Denis Howell leaves pro play to lead EPF Counter-Strike

Denis ‘denis’ Howell retired from professional Counter-Strike and in early 2023 became head of the Counter-Strike department at the Esports Player Foundation (EPF). He leads scouting and development work for players in Germany and abroad.

Howell screens prospects on FACEIT, monitors streams, runs EPF scouting events and reviews applications. The foundation provides sports psychologists, in-game coaches, hardware and bootcamps. Howell coordinates coaching and mental-health support, manages partnerships that connect sponsors with grassroots programs, and meets families to explain the demands of a professional path.

Howell began in Counter-Strike: Source and entered CS:GO with German teams including TTC, Planetkey Dynamics and PENTA before signing with mousesports. He competed at DreamHack Winter 2014 with PENTA and spent two years at MOUZ. Howell recalled, “For me, it was perfect. You traveled the world with five or six friends… Played the biggest tournaments.”

During his career he shared rosters with players such as Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovač, Robin ‘ropz’ Kool and Ismailcan ‘XANTARES’ Dörtkardeş. Howell described struggles with performance anxiety and difficulty translating practice form to tournament play; he later worked with a psychologist but said the support arrived after long-standing patterns had already formed.

MOUZ removed Howell in August 2017. He then joined Sprout, had a brief spell at BIG where he took on AWP duties, and returned to Sprout for a run that included a grand final at DreamHack Open Atlanta 2019. His final professional team was cowana, which stopped operations amid unpaid salaries and organizational issues; Howell called it “not so nice of an ending to my career.”

At EPF Howell identifies and tracks prospects. He highlighted Andrew-Jason ‘AJ’ Dürselen and Oskar ‘clockzi’ Led Blæsbjerg as players with potential and said he is particularly interested in AJ’s motivation and development.

Howell notes many young players arrive with strong mechanical skill but need coaching on in-game intelligence, utility use, positioning and communication. EPF also supports education and vocational development so players who do not reach the top level have alternative career options.

Howell has warned that the German scene has a smaller pool of experienced tier-two and tier-three players than in earlier years. He tells some trainees they may need to pursue other careers if progress stalls.

Howell is studying Digital Marketing and Communication Management at a university in Berlin. Within EPF he plans partner activations and works with companies including Deutsche Bahn, Deutsche Telekom, Techniker Krankenkasse and DKB. He described his role as sitting between player operations and marketing and intends to develop further expertise in those areas.

Howell said he wants to pass on lessons from his playing career and reduce pressure on the next generation while helping them understand the realities of a professional path.