Highlight Skin Showcase: m0NESY 1v3 against NAVI

Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov, while still a youngster in terms of age, being just 19 years old, is a fairly experienced and established player, now considered one of the best in the world alongside the likes of Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut and Danil “donk” Kryshkovets. 

Since joining G2 in January of 2022, the young Russian sniper has been an integral part of the roster, remaining consistent for the international side, even when results haven’t always been the best. The most recent summer break saw G2 make some changes, removing IGL Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen and rifler Nemanja “nexa” Isaković, making way for two players at polar opposite ends of the experience spectrum. 

Polish veteran Janusz “Snax” Pogorzelski joins the roster, taking over IGL duties and alongside him Mario “malbsMd” Samayoa, a Guatemalan talent who has shone particularly brightly on M80 since the dawn of CS2.

With this new roster, G2 experienced a little “honeymoon period” at the Esports World Cup, beating out the likes of Spirit and Virtus.pro on the way to a grand final against Natus Vincere. Back against the wall in overtime on the first map of Ancient, with the eyes of the world on him, the 19-year-old put on a display, clutching a 1v3 to power G2 to an eventual map victory. 

Clutches of that caliber require skins to match and therefore it makes sense that m0NESY has some of the flashiest skins in the world. Therefore, we thought we’d take a look.

m0NESY’s Knife + Glove Combo

Fitting for m0NESY, being nicknamed “The Flash”, at this event he was using a striking, flashy knife and glove combo. Ilya used a Butterfly Knife | Fade with a pair of Sports Gloves | Vice. Fade skins and knives are a staple of the Counter-Strike franchise and with the new lighting effects added in CS2, they look even better. The Fade features colors ranging from yellows to a deep pink, matching with his Sports Gloves | Vice. The way the G2 sniper plays, as shown by this outlandish clutch, is with confidence, as he stunts on his enemies, looking stylish and pleasing to the eye as he does it. The Sports Gloves | Vice are a complement to his playstyle, being a vibrant, shocking pink and a very flamboyant choice for gloves, fitting m0NESY’s persona.

This combo will set you back around $24K, with the Butterfly Knife | Fade coming in at just under $4K and the gloves being just under $20K due to their rarity in the Factory New condition. Quite a pretty penny, but fitting for one of the best players in the world.

To kickstart the clutch, m0NESY found a wallbang kill onto Justinas “jL” Lekavicius with his AWP | Gungnir which has a Crown Foil on the scope, signifying that the Russian youngster, even at his young age, is the ruler of the server. The AWP | Gungnir is a stunning blue AWP skin, inspired by designs from Norse mythology. This spectacular AWP skin, fit for a Norse Allfather is valued at around $13K in Factory New condition, with the Crown Foil sticker costing around $700.

To finish off the clutch, m0NESY pivoted to the AK-47, dropping his AWP and picking up his long-time teammate Nikola “NiKo” Kovač’s AK-47 | Redline. With this FaZe-branded Redline in hand, m0NESY bested both Valeriy “b1t” Vakhovskiy and Ihor “w0nderful” Zhdanov to secure an important round for the team. NiKo’s AK-47 | Redline is StatTrak™ and in Minimal Wear condition, the best condition for this specific weapon finish. The AK-47 | Redline has a sleek, smart design with red stripes across the gun model, with NiKo’s being covered with stickers of his former team - FaZe Clan, specifically four FaZe (Foil) | 2020 RMR stickers.

Well, if the old adage is to be believed and skins do indeed equal skill, then maybe, with a little bit of investment, you too will be making clutches of this stature in your games!