At just 24 years old, Swedish rifler Olle “spooke” Grundström has gone from a relatively unknown prospect to competing on the tier-one stage with OG. Before joining the organization in January 2025, his career was spent in smaller Nordic lineups such as Begrip, Nordavind Talent, and Sprout, where he never truly broke into the spotlight. With no Major appearances and little recognition outside of regional competitions, spooke was far from a household name.
Yet his rise has been meteoric: OG took a gamble on him, and within months he has gone from battling in tier-two CS to qualifying for LANs that award crucial Valve Regional Standings points and pave the way to the Majors.
A nickname from the Rift
Spooke revealed the origin of his nickname:
It’s from a League of Legends skin — Spooky Gangplank. I don’t play LoL anymore, I played it a bit when I was younger.
A reshaped OG with fresh faces
This summer OG made bold roster moves, benching F1KU and Buzz while bringing in adam b and arrozdoce from Ninjas in Pyjamas. Alongside Chr1zN, nicoodoz and spooke, the team quickly found its rhythm.
Firstly, they bring a lot of firepower. I think I’ve never played in a team before with such high firepower. Rafael [arrozdoce] also comes with a lot of good stuff, and I know Adam [adamb] from before. It’s fun to play with them for sure. I would say he’s very dedicated. He’s good at bringing up theory, new rounds, adding ideas. That’s one of his big strengths. He’s very structured in how he does things, which is nice. He hits every smoke, knows his lineups, and always brings something new.
Dominant qualifier run
OG looked dominant in the closed qualifier, winning every series 2–0. In the group stage, they finished first in Group C with victories over ECSTATIC, TNL and JijieHao, all without dropping a map. In the playoffs, OG swept FUT to secure a LAN spot and now look ahead to the main event.
As a team, OG posted an average rating of 1.25, the best of the tournament. Nicoodoz led the charts with 1.46 rating in 6 maps, while spooke followed closely with 1.37, placing him among the top three players of the qualifier.
We won every game 2–0. I would say it was pretty comfortable, not a lot of stress. The outcome felt good. We felt comfortable on the server, no complaints.
From prospects to tier one
Spooke joined OG in January 2025 after stints in Johnny Speeds, and for him it marked a massive step up.
Before, I came from not playing in an organization straight into OG. So now it’s way more structured. As a player I’ve become a little more passive, but that’s a nice fit for me. It was my first tier-one event ever. I had zero complaints — it was great to be there and play. Of course, there were some nerves since it was the first time, but overall I had a blast.
What’s next for OG
With qualification secured, OG are now preparing for the ESL Challenger League. Their match will take place on August 26th, where they face none other than BC.Game — the team that recently shocked the scene by signing s1mple.
It will be my first time playing against s1mple in my career. Of course it’s going to be fun — he’s a legend. But we’ll do our best to beat them. I’ve played BC.Game many times, but never with this roster, so we’ll just prepare and treat it like any other game.
StarLadder — the stage for rising teams
StarLadder once again proved its importance in the Counter-Strike ecosystem. The tournament provided a structured and competitive environment where teams like OG could demonstrate their growth and fight for LAN exposure. Without StarLadder, many second-tier teams would not have the opportunity to showcase their progress and earn a spot on the big stage.
And for OG, this LAN is more than just a chance to test themselves: it is also a crucial step in the Valve Regional Standings (VRS) race. With LAN events awarding significantly more points than online matches, a strong performance here could push OG closer to qualifying for the next StarLadder Major.
