Gambit Esports, which was previously called Gambit Gaming, is a Russian esports organization that is no longer active. It is owned by a company called MTS, which provides phone and internet services. Gambit was created in January 2013 after MTS bought the League of Legends team from Moscow Five.
Gambit currently has teams that compete in Apex Legends, Dota 2, Fortnite Battle Royale, and Valorant. Earlier, it had a League of Legends team that played in the European League of Legends Championship Series (EU LCS) and later in the League of Legends Continental League (LCL).
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
On January 8, 2016, Gambit purchased a CS:GO team that included many players from HellRaisers. The players were Mikhail "Dosia" Stolyarov, Dauren "AdreN" Kystaubayev, Rustem "mou" Telepov, Dmitry "hooch" Bogdanov, and Jan "wayLander" Rahkonen. Gambit qualified for MLG Columbus 2016 by defeating Renegades and Cloud9 in an offline qualifier. At the main event, Gambit finished in 9th to 12th place. On April 18, 2016, wayLander left the team, and Ivan "spaze" Obrezhan joined on April 19, 2016. On September 24, 2016, spaze was removed from the active roster, and Emil "kUcheR" Akhundov was used as a temporary player. On October 2, 2016, Dmitry "hooch" Bogdanov was removed from the team. On October 12, Daniil "Zeus" Teslenko and Abay "HObbit" Khasenov joined Gambit. HObbit joined on a six-month loan from the Kazakhstani team Tengri. On November 5, 2016, Gambit won Acer Predator Masters 3 by defeating Team Kinguin 3–0 in the finals.
On July 23, 2017, Gambit defeated Immortals 2–1 in the grand final of the PGL Major 2017 in Krakow.
On August 9, 2017, Zeus and Kane left Gambit to join Natus Vincere.
On September 5, 2020, Gambit Youngsters coach Ivan "F_1N" Kochugov admitted to using a coaching bug that allowed him to share information about enemy players. He was suspended by Gambit.
On October 5, 2020, Gambit promoted its academy team, Gambit Youngsters, to the main lineup after the team remained in the weekly updated HLTV top 30 ranking for 12 consecutive weeks.
On April 24, 2022, Gambit sold its team roster to Cloud9 after being banned from various events due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
League of Legends
On January 10, 2013, the esports team Moscow Five, which no longer exists, announced their League of Legends roster that placed 3rd–4th at the 2012 World Championship. This was partly because their CEO, Dmitry Smilianets, was arrested in July 2013, which caused the team to lack money for several months. Four days later, on January 14, it was announced that Gambit Gaming had bought the former Moscow Five roster.
Gambit Gaming made their first appearance in an offline event as part of Gambit Gaming in late January 2013. They competed in IEM Season VII – Global Challenge Katowice as one of eight qualified teams. Gambit won one game and lost two in the group stage, defeating MYM but losing to Curse Gaming EU and Azubu Blaze. This created a three-way tie between MYM, Gambit, and Curse Gaming EU, each with a 1–2 record. A system that used time to decide the winner gave Gambit a spot in the semi-finals. Gambit, as the less-favored team, defeated Azubu Frost 2–0 and then beat Azubu Blaze, who had previously defeated them in the group stage, to win first place.
Having joined the team as Moscow Five, Gambit Gaming competed in the European Season 3 League of Legends Championship Series. They finished 2nd in the European Spring LCS Split with a 21–7 record, securing their LCS spot for the summer split. They then placed 2nd in the Season 3 EU Spring Playoffs, losing 2–3 to Fnatic in the final.
Gambit attended the IEM Season VII – World Championship in Hannover, Germany, in March. The team went undefeated in their group with a 5–0 record, placing them in the semi-finals. They faced CJ Entus Frost and lost the set 2–1, which eliminated them from the tournament and resulted in a 3rd-place finish.
