The ENCE team once again found itself at the center of discussions in the CS2 community after losing to the Russian mix ROSY in The Proving Grounds Season 2 tournament. After the game, Viktor “sdy” Orudzhev emotionally expressed his opinion, clearly hinting at the problem of cheating at the Tier 2/3 level of the professional scene.

“Very good to get your mental to unbreakable levels”

In a tweet after the match against ROSY, Viktor wrote:

Playing against cheaters every second game is my favorite part of pro CS on tier 2-3 right now. Very good to get your mental to unbreakable levels, would recommend 10/10.

Viktor “sdy” Orudzhev

The comment was instantly picked up by the community. Danish player NaToSaphiX replied:

When I play MM, I get cheaters every 2nd game and it takes all the fun out of playing. So I play FACEIT instead. Where do you go when you meet cheaters when you're trying to climb the world ranking?

NaToSaphiX 

To which sdy replied ironically:

You lose your Valve rating points and go cry.

Viktor “sdy” Orudzhev

Systematic cheating

This is the second such defeat in the last three months. Earlier, ENCE publicly announced their suspicion of cheating on the part of their opponent before the YGames Pro Series Season 5 final against M1. They appealed to the organizers, calling for tighter control and a review of the approach to fair play at the Tier 2 level.

The tournament organizers then promised to include POV cameras for all players in the broadcast, keep recordings, and use Akros anti-cheat software.

A global problem in the Tier 2 scene?

In both cases — against M1 and ROSY — ENCE faced teams that are not even in the top 90 of Valve's ranking. In the first case, they managed to win, but there were still many questions, and the second time they suffered a defeat, which only reinforced doubts about the level of control in Tier 2/3 tournaments.

From the words of sdy and the reactions of other players, it is clear that cheating remains an unresolved problem that directly affects not only the motivation but also the results of professional teams.