Team Spirit player Danil donk Kryshkovets evaluated the collaboration of the two coaches of the team. In an interview with HLTV, he stated that the tandem of Sergey hally Shavaev and Dmitry S0tF1k Forostyanko, who share responsibilities, makes the team's work easier and more comfortable.
donkI think it's great that they are both in the team now, even though they are doing different things. Overall, I want to work with smart coaches – and they are both just that. When more people are involved in the work, tasks can be distributed among them. S0tF1k and hally are just sharing coaching responsibilities between themselves. This greatly simplifies the work: you don't have to spend eight hours to finish one task.
According to donk, hally may return by the third stage or possibly by the playoffs of the tournament – in about a week or ten days, although there is no exact date yet.
Hally took a break from working with the main roster of Team Spirit in early April 2026 due to health issues. He was temporarily replaced by academy coach S0tF1k, under whose guidance the team reached the finals of IEM Rio 2026 and won PGL Astana 2026.
IEM Cologne Major 2026 takes place from June 2 to June 21, 2026, in Cologne, Germany. Following three stages, 32 teams will compete for the trophy, with a total prize pool of $1,250,000.