Counter Strike 2: Acend officially announce AWPer AwaykeN's return and the permanent addition of former 500 rifler SHiPZ..

Bulgarian Counter Strike 2 (CS2) organization Acend announced via its official X (Twitter) account on Friday that AWPer AwaykeN has returned to the roster, while former 500 rifler SHiPZ has also joined the team permanently.

According to Acend’s official statement, AwaykeN will fill the vacancy left by the departure of h4rn.

The team parted ways with h4rn earlier this month following a string of disappointing results, with the squad failing to progress beyond the top eight in several tournaments, including CCT Europe Series 10, NODWIN Clutch Series 12, and the 1Win Private Club Season 2 Closed Qualifiers.

This marks AwaykeN’s return to Acend after a five-month absence.

The 23-year-old previously played for the organization in November 2023, a stint during which he helped the team secure the title at the De_Airport Masters.

In May, AwaykeN moved to INFURITY, where he maintained his strong form and helped the team win the Bergen Games championship.

SHiPZ, 26, has been a well-known figure in the Bulgarian Counter Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) scene.

Earlier in his career, SHiPZ served as a star player for Windigo and SKADE, where he notably won the 2018 World Electronic Games Championship with the former.

After joining 500 in October 2022, SHiPZ made an immediate impact, helping the team win the first two consecutive seasons of the Global Offensive Champions League.

In November of the following year, SHiPZ transitioned to Counter Strike 2 (CS2). However, aside from some solid performances in various qualifiers and B-tier events, his overall output has remained largely average. 

Following 500’s failure to qualify for the BLAST Austin Major via the European Qualifiers in 2025, SHiPZ was benched for a year, a period that lasted until this September, when he joined Acend as a stand-in.

With the return of AwaykeN and the addition of SHiPZ, Acend’s current active roster is as follows:

In-Game Leader (IGL): SPELLAN

AWPer: AwaykeN

Rifler / AWPer: REDSTAR

Rifler: SHiPZ

Lurker / Free Agent (Role): Skrimo

Coach: milky

Rifler: KalubeR (Benched)

Image source: Internet / Acend’s official X (Twitter) account