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It hasn’t taken long for HEROIC to shake things up again.

Just over a month after welcoming Gleb “gr1ks” Gazin to the squad, the Danish organisation has officially benched the Belarusian rifler, admitting things just didn’t quite click.

In his place? Alimzhan “Alkaren” Bitimbai, the sharp Kazakh AWPer from Spirit Academy, joining on loan with an option to sign permanently if all goes well.

The sudden change comes after mixed results across two events. HEROIC struggled early at FISSURE Playground 1, suffering losses to BIG and BetBoom, and although they found some success at IEM Cologne’s Play-In stage by beating MIBR and Virtus.pro, they were quickly sent packing in the next round.

gr1ks had a rough run overall, putting up a 0.95 rating at FPG and dipping to 0.79 in the second stage of Cologne. There were flashes of promise, he did hit a 1.19 during Stage 1 in Germany, but consistency seemed to be missing.

In a public statement, HEROIC were pretty open about the change. They also gave gr1ks credit for his short time on the team, thanking him for his contribution both in and out of the server.

Enter Alkaren

Alkaren isn’t exactly a household name yet, but he’s been making serious noise in the tier-2 scene. Since joining Spirit Academy in May 2024, the 19-year-old sniper has maintained a 1.10 average rating and picked up wins at both LanDaLan 2025 and its sequel event.

Unfortunately, due to BLAST roster lock rules, Alkaren won’t be able to suit up just yet. HEROIC’s academy AWPer Rasmus “Scr0b” Poulsen will stand in for their next match at BLAST Bounty Season 2 – a Round-of-32 clash against Complexity on August 8th.

But all eyes are on the Esports World Cup in Riyadh, where Alkaren is expected to make his proper debut in HEROIC colours. It’ll be his biggest stage yet, and the perfect chance to prove he belongs at the top level.

HEROIC’s Current Line-Up:

  • Linus “LNZ” Holtäng
  • Andrey “tN1R” Tatarinovich
  • Linus “nilo” Bergman
  • Simon “yxngstxr” Boije
  • Alimzhan “Alkaren” Bitimbai (on loan)
  • Tobias “TOBIZ” Theo (coach)
  • (Bench: xfl0ud, gr1ks)

It’s been a turbulent few months for HEROIC, as they continue to rebuild and search for the perfect formula. Alkaren’s arrival is yet another bold move in their post-spring reset. Whether it brings the firepower and stability they’ve been chasing, we’ll find out soon enough.

One thing’s for sure, all eyes will be on the Kazakh sniper at EWC.

Image Credit: HLTV.org