The legendary rifler hangs up his mouse after 22 years of competitive Counter-Strike
After a long and successful career in competitive Counter-Strike, Wiktor “TaZ” Wojtas has decided to retire. TaZ, whose pro career started in 2001, is one of the rare class of CSGO players who enjoyed success in both versions of the game, 1.6 and Global Offensive. Had he waited a few more months, he could have added some Counter-Strike 2 experience to his already glistening résumé, but the TazManian Devil felt it was the right time to leave the scene.
The Pole took to Twitter to announce his retirement, sharing a photo of himself standing in front of his winners’ medals, which serve as a testament to his success in the world of professional Counter-Strike.
I retire ♥️ see You around. pic.twitter.com/flDhf1BMpW
— TAZ (@g5taz) March 31, 2023
Looking Back At TaZ’s Career
Only a handful of players can match the impressive career of the Virtus.pro legend, who has 23 LAN victories in CSGO, along with four Big Events trophies and a Major win at EMS One Katowice 2014. He has a dozen medals from the 1.6 era of the game. Six of them are gold medals from the most prestigious competitions, which is tied for the most in the game’s history.
The Samsung Euro Championship victory in 2005 marked the beginning of TaZ’s rise to fame, where he played alongside a group of his compatriots who would go on to be known as the Golden Five. Filip “NEO” Kubski, Mariusz “Loord” Cybulski, Łukasz “LUq” Wnek, and Jakub “kuben” Gurczynski and TaZ formed the famous quintet, which won several tournaments from 2006 to 2008.
With more than a decade of CS 1.6 experience, TaZ made his CSGO debut in 2012. He started to build the foundations of a legendary team at Universal Soldiers Janusz “Snax” Pogorzelski and Paweł “byali” Bieliński. Russian outfit Virtus.pro acquired them later and immediately reaped the rewards as the group delivered five S-Tier titles in less than three years.
TaZ parted ways with Virtus.pro in 2018 due to internal disputes among the team members, breaking up an incredibly successful team that had been together for no less than four years. Following his Virtus.pro chapter, the seasoned rifler continued to be an active presence in the Polish CSGO circuit. Despite his efforts, he had limited success in his later years, achieving only a few regional event wins in Poland.
TaZ announced his retirement only days after announcing the end of HONORIS, a CSGO team he had started with fellow Virtus.pro veteran Filip “NEO” Kubski. TaZ was an active player for the side and participated in the CCT Central European Finals in February. They had to cease the team’s operations earlier this week as they were unable to fund the project out of their own pockets for so long.
