Falcons Esports have signed 17-year-old Russian rifler Maxim ‘kyousuke’ Lukin from Team Spirit Academy, in a transfer which some claim was in the millions. The move marks one of the most expensive buyouts in Counter-Strike history and continues Falcons’ push to build a world-class CS2 roster.
The value of the deal was reported by insider Alexey ‘OverDrive’ Biryukov, who revealed that the transfer to Falcons cost around $2 million.
However, Falcons’ chairman Mossad ‘Msdossary’ Aldossary has denied that the buyout was as high as this figure.
Kyousuke had been benched by Spirit on June 1, despite consistently strong performances in academy competition. He is one of the top-rated players in the scene, averaging a 1.29 HLTV rating.
kyousuke replaces magisk on Falcons
The timing of the transfer lines up with Falcons’ wider roster reshuffle. Emil ‘Magisk’ Reif has been moved to the bench after the BLAST Austin Major, making way for kyousuke to join the starting five. He will link up with Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovač, Ilya ‘m0NESY’ Osipov, Damjan ‘kyxsan’ Stoilkovski and René ‘TeSeS’ Madsen under coach Danny ‘zonic’ Sørensen.
For Team Spirit, the deal represents a landmark return on academy investment. For Falcons, it signals another high-stakes move in their aggressive bid to dominate the esport. It’s another very expensive purchase – it’s rumored the organization spent $2.5 million on m0NESY.
Kyousuke’s debut is expected after the BLAST Major concludes. If his form holds at the top level, this record-breaking buyout could be money well spent.
Falcons CS2 roster:
- Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovač
- Ilya ‘m0NESY’ Osipov
- Damjan ‘kyxsan’ Stoilkovski
- René ‘TeSeS’ Madsen
- Maxim ‘kyousuke’ Lukin
- Danny ‘zonic’ Sørensen (coach)
