Highlight Skin Showcase: degster 1v2 against FURIA

Russian sniper Abdul “degster” Gasanov has been a big talent in the Counter-Strike scene ever since his move from Espada to Spirit. It was on Spirit, under the leadership of Leonid “chopper” Vishnyakov, that degster came into the spotlight, with his biggest achievement being a semi-final appearance at the PGL Major Antwerp in 2022. He then made the surprising move to OG, where alongside his high-five buddy Shahar “flameZ” Shushan, they showed promise, being part of what is likely the best-performing OG squad in Counter-Strike to date.

The 23-year-old was benched in June 2023, where he remained for over 11 months before eventually getting a chance on Heroic. This move raised the expectations for Damjan “kyxsan” Stoilkovski’s men, with degster raising the ceiling of the international side. While Heroic certainly look improved with him in the roster, things haven’t started perfectly for the Russian AWP star. He missed his first tournament for Heroic - IEM Dallas, meaning a benched Nico “nicoodoz” Tamjidi had to play in his place. Since the summer break he missed a further two events, BLAST Premier Fall Groups and the start of the IEM Cologne Play-In, where coach Eetu “sAw” Saha and Volodymyr “Woro2k” Veletniuk had to deputize in his absence.

This is occurring due to issues with visa approval, which hopefully will be sorted further down the line but in the short term, it has really hurt this roster's early period together. This was true at the IEM Cologne Play-In, where Heroic failed to qualify for the main event after losing their opening game against MIBR with Woro2k on the roster. Despite a failure in Cologne, degster did manage to put his skills on display, winning an important 1v2 clutch against FURIA to keep his team in contention for the map.

This highlight encapsulates the Russian’s playstyle, flashy yet efficient, and he certainly has the skins to match. Let’s take a look.

To kickstart the clutch, degster chucks his molotov into the apartments, allowing him to isolate the duel onto Yuri “yuurih” Santos. He takes that duel and wins it spectacularly, hitting a lightning-quick noscope with his AWP | Dragon Lore. Understanding that Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo is behind the molotov, degster sticks the bomb, defusing just mere milliseconds before his opposing sniper manages to find the kill onto him. A perfectly played and important clutch for his team, the type of play we hope to see more of.

As mentioned, degster was using the AWP | Dragon Lore, probably the most famous weapon finish in the entire game. The Dragon Lore was added through the Cobblestone Collection in 2014 and it quickly gained a reputation as one of the most beautiful and desirable CS:GO weapon skins in the game. It features an intricate dragon design decorated with Celtic ornaments with hints of beige, orange, yellow and olive coloring. The AWP | Dragon Lore is one of the most sought-after skins in the entire game, not only due to its looks but also its immense rarity, adding to its desirability. The Russian sniper has an AWP | Dragon Lore in Field Tested condition which is currently valued at around $7K.

As a base for his weapon skins, degster in using the Moto Gloves | Spearmint, again in Field Tested condition. These striking gloves are predominantly white and have red stitching, two colors which complement each other well. Moto Gloves are fairly bulky, hard-knuckle gloves, providing degster with protection from all the flicks he hits whilst wearing them. During the clutch, you can see both degster’s knife and P250 skin. For the knife, accompanying the Moto Gloves | Spearmint nicely, he has a Butterfly Knife | Fade. Valued at around $4K, the Butterfly Knife | Fade is one of the prettiest knives and knife finishes in the game. It has the ever-clean Butterfly Knife animation with the flashy Fade finish, which has only improved since moving to the new Counter-Strike 2 lighting effects.

For the sidearm, degster was using the P250, specifically the P250 | Apep's Curse in Field Tested. Added recently through the Anubis Collection, this P250 is designed with Egyptian patterns and materials as inspiration. The Apep's Curse features Egyptian iconography such as a scarab beetle, a cobra and some hieroglyphics. This beautifully designed P250 will set you back around $30. 

Abdul has a great selection of skins and the skills to match. We hope for no more visa issues and for him to prosper like we know he is capable of on Heroic.