Exclusive: w0nderful Opens Up About The Pressure On Replacing s1mple | All About Counter-Strike #38

In this episode of the All About Counter-Strike podcast, we sit down with NAVI’s rising star AWPer, Ihor “w0nderful” Zhdanov, where he talks through his entire journey - from playing 1.6 Zombie Mode in Odesa to dominating the current CS2 Major stage.

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Episode recorded on December 3rd, 2025
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00:00 - Intro & Welcome
02:11 - Early Life & First Games (CS 1.6, Minecraft)
08:41 - The Dota Phase
16:21 - Discovering CS:GO
18:45 - The Faceit Grind & Breaking a Monitor
31:38 - First LAN Experiences in Odessa
38:21 - Early Teams: Majesty & Project X
42:02 - Playing for Trasko Esports
49:05 - The HellRaisers Opportunity
55:57 - War Starting & Moving to Germany
58:08 - Joining Team Spirit & Moving to Serbia
01:09:02 - First Major Experience at Rio
01:20:01 - Going International with Sprout
01:30:22 - The Transition to CS2
01:34:41 - Joining NAVI & Replacing s1mple
01:41:53 - First Tournaments with NAVI
01:47:05 - Winning the Copenhagen Major
02:01:30 - NAVI's Dominant Run in 2024
02:11:52 - Losing jL & Team Atmosphere
02:13:42 - Working with B1ad3 & Aleksib
02:22:41 - Current Form & Major Expectations
02:33:52 - Outro