In the grand aquarium of Counter-Strike 2, Sharks Esports have long been the plucky fish that occasionally nibbles at the ankles of giants. Back in 2024, the Portuguese organization swam into ESL Pro League Season 19 after winning the South American Qualifier, and captain Rodrigo 'drg' Ausenka was ready to talk about it. The road was not a gentle current: paiN, MIBR, 9z, and Legacy all lurked in the brackish waters, but Sharks snapped up one of the two available spots. Imperial grabbed the other, probably with less shark-related drama.

Now, in 2026, looking back at that EPL campaign is like rewatching a nature documentary where the underdog fish actually gets a few good bites. The roster arrived with young talents and a new addition: Mateus 'supLexN1' Miranda. The 24-year-old returned to the team four years after his previous stint, replacing Victor 'gafolo' Andrade. According to drg, the decision to remove gafolo was not a spontaneous act of shark-on-shark violence. 'Removing gafolo was something that we were looking [to do] some time ago. It was a personal issue. We didn’t have much of a choice there,' the captain explained. 'SupLex is a player that we were looking for in tournaments and [he was] playing against us. He was always good. From [his time] with us, we [can tell] that he’s a very competent player.'

Translation: Sharks had been window-shopping for a while, and supLexN1 was the item they finally put in the cart. No refunds.

🦈 The South American Gauntlet

Qualifying for EPL through South America is not a stroll through a petting zoo. It is more like a cage match where everyone has a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and a grudge. Sharks had to navigate a field featuring paiN, MIBR, 9z, and Legacy. The fact that they emerged with a spot alongside Imperial says something about their mental fortitude. It also says something about the chaos of the region, where any team can beat any other team on a Tuesday and then lose to a random mix on a Wednesday.

The growth of Brazilian teams compared to previous years was notable. At the Major, paiN and Imperial stood out, while MIBR returned to form in Brazil after missing the Major. This raised a question for drg: did the pressure of regional growth feel negative or positive? The captain’s answer was essentially 'yes, but we’re too busy to panic.'

'Our advantage is that we are unknown [to] some teams. We’ll go match by match,' drg said. 'We took a month to practice in Portugal and gave our best to grow and learn because the practices in Europe are very good. In Brazil, we played a lot of tournaments because we needed competitive rhythm.'

In other words, Sharks treated Europe like a finishing school for tactical sharks, and Brazil like a nonstop cardio class. Both were necessary. Neither was particularly relaxing.

🧩 The n1ssim Situation: A Bench With a View

One of the key figures behind paiN’s success at the Major, Vinicius 'n1ssim' Pereira, returned to Sharks after his loan stint with paiN. The organization was interested in buying n1ssim permanently, but public controversies arose between the two organizations regarding values. Meanwhile, n1ssim sat on the bench, waiting for the resolution of this case like a student who submitted his homework and is now refreshing the grade portal every five minutes.

For drg, this issue was unrelated to the players. 'It’s something between organizations. I know Sharks is a very serious and honest organization, so I believe in what they do. We only have to focus on ourselves as a team and individually,' he said. That is the kind of quote that sounds mature and diplomatic, which is exactly what you want from a captain when the front office is in a staring contest with another front office.

📊 The EPL Outlook, Summarized for Busy Sharks

Factor	What It Looked Like	Drg’s Vibe
Qualification	Won South American Qualifier, beat paiN, MIBR, 9z, Legacy	Confident but not cocky
Roster change	supLexN1 in, gafolo out	'We didn’t have much of a choice'
Regional pressure	Brazilian teams growing, Major success for paiN and Imperial	Positive if you ignore the stress
Practice	One month in Portugal	'Practices in Europe are very good'
n1ssim	On bench, organizational dispute	'Focus on ourselves'

The table above is basically the entire EPL storyline in a nutshell, except the nutshell is a shark egg case, also known as a mermaid’s purse. Nature is weird.

🎯 Match by Match, Bite by Bite

EPL Season 19 started with a complicated clash for Sharks. For drg, the approach was simple: take it match by match. This is the esports equivalent of saying 'we’re just taking it one game at a time,' which is both a cliché and the only sane strategy when you are an underdog in a shark tank. The team’s advantage, according to their captain, was being unknown to some opponents. That is a polite way of saying 'they haven’t scouted us properly yet, and we plan to exploit that before they wise up.'

In 2026, the Counter-Strike 2 scene has continued to evolve. New stars have risen, old rosters have exploded, and ESL Pro League has kept churning out seasons like a streaming service that refuses to cancel anything. But the lessons from Sharks’ 2024 run remain relevant. A small organization can still qualify for international competition. A captain can still speak with calm optimism while his team’s bench is caught in a corporate crossfire. And a group of players can still take a month in Portugal, practice hard, and hope that the unknown advantage lasts longer than a goldfish’s memory.

Sharks did not need to win the whole tournament to make a point. They needed to show up, play their game, and prove that Brazilian Counter-Strike was not just a two-team party. paiN and Imperial may have hogged the Major headlines, but Sharks were in the EPL, swimming with the big fish and refusing to be fish food. That is a story worth retelling in 2026, especially with a smirk and a fin.

As for n1ssim, the bench saga eventually resolved one way or another, as all roster dramas do. Organizations argued, lawyers probably sharpened their pencils, and the players just kept playing. That is the eternal rhythm of esports: chaos in the boardroom, focus in the server. Drg understood it. Sharks understood it. And somewhere, a goldfish is still staring at a mirror, wondering if it is the biggest fish in the tank.

Stay tuned to the latest CS2 news and updates, because the only constant in esports is that tomorrow’s roster will look nothing like today’s. 🦈