Bleh 'Counter-Strike is the greatest esports title we have ever had'

Five years after casting an event in his home country, Bleh returned to India to cast the LAN Playoffs of the Skyesports Masters along with Dinko. After the finals between Gods Reign and Revenant Esports, Bleh spoke to Dust2 India about the event, his takeaways and more.

How was the experience, casting LAN Counter-Strike at home?

This is my first CS:GO LAN back home after almost five years. It's a nice feeling, especially being in my hometown, Bengaluru, as well. It's a good feeling to be back, to be able to cast Counter-Strike, it's something that I thought that I wouldn't be able to do in this iteration of CS honestly. It was fun, good to see a pretty solid crowd turnout as well. I've worked with Dinko, doing event here and there but for us to do a LAN together, especially in my hometown, it was a good event - a very fun time for me.

Talk to us about the quality of Indian Counter-Strike, from where it was five years ago, when you last casted an event here.

I saw a really high level of Counter-Strike back then but at the same time if I compare that level of CS to what we have right now, even internationally, it is obviously outdated (like 2018 early 2019). It's a little unfair to compare it directly, obviously the level of CS isn't the highest so to speak but we're seeing some solid fundamentals from the teams that made it to the Playoffs and even won, for example Gods Reign - nothing too crazy, nothing too convoluted but the fact that they were able to win so convincingly and also make less mistakes. It's only about progressing and getting better eventually and from that angle, it's a positive sign. But if you ask me 'what's the level of Counter-Strike here' I have to be very blunt, it's not even close to being the highest, it's pretty middling but its about the learning process, it's about trying to find the right pieces, trying to find new players and trying to revitalise a scene that's been dead for a few years.

Any particular issues and mistakes you saw from the teams which caught your eye?

Individually, I saw a lot of mechanically gifted newer players but I feel they need to understand the fundamentals of Counter-Strike, like something as simple as not over-peeking, not re-peeking cause these are mistakes which, if you make too many times, early on in your career, it's going to remain entrenched in your mind and it will be difficult to shake off later on because against good teams they will punish you for small little mistakes like this. Individually I think they just need to figure out how to play safe and solid Counter-Strike and that is one advice I would give to the individuals.

For the teams, I saw some really good and bad things overall and it could also be due to the LAN nerves but communication, one could see how the comms were lacking for a number of the teams, especially during hectic moments. It's a cliche, it goes without saying but it is such an imperative part of Counter-Strike, which was missing. Also another issue is trying to play the objective as a team, looking at the bigger picture, not just trying to force win a round but looking around - a game of Counter-Strike is almost like a story, it ebbs and flows, you need to know how to navigate these problems you face across an entire game, to get to 16 rounds in regulation or even winning in overtime, so I would say, try to have a holistic understanding of how to approach team Counter-Strike. Nail the fundamentals first and then you can start working on unique strats or mixing and matching strats and adapting approaches to the game from international teams like VP or FaZe or whoever.

Any message for the upcoming players from the region and the fans?

I saw a few older fans and older players but its really good to see new players and new names, which I haven't really heard much of before. But for me its about getting new fans, its about new people coming in. Counter-Strike is the greatest esports title we have ever had and events like this, for me, is about introducing it to the newer people. I saw a lot of new people coming in and watching it and Counter-Strike is an easy game to follow and fall in love with and enjoy and understand. For me its about introducing it to the new fans, new players and to the fans I want to say - enjoy it, it's the greatest game we have ever had and CS2 is on the horizon and we would love to have them as part of this global family.