After more than a decade of gaming, the pinnacle being the three Majors he attended with PENTA, Kevin #kRYSTAL Amend has confirmed his decision to retire from playing in order to concentrate on coaching. In the latter stages of his playing career, the 29-year-old reappeared on the German scene and ran #ALTERNATEaTTaX and #Cowana before stepping down to take on a new position.

Krystal’s Playing Journey

After putting his mouse away, kRYSTAL said that one of the factors influencing his choice was backlash from the public. He reflected on his playing days: “I always was the kind of person for a team that sacrificed himself for the greater good, no matter how horrible I may have appeared in the process. I am still a human, though. I am not perfect, and I am weak. And I fully accept the fact that, regrettably, how people perceive someone affects their power and opportunities.”

After participating in Source for the same team, kRYSTAL began her career in CS:GO with ALTERNATE aTTaX. His contributions to the squad earned him a call-up to PENTA, with whom he competed in three Majors and established his reputation abroad as the roster expanded in 2016 to include players from other European countries as well as German players. He temporarily rejoined the German scene with Sprout before leaving the group and being replaced by Dennis #sycrone Nielsen.

After winning his lone LAN championship at DreamHack Open Summer 2018 with the international Imperial roster, he returned to competition before joining the orgless NoChance. After being eventually acquired by GODSENT, the team spent the majority of its time among the top 20 in the world rankings.

However, due to kRYSTAL's poor individual rating of 0.85, the team decided to part ways with him, and he eventually returned to the domestic scene to complete his playing career.

The 29-year-old has said that anyone interested in hiring him as a coach should get in touch with him via Twitter. He is now under contract with Cowana until the end of January 2023. Considering his rich playing experience, he will certainly have more than enough offers that will allow him an entrance to coaching waters. There is no doubt that many teams will want to use his experience to guide their future talents, so it will be very interesting to see where Kevin gets his first coaching job.