In April 2017, HLTV.org called him “the Estonian talent, who has made a name for himself in FPL,” the FACEIT Pro League, and wrote: “In January, he topped the league’s ranking.” He was a teenager, playing from home. “When I qualified for FPL I knew that the accusations would eventually start,” he later told HLTV. What hurt most was who made them, he said in 2017: “it was the people that I looked up to and they started accusing me, and that wasn’t a good feeling when people like that do that. It was a really bad feeling.”
He tried to prove them wrong. “I tried to do everything in my power to prove myself (even streaming with a camera that showed me playing), but no one, of course, believed anything,” he said in HLTV’s profile of him as one of its top 20 players of 2018. “So I kind of started to question myself and I was feeling really down.” In 2017 he had told HLTV, “In FPL, there were some points I didn’t even want to play because of the accusations.”
Then FACEIT stepped in. He “was eventually flown out to the FACEIT offices in London in March of 2017 to play on equipment provided by the league operators,” HLTV wrote. “The main reason was to clear the cheating accusations,” he said. “FACEIT provided me with a new computer and new equipment identical to mine, and I just played.” On April 2, 2017, FACEIT tweeted, “Good job @ropzicle , have a safe flight home!” By his own account, “It turned out really well because I believe I played even better than [I normally do] from home.”
On April 12, 2017, HLTV reported that “Robin ‘ropz’ Kool has been formally announced by mousesports as their newest player”; in May it called him “their new addition, 17-year-old Robin ‘ropz’ Kool.” The team “made it cleanly through to the PGL Major in Krakow with three victories at the Main Qualifier,” HLTV wrote, and on July 16, day one of the PGL Major Kraków 2017, GosuGamers listed “Gambit Esports vs. mousesports.” “It was the first time I was playing these big events,” he said, and “even if I didn’t play so well in my first couple of events, it felt like a ‘look at me now’ moment to everyone who had doubts about me.”
In December 2025, after “Vitality beat FaZe 3-1 to become back-to-back Major champions in Budapest,” HLTV wrote that “Robin ‘ropz’ Kool, who has been in every single CS2 Major final, walks away with his third Major trophy”; as of October 2026, that still makes three Majors. HLTV has named him one of its top 20 players of the year every year since “Top 20 players of 2018: ropz (19).” In 2025 he was number three, “a placement in the top 20 players of the year ranking for an eighth time,” and “Only three players have made this list that many times.”
Fact check
The facts and where they come from
- He was so good at Counter-Strike that the players he looked up to called him a cheater. ropz, to HLTV.org (2017): “it was the people that I looked up to and they started accusing me, and that wasn’t a good feeling when people like that do that. It was a really bad feeling.” 2
- His name is Robin Kool, known online as ropz. HLTV.org: “Robin ‘ropz’ Kool has been formally announced by mousesports as their newest player.” 1
- A teenager from Estonia, he topped the FACEIT Pro League, playing from home. HLTV.org (April 12, 2017): “the Estonian talent, who has made a name for himself in FPL. In January, he topped the league’s ranking.” ropz: “I believe I played even better than [I normally do] from home.” HLTV.org (May 7, 2017): “17-year-old Robin ‘ropz’ Kool.” 12
- Then the accusations started. ropz, to HLTV.org: “When I qualified for FPL I knew that the accusations would eventually start.” 3
- He even streamed with a camera on himself, but nobody believed him. ropz, to HLTV.org: “I tried to do everything in my power to prove myself (even streaming with a camera that showed me playing), but no one, of course, believed anything.” 3
- “I was feeling really down,” he said. ropz, to HLTV.org: “So I kind of started to question myself and I was feeling really down.” And in 2017: “In FPL, there were some points I didn’t even want to play because of the accusations.” 32
- So FACEIT flew him to London, to play on a new computer. HLTV.org: he “was eventually flown out to the FACEIT offices in London in March of 2017 to play on equipment provided by the league operators.” ropz: “The main reason was to clear the cheating accusations. FACEIT provided me with a new computer and new equipment identical to mine, and I just played.” FACEIT on Twitter (April 2, 2017), quoted by HLTV.org: “Good job @ropzicle , have a safe flight home!” 31
- By his own account, he played even better than at home. ropz, to HLTV.org: “It turned out really well because I believe I played even better than [I normally do] from home.” 1
- That April, mousesports signed him at 17. HLTV.org (April 12, 2017): “has been formally announced by mousesports as their newest player.” HLTV.org (May 7, 2017): “their new addition, 17-year-old Robin ‘ropz’ Kool.” 12
