Luminosity have permanently signed Austrian coach Alexander “kakafu” Szymanczyk. He had been working with the team on loan from Monte after several of his former players moved to the North American organization in July.
The move keeps kakafu with the core he previously coached at Monte and makes his role with Luminosity permanent.
UPDATE 25.08.2026. Luminosity have completed the starting lineup by signing Swedish rifler Simon “yxngstxr” Boije. The player joins after leaving HEROIC, where yxngstxr competed from January 2025 until August 2026.
Over the past three months, yxngstxr played 29 maps and recorded a 1.11 Rating 3.0. The rifler replaces Aurimas “Bymas” Pipiras, who was moved to the bench after Luminosity lost all five official matches with the new roster. The signing comes shortly after Luminosity also made the transfer of Alexander “kakafu” Szymanczyk from Monte permanent.
kakafu stays with his former Monte core
Luminosity returned to Counter-Strike in July by signing Aurélien “afro” Drapier, Oscar “AZUWU” Bell, Aleks “Rainwaker” Petrov and Aurimas “Bymas” Pipiras from Monte, while Lucas “lux” Meneghini completed the lineup.
Kakafu followed the players and continued working behind the team, but at the time Luminosity had not announced him as their permanent coach. He remained contracted to Monte and joined the organization on loan.
That has now changed, with Luminosity confirming the Austrian coach as a full-time member of the project.
“I really hope we can stay together”
The permanent move also fulfills something kakafu openly hoped for before the Monte core split up.
After Monte’s elimination from the IEM Cologne Major 2026, the coach spoke about how proud he was of the team’s progress despite the defeat and expressed his desire to keep the group together.
“I really hope we can stay together, but we will see what happens.”
The roster did not remain under the Monte banner, but much of the core continued together at Luminosity, with kakafu now officially staying alongside them.
During that Major run, Monte reached Stage 3 before being eliminated following losses to Falcons and The MongolZ.
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Luminosity are still looking for their first win
The start of Luminosity’s new CS2 project has been difficult. Since returning to Counter-Strike and signing the former Monte core, the organization has lost all five of its official matches.
Luminosity debuted at XSE Pro League Guangzhou 2026, where they lost to Nemesis and Lynn Vision before falling 1:2 to Ninjas in Pyjamas and finishing the tournament in 15th–16th place.
Their struggles continued at Esports World Cup 2026. Luminosity lost 3:13 to GamerLegion and were then eliminated by Spirit after a 0:2 defeat, finishing the event in 25th–32nd place.
Across those five matches, Luminosity played eight maps and won only one.
Luminosity continue reshaping the roster
The poor results have already led to another change. Luminosity moved Bymas to the bench on August 24, just over a month after signing him alongside the former Monte core.
Bymas played all five matches during Luminosity winless start, with the organization failing to record a single series victory at either XSE Pro League Guangzhou or Esports World Cup 2026.
While Luminosity are still looking for a fifth player and their first victory with the new project, kakafu position is now settled after his loan from Monte was made permanent.
