Vitality Turns Project H Into an Official CS2 Academy Team

Vitality has turned Project H into its official CS2 academy team, giving the roster a real path to grow under one of the biggest names in the game. This piece breaks down the move, the players, and the early signs around the squad. Read on to see why this team is worth watching.

From Internal Project to Full Academy Launch

On April 22, Vitality made Project H its first official CS2 academy team. This was not a last-minute stack built for hype. The roster had already been playing together for months, and now it gets full backing from the org. With coach Pablo “VdaK1NG” Escobar and team manager Matthieu Péché behind the squad, the team will also work with the main Vitality setup through practice, feedback, bootcamps, and LAN events. For CS2 fans, that makes this a real long-term project, not just a short trial run.

Katkame Leads a Young International Core Alongside lucaZ, Reqqen, Dafra1D, and patrenzo

Katkame, the 16-year-old French AWPer was already getting attention before this academy move, and that says a lot about how highly he is rated. He looks like the kind of prospect who can become must-watch once he gets more reps against stronger teams.

Around him, Vitality has built an international five with clear roles:

• Thiebault Ulysse “Katkame” as the young AWP talent to watch
• Luca-Adrian Gavrilut “lucaZ” bringing experience from NAVI Junior
• Kirill Polieiko “Dafra1D” leading the team in-game
• Aleks Frolov “Reqqen” adding firepower on the rifles
• Patrick Hauer “patrenzo” rounding out the roster

This is not a random mix of young players thrown together for officials. The squad has a real structure behind it, with Dafra1D handling the calling and Reqqen giving the team more punch in the server. For CS2 fans, it already feels like a roster built to improve fast and play proper Counter-Strike.

VdaK1NG’s Role and the Team’s Early Competitive Momentum

Pablo Escobar “VdaK1NG” has been a key part of this project for a while. He first joined Vitality as a data analyst, worked with the early version of Project H, and then stayed on as head coach once the team kept showing progress. For a young squad, that kind of steady voice can matter a lot. It helps the players build better habits, settle into their roles, and level up without losing structure.

Their early results already give fans something to track:

Even in that series loss, Katkame stood out as the team’s top player with a 30-30 K-D and 86 ADR across the two maps. That is the kind of stat line fans notice right away. The team is still raw, but the pieces are there, and the early matches already feel like the start of a real grind rather than a short trial.