The Russian team was invited to compete in an international exhibition at the 2013 MLG Winter Championship. They first played against Team Dignitas, winning 2–0 by applying constant pressure. Gambit then faced KT Rolster B in the exhibition finals but lost 2–1, failing to secure first place.
In April 2013, Gambit Gaming players Danil "Diamondprox" Reshetnikov, Aleksei "Alex Ich" Ichetovkin, Evgeny "Genja" Andryushin, and Edward "Edward" Abgaryan were publicly voted to represent their positions on the Europe LCS All Star team for All-Star Shanghai 2013. However, a rule limiting teams to only three members on the All Star team caused Genja to be replaced as AD Carry by Evil Geniuses' Yellowpete. The team's top lane was sOAZ from Fnatic. The EU LCS first faced the Korean OGN Champions, but the Koreans won 2–0 despite strong early game play from jungler Diamondprox. Their next opponent was the North America LCS, which defeated the EU LCS and eliminated them from the tournament.
In July 2013, GoSu Papper left the team to join Team Curse.
On August 17, 2013, Gambit Gaming finished the Summer Split tied for 2nd place with Fnatic, Evil Geniuses, and Ninjas in Pyjamas, with a 15–13 record. However, they secured a 4th-place finish after losing a tiebreaker to Evil Geniuses. They then defeated Ninjas in Pyjamas in the losers bracket but lost again to Evil Geniuses in the deciders match, earning a spot in the Summer Playoffs.
Gambit defeated Ninjas in Pyjamas in the Summer Playoffs, advancing to the Semifinals where they lost 0–2 to Lemondogs. They then faced Evil Geniuses in the 3rd Place Match and won 2–1, securing a spot to represent Europe in the Season 3 World Championship.
Gambit was placed in a tough group with European rivals Fnatic, North American third seed Team Vulcun, Korean OGN Spring Winners Samsung Galaxy Ozone, and Filipino champions Mineski. They went undefeated on their first day of the group stage with a 3–0 record, appearing strong as Europe's third seed. Gambit finished tied for 2nd place with Samsung Galaxy Ozone at 5–3. In a close tiebreaker game against the Korean team, Gambit won and advanced to the playoffs with Fnatic.
Gambit faced the Korean first seed NaJin Black Sword in the quarterfinals. After winning the first game, Gambit lost to the Koreans 1–2, being eliminated from the tournament and finishing in 7th place.
Gambit's first tournament in the 2014 season was the IEM World Championship, where they were knocked out in the semifinals by KT Rolster Bullets.
The Spring Split was a disappointment for Gambit. Due to visa issues, Darien, Diamondprox, Alex Ich, and Genja were unable to play in the 6th week of the Spring Season. Zorozero, Hulberto, Nukeduck, and fury III substituted for Top, Jungle, Mid, and ADC respectively. The team finished 5th in the tournament after losing to Team ROCCAT in the quarterfinals.
In May, Alex Ich left Gambit for the Challenger Series team Ninjas in Pyjamas to spend more time with his family. His departure worsened the team's performance in the Summer Split, as Darien, Diamondprox, and Genja became substitutes for periods. Gambit finished 7th, requiring them to fight for their LCS status in the Spring Promotion.
Due to their 1st-place finish at IEM Cologne, Gambit was invited to compete at the IEM Season IX – World Championship. After losing to CJ Entus in Round 1, Gambit was eliminated in Round 1 of the losers bracket by Team WE. Domestically, they
Dota 2
On February 9, 2021, Gambit Esports formed a partnership with the football club AS Monaco. The team was renamed AS Monaco Gambit. On February 11, a new team was announced, which included the members from Live to Win and No[o]ne as a temporary player. The previous team continued to compete under the name Gambit-2.
Valorant
On September 28, 2020, Gambit Esports joined the professional Valorant scene by introducing their first team.
On September 20, 2021, they beat Team Envy in the finals and won the Valorant Champions Tour Masters Berlin 2021.
On December 12, 2021, Gambit reached the final of the first VALORANT Champions event, but lost to Acend with a score of 2–3.