seized (Denis Kostin) - Biography, customization, configs, cfg

Denis “seized” Kostin is one of the most well-known Russian esports players representing the discipline of Counter-Strike. He began competing on the pro scene back in 2011 when he joined the team Fbgaming, though he did not achieve any notable success with them. After that, he continued playing for lesser-known mixes and teams, where he showed a rather mediocre level of play.

Denis saw his first significant results only in 2013 when he signed with the Ukrainian organization NaVi. As part of this team, he earned a number of titles, including gold at StarLadder StarSeries IX, Game Show League Season 1, ESL Pro League Winter 2014/15, StarLadder StarSeries XIII, Electronic Sports World Cup 2015, CS:GO Champions League Season 1, Intel Extreme Masters X - San Jose, DreamHack Open Leipzig 2016, Counter Pit League Season 2 - Finals, ESL One: New York 2016. He also claimed silver at DreamHack Open Cluj⁠-⁠Napoca 2015, ESL ESEA Pro League Season 2 - Finals, StarLadder i-League StarSeries XIV, MLG Major Championship: Columbus 2016, DreamHack Masters Malmö 2016, and Adrenaline Cyber League 2017.

At the end of 2017, the Russian player left the team and joined FlipSid3 Tactics, then in February 2018 signed with Gambit Esports. Although he didn’t achieve major victories with these teams, he did win bronze at the World Electronic Sports Games 2017 as part of the national team.

In April 2019, Denis “seized” Kostin joined Vega Squadron. With them, he earned a few minor awards, and in May 2020, moved to Cyber Legacy. The team secured silver at CTRL PLAY LEAGUE. However, toward the end of the year, the player had disagreements with management, and in December he left for the organization BEZ ZP. As it turned out, this was only a stepping stone to his move to Trident Clan, which took place in January 2021.

With the new team, he claimed gold at ESEA Season 36: Main Division - Europe, silver at ESEA Cash Cup: Europe - Spring 2021 #5, and finished 3rd-4th at Dell Gaming League Season 2. After that, he played for Team Singularity and won the ESEA Cash Cup: Europe - Winter 2021 #1.

In late summer 2022, Denis “seized” Kostin was invited to 9Pandas. He helped the team win titles at CyberPark Championship 2022 9Pandas, PARI, Please, and CCT Season 2 European Series #3, as well as many other awards. From June 2024 to May 2025, the player represented several other teams. With Team Boombl4, he placed 4th at the BetBoom Aunkere Cup #2, and with Team StRoGo, he earned bronze at Fonbet Media Eleague Season 7.

After these accomplishments, Denis Kostin decided to retire from esports and announced to the public that he was ending his career as a professional Counter-Strike 2 player.