Thorin: “Right now, Spirit has the most potential among all the top teams.”
Analyst Duncan “Thorin” Shields spoke in the latest episode of the Counter-Points podcast about Team Spirit’s performance at the recent IEM Cologne Major 2026, and also reflected on coach Sergey “hally” Shavaev and the “Dragons’” potential.
On Team Spirit’s performance at the Major
Considering all the problems Spirit faced at the IEM Cologne Major... First, donk will surely perform better in upcoming tournaments. Second, the team didn’t have a coach at all. Moreover, if tN1R had played at his usual level, Spirit could have won this Major. They were just a hair’s breadth away from defeating the Falcons in the semifinals. That match was incredibly close.
About hally
I believe hally might actually have a serious illness. When someone misses several tournaments in a row, it doesn’t seem like just a common cold. On top of that, he required urgent hospitalization.
Some people consider hally an incompetent coach, but I have no doubt about his skills. He was the one who replaced chopper with magixx, even though the latter had never been an in-game leader before. The new Spirit system is working great, and replacing the captain isn’t even up for discussion.
On the team’s potential
I believe that Spirit currently has the greatest potential among all the top teams. Its players are already in good form. Perhaps they’ll return home, work hard to fix their mistakes, and—even given the unclear situation with hally—they’ll be well on their way to becoming the best team in the world. They have everything they need to do so.
Earlier on the podcast, Jacob “Pimp” Vinneche spoke about Danny “zonic” Sorensen at Team Falcons, assessed the coach’s contribution to the “Falcons’” victory at the IEM Cologne Major 2026, and reflected on his future with the team.
Photo by Igor Bezborodov, StarLadder.