- That July, he played his first Major. HLTV.org: “they made it cleanly through to the PGL Major in Krakow with three victories at the Main Qualifier”; ropz: “It was the first time I was playing these big events.” GosuGamers: mousesports “took the highroad to the LAN finals”; on day one of the PGL Major Kraków 2017 (July 16, 2017): “Gambit Esports vs. mousesports.” 376
- It felt like a “look at me now” moment, he said. ropz, to HLTV.org: “even if I didn’t play so well in my first couple of events, it felt like a ‘look at me now’ moment to everyone who had doubts about me.” 3
- As of October 2026, he has won three Majors. HLTV.org (December 14, 2025): “Robin ‘ropz’ Kool, who has been in every single CS2 Major final, walks away with his third Major trophy.” 5
- Every year since 2018, HLTV has ranked him in the world’s top 20. HLTV.org lists “Top 20 players of 2018: ropz (19)” … “Top 20 players of 2024: ropz (18),” and in 2025, at number three, “a placement in the top 20 players of the year ranking for an eighth time.” 4
- Only three other players have made that list so many times. HLTV.org: “Only three players have made this list that many times.” 4
- Not bad for the kid they called a cheater. ropz, to HLTV.org: “they started accusing me”; “The main reason was to clear the cheating accusations.” 21
Sources
- ropz: “Lots of teams to choose from” (Striker, April 12, 2017) HLTV.org
- ropz: I had an offer from Liquid (Striker, May 7, 2017) HLTV.org
- Top 20 players of 2018: ropz (19) (LucasAM, January 2, 2019) HLTV.org
- Top 20 players of 2025: ropz (3) (January 10, 2026) HLTV.org
- Vitality beat FaZe 3-1 to become back-to-back Major champions in Budapest (December 14, 2025) HLTV.org
- PGL Major Kraków 2017 - Day One Recap (July 16, 2017) GosuGamers
- PGL Major Kraków 2017 - All sixteen participants decided GosuGamers
Notes
London: HLTV’s 2018 profile says he was flown to FACEIT’s London offices “in March of 2017”; FACEIT’s “have a safe flight home!” tweet, quoted by HLTV, is dated April 2, 2017, so the visit ended on or about that day.
The signing: HLTV reported mousesports’ announcement on April 12, 2017, and called him 17 in May; the Short says only “That April.”
His first Major: the Short says only that he played it; it doesn’t say how far his team went, and the Kraków photos show the arena and its stage, not his team.
Three Majors: HLTV’s Budapest report of December 14, 2025, calls it his third Major trophy, and we found no later Major title for him as of October 30, 2026, so this page dates the count: three, as of October 2026. The Short’s “every year since twenty eighteen” means HLTV’s lists for 2018 to 2025, eight in all.
Left out: a popular retelling says he played “in his bedroom” and ends on a one-against-three win on the main stage; no source says either, so neither is used. The Short’s “a brand new computer” follows his own words, “a new computer and new equipment identical to mine.”
Robin “ropz” Kool is alive. He was a teenager when he was accused; no photo of him from before 2018 is used, and the players who accused him are not named or shown. Only his own published words and the reporting of HLTV.org and GosuGamers are used; nothing about his family, school or money, or anything else about his private life, is told.
Pictures: no free photo shows ropz before 2018, his home, FACEIT’s office or his first Major. Robin “ropz” Kool is playing for FaZe at the BLAST.tv Paris Major on May 8, 2023, and at the same Major on May 9, 2023 (cropped); smiling at IEM Rio in October 2022, with a betting logo on his shoulder pixelated; with mousesports at DreamHack Masters Marseille on April 19, 2018 (nearest, in headphones); and pointing up beside the PGL Major Antwerp trophy with FaZe teammates on May 22, 2022 (cropped, shoulder logos pixelated) (five photos by VaKarM.net). Tauron Arena in Kraków and its stage are seen during the PGL Major on July 21, 2017, the venue of his first Major, with two other teams on the screens (two photos by Amit Bronstein). The home computer desk, 2010 (Mattes), the webcam on a monitor, 2022 (Peterhcharlton), Tower Bridge in London, 2022, not FACEIT’s office (Shawn M. Kent), and gaming keyboards at Tokyo Game Show 2026 (Syced) are stand-ins. The other players, staff and fans in these photos are not named.
Photo credits
The archive photos in this story
The photographs and illustrations in this story are in the public domain or shared under open licenses; each one is credited below with its license. Tap one to enlarge it, or follow the link to its Wikimedia Commons page for the full record. The narration, captions and graphics in the Short are our own; its music and sound effects are credited below.
Music and sound effects
Music: Schumann, Kinderszenen, Op. 15: No. 1 'Of Foreign Lands and Peoples (Musopen, public domain); Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition: IV. Bydlo (piano) (Musopen, public domain); Dvorak, Symphony No. 9 'From the New World': II. Largo (Musopen, public domain).
Sound effects: Freesound, CC0.
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