Counter-Strike 2
vanity retires from professional competition
Former Chaos in-game leader Anthony "vanity" Malaspina has decided to step away from professional competition, ending an eight-year playing career that spanned stints in Counter-Strike and VALORANT.
The 26-year-old was one of the few in-game leader prospects in North America, rising up during the coronavirus pandemic when Chaos qualified for Flashpoint 1 and won two notable online titles, DreamHack Masters Winter NA and IEM Beijing NA.
He transitioned to Riot Games' FPS after Chaos withdrew from CS and the team couldn't find new organizational backing.
He spent nearly four years in VALORANT, including stints on Cloud9 and Version1, but retired from the game in November 2024 and returned to CS with Getting Info in the new year.
The new lineup was linked to strong interest and ties to TSM according to a report by Dust2.us, but HLTV understands that while a deal was never finalized, the organization is still exploring options to sign an NA roster for 2025.
vanity averaged a 1.06 rating across the 15 officials he recorded on HLTV with Getting Info, placing 3-4th in CCT Season 2 NA Series 4 and ACE NA Masters Spring, and was set to compete in ESL Challenger League Season 49.
"After the whole 2023 Cloud9 situation I've felt the same way and at first I thought it was just me disliking the formats in Valorant/just being jaded from what happened," vanity explained in his announcement.
"But after attempting to play CS for a few months I think I've just grown out of this part of my life and it's time to close the door on it."
The 26-year-old was one of the few in-game leader prospects in North America, rising up during the coronavirus pandemic when Chaos qualified for Flashpoint 1 and won two notable online titles, DreamHack Masters Winter NA and IEM Beijing NA.
He transitioned to Riot Games' FPS after Chaos withdrew from CS and the team couldn't find new organizational backing.
He spent nearly four years in VALORANT, including stints on Cloud9 and Version1, but retired from the game in November 2024 and returned to CS with Getting Info in the new year.
The new lineup was linked to strong interest and ties to TSM according to a report by Dust2.us, but HLTV understands that while a deal was never finalized, the organization is still exploring options to sign an NA roster for 2025.
vanity averaged a 1.06 rating across the 15 officials he recorded on HLTV with Getting Info, placing 3-4th in CCT Season 2 NA Series 4 and ACE NA Masters Spring, and was set to compete in ESL Challenger League Season 49.
"After the whole 2023 Cloud9 situation I've felt the same way and at first I thought it was just me disliking the formats in Valorant/just being jaded from what happened," vanity explained in his announcement.
"But after attempting to play CS for a few months I think I've just grown out of this part of my life and it's time to close the door on it."
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