Is kyousuke better than donk? All about the main young talent – CEMEN_BAKIN. Biography, career and future of kyousuke.
Maxim “kyousuke” Lukin, a 17-year-old Russian Counter-Strike 2 player, represents Team Spirit Academy and is considered one of the most promising talents. He is often compared to stars like m0NESY and donk, and rumors already link him to top teams worldwide. In this article, we’ll tell you about his childhood, professional path in CS2, statistics, achievements, and of course, consider the possible prospects for his promising career development.
Childhood and path to professional CS2
Maxim Lukin was born on January 30, 2008. His interest in Counter-Strike began in 2019 when he was only 11 years old, thanks to his older brother who introduced him to the game. By 2021, he had registered on the FACEIT platform and played over 6,100 matches there, demonstrating incredible dedication to the game. At 15, in eighth grade, he moved to live separately from his parents, choosing an apartment near his mother’s house to fully focus on his career as a professional esports player. He continued his education online and doesn’t regret this decision, believing that education is more important to his parents than to himself. His fascination with CS went unnoticed at school, and he didn’t face negative prejudices. Also, despite his rather unconventional life path at such a young age, many might think he performed poorly in school and has problems with socialization. But this isn’t the case – Maxim was a good student and has no problems in his relationship with his mother, who actively supports her son.
His talent was noticed by the famous Russian scout OverDrive, who has discovered many talents throughout his career, including donk. At 16, in June 2024, kyousuke signed a contract with Team Spirit Academy. The team choice was influenced by coach Dmitry “S0tF1k” Forostyanko, whom he considered a key figure for his development. He had offers from many teams but chose Spirit due to their system and good reputation in developing young talents. His family supported his choice, allowing him to fully focus on his professional career.
Development as a player
After signing the contract, kyousuke immediately began showing impressive results. On the HLTV platform, his overall Rating 2.1 is 1.29 across 244 maps played, with a kill-to-death ratio (K/D) of 1.21. Detailed statistics include:
- Total kills: 4547
- Total deaths: 3744
- Headshot percentage: 57.9%
- Damage per round: 92.1
- Grenade damage per round: 3.4
- Kills per round: 0.86
- Assists per round: 0.23
- Deaths per round: 0.71
His prize winnings amount to $21,210, but he also earned $30,000 in prize money at the winter Evelone Duo Cup tournament in a 2v2 format, where he lost only to the pair of donk and m0NESY.
His average rating with Team Spirit Academy in 2024 was 1.29 across 60 maps, which certainly sets him apart from other academy players. Many said he wouldn’t perform well on LAN, but across two championship offline tournaments at BetBoom LanDaLan, his rating is even higher at 1.35. At these events, he played against experienced players such as Jame, Perfecto, n0rb3r7, Qikert, and did not deviate from his own style at all. Speaking of kyousuke’s playstyle, everyone notes his incredible shooting and precise crosshair positioning. Maxim is one of the few players who have revived the One Tap shooting style, which distinguishes him and makes him unique.
Coach S0tF1k notes that kyousuke is already uninterested in playing at tier-3 or even tier-2 levels and wants to compete with the best. A player from Spirit’s main roster – magixx – even stated that kyousuke could become better than donk and even ZywOo. During the announcement of the best players of 2024 according to HLTV, six of the top 20 chose Maxim as a bold prediction for the “new star” of 2025, including m0NESY and ZywOo, which underscores the high level of expectations.
kyousuke's settings
- Mouse – DPI 800, Sensitivity 1.28, eDPI 1024.00, Hz1000, Windows Sensitivity 6.
- Crosshair – CSGO-8nb3d-Et6WE-QsF6B-V3E7j-WphrM
- Viewmodel – viewmodel_fov 68; viewmodel_offset_x 2.5; viewmodel_offset_y 0; viewmodel_offset_z -1.5; viewmodel_presetpos 1;
- Video Settings – Resolution 1280×960 Aspect Ratio 4:3 Scaling Mode: Stretched
Career prospects
He’s possibly the most discussed person in the global CS scene right now, followed by the entire community. Highlights of his FACEIT gameplay have been stirring up the public for a whole year, and everyone is waiting for him to be “unleashed” and assigned to a tier-1 team. Despite enormous interest from many organizations, two options stand out the most – Spirit’s main roster and a move to Falcons. According to Sheep Esports and other industry insiders who quickly picked up this rumor, he has already signed a contract with Falcons and will join them after the Austin Major 2025, replacing either Magisk or TeSeS.
Why Falcons is a good option?
First and foremost, it’s a similar fate to Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov, who also sat in an academy under the untouchable s1mple and was forced to join an international roster to not waste his talent. As we can see, this paid off, and Nikola “NiKo” Kovač helped him adapt to tier-1, and they became good friends. Although kyousuke has stated multiple times that he has no idols, Kovač plays similar roles, and learning from such a maestro who has been in the HLTV top-11 for 9 consecutive years means a lot. But what about role competition, you might ask? Remember malbsMd, who was in a similar situation, but Kovač shared necessary roles on certain maps and helped the young Guatemalan player develop, who in just half a year became HLTV top-12 and won two tier-S trophies. Ilya m0NESY definitely knows how to help Maxim adapt, and joining such a duo is every player’s dream – just look at how the entire Falcons roster started performing after this duo reunited.
Simply put, kyousuke has a clear successful example before his eyes; he knows and understands where he’s going, and the excellent conditions offered by the sheiks are a pleasant addition, like a cherry on top. The only problem is the language barrier, but his English isn’t that bad, and Ilya will also help with this issue in the beginning.
What about Team Spirit?
Objectively, apart from communication in Russian, it’s difficult to find arguments in favor of the Dragons. His playstyle is very similar to donk’s (70% similar according to him), and it’s unlikely that Daniil can share experience at NiKo’s level. Undoubtedly, kyousuke’s skill allows him to adapt to different roles, including second support or second carry, especially if he plays with donk. But organizing these processes will fall on the shoulders of coach Hally, who is used to building the team’s gameplay around one star. Will this work and strengthen Spirit? Most likely yes, but is this the best choice for Maxim himself? Probably not.
Spirit is an organization that understands better than anyone in the world how to work with youth and will always wish the best for their players. We can recall the example of donk himself, who wasn’t brought into the main roster because they knew the time hadn’t come yet. An example from Dota 2, where the young talent Satanic was loaned to direct competitors at PARIVISION, and in head-to-head matches, Team Spirit has a very tough time playing against their own student. Perhaps Falcons will also take kyousuke on a long-term loan for 2-3 years or complete a full transfer with the priority right to buy back in case of failure, as was the case with m0NESY from NAVI Junior to G2.
Conclusion
Maxim is a bright example of a young talent who, thanks to family support, perseverance, and the Team Spirit system, is ready to break into the CS2 elite. His statistics and ambitions literally scream about his bright future, and a possible move to Falcons could be the next step toward worldwide recognition. The community is eagerly waiting to see how this young player will continue his journey; we are among them and wish him good luck!
