Who is Ohnepixel?

This version is updated and translated (with egune.mn and ChatGPT ) from my article in November 2016 about Ohnepixel and his team Drillas.

The next Counter-Strike Major is set to take place in China, marking a pivotal moment for Asian esports fans and especially for the expanding Asia-Pacific competitive scene.

Understanding the RMR Structure

As with every Valve-sanctioned Major, teams must qualify through their respective Regional Major Ranking (RMR) events. The qualifiers are divided as follows:

Americas:

• South America RMR

• North America RMR

Europe:

• Europe RMR A

• Europe RMR B

Asia-Pacific: This is the most diverse and geographically vast region, with qualifiers including:

• Oceania

• China

• East Asia

• Middle East

• Arab region

• Levant & North Africa

• South Africa

The Levant region, often misunderstood, encompasses parts of Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, and Palestine, and borders the Mediterranean to the west and the Arabian desert to the south.

image from Google search

 Who Are DRILLAS?

Among the eight teams in the Levant & North Africa RMR, one team has unexpectedly taken center stage DRILLAS.

Formed on August 12, 2024, the team originally featured:

• Woro2k (Ukraine)

• hAdji (France/Morocco)

• Meztal (Israel)

• AMSALEM (Israel)

• Kvem (Ukraine)

On October 13, AMSALEM was replaced by SENER1, a player of Kosovar-Albanian descent.

Despite widespread criticism online due to the team’s multinational makeup, DRILLAS met all eligibility requirements for the Levant & North Africa region—two Israeli players and one Moroccan-Kosovar player legally qualifying them under Valve’s criteria.

What followed was a Cinderella run:

• Qualified from the open qualifiers

• Advanced through the closed qualifiers

• Took second place in the Middle East RMR

• Earned a spot at the Asia-Pacific RMR

Their success raised eyebrows. For some, it revealed a gap in the current regional eligibility rules. For others, it was simply proof that anyone—from the Sahara to Seoul—can dream of playing at the Major.

Who is OhnePixel?

Fueling the attention was the involvement of popular German content creator ohnePixel, who co-owns DRILLAS. Known for his skin trading streams and commentary, ohnePixel  has over 1.4 million followers on Twitch and is a co-owner of Skinbid, a CS skin trading platform, along with ULTI Agency.

Initially, his association with the team drew little attention. But after DRILLAS qualified for the Asia-Pacific RMR, his name exploded across social media and esports platforms.

Over the past two weeks, Google searches for “ohnePixel” surpassed 1 million, while his streams and interviews dominated viewership charts.

Record-Breaking Viewership

DRILLAS matches quickly became some of the most-watched games of the Asia-Pacific RMR. According to Esports Charts (not including Chinese viewers):

• DRILLAS vs Lynn Vision: 126,700 viewers

  (2x more than The MongolZ vs Alter Ego, which had 63,900)

• DRILLAS vs The MongolZ (Day 2): 128,800 viewers

Legendary CS players olofmeister, f0rest, and GeT_RiGhT streamed the matches on Twitch, accounting for 71.2% of total viewership.

ohnePixel’s stream alone brought in 43,900 hours watched from over 40,000 fans—nearly matching the official Mongolian-language broadcast META on YouTube Live (40.6K viewers) and the English version (42.6K viewers).

escharts.com

However, the DRILLAS storyline may have reached its end. On November 13, it was confirmed that Woro2k, hAdji, and Meztal had left the team, casting doubt on the roster’s original purpose and long-term ambitions.

So, who is ohnePixel?

The numbers and headlines speak for themselves. Whether he built the team as a genuine contender or as his branding, only he truly knows.