match at the Esports World Cup 2025, knocking Spirit out of the tournament with a 2-1 victory.
A major surprise unfolded in the EWC 2025 opener as HEROIC defeated the favored Spirit to advance to the quarterfinals. After suffering a heavy loss on Ancient, HEROIC bounced back with a flawless showing on Nuke to level the series. The decider on Mirage went into overtime, where HEROIC ultimately came out on top.
This tournament marks the final dance for Belarusian player Andrey “tN1R” Tatarinovich in a HEROIC jersey, as the organization previously announced his transfer to another team. Ironically, sources report that tN1R’s next destination will be Spirit.
Carrying his team on Mirage, tN1R delivered a clutch performance against his soon-to-be teammates, becoming the key factor in HEROIC’s victory.
But this triumph wasn’t only tN1R’s story. Swedish player Simon “yxngstxr” Boije played a decisive role on Nuke with two critical 1v2 clutches and a 2.09 rating, dragging his team back into the series. Meanwhile, young talent Alimzhan “Alkaren” Bitimbai, on loan from Spirit Academy for his first major event, provided vital contributions as well.
Spirit had entered the second half of 2025 in stellar form, winning both IEM Cologne and BLAST Bounty Season 2. With the addition of Ivan “zweih” Gogin, the team built up a 10-match win streak, but that momentum came to an end against HEROIC.
Although Spirit had previously lost to top-tier squads like Vitality and MOUZ earlier in the season, they had avoided upsets against lower-ranked teams — until now. This defeat stands as their first unexpected loss of 2025.
HEROIC to Face Aurora in the Quarterfinals
HEROIC’s journey isn’t over yet. In the quarterfinals, they will face Aurora — who defeated FaZe in their series. The matchup is scheduled for Friday at 20:15.
| Takım | Oyuncu | K-D | +/- | ADR | Rating 3.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spirit | Dmitry ‘sh1ro’ Sokolov | 59-41 | +18 | 97.7 | 1.39 |
| Danil ‘donk’ Kryshkovets | 51-40 | +11 | 89.1 | 1.18 | |
| Myroslav ‘zont1x’ Plakhotia | 45-38 | +7 | 80.4 | 1.06 | |
| Ivan ‘zweiH’ Gogin | 34-46 | -12 | 62.9 | 0.89 | |
| Leonid ‘chopper’ Vishnyakov | 26-42 | -16 | 42.6 | 0.75 | |
| HEROIC | Simon ‘yxngstxr’ Boije | 51-43 | +8 | 77.0 | 1.27 |
| Andrey ‘tN1R’ Tatarinovich | 50-41 | +9 | 84.7 | 1.21 | |
| Linus ‘nilo’ Bergman | 41-43 | -2 | 65.7 | 0.88 | |
| Linus ‘LNZ’ Holtäng | 32-47 | -15 | 63.5 | 0.85 | |
| Alimzhan ‘Alkaren’ Bitimbai | 32-42 | -9 | 61.6 | 0.83 |
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