Bleh on new TOs in the Indian scene: "Counter-Strike just seems like the logical option"

Gods Reign took on True Rippers in the eXTREMESLAND India Open 2024 final where the former emerged victorious in a Bo5 series and confirmed their slot at the eXTREMESLAND 2024 LAN event in Shanghai. Well known Indian analyst in the Counter-Strike scene, Bleh dropped by in a viewing capacity and graced the event with his presence at LXG, Bengaluru.

Dust2 India had the opportunity to have a short chat with Bleh and pick his brain about some of the broader topics floating around in the air regarding the current Counter-Strike scene in India and Asia. Speaking about roster changes, Bleh shared his perspective on few of the top Indian teams and how they've been grinding for a quite a while now in online events.

A lot of roster changes even with the top teams, what do you think about our Counter-Strike scene right now?

There's nothing necessarily bad about roster changes. I feel like the biggest problem is when teams just stick with something which isn't working and they just try and force something to happen, right? So, yes, sure, we've seen some changes, but if that's going to lead to success, I think that's good. Also, just watching teams like Gods Reign, for example, they've been playing online quite a bit, playing the ESL Challenger League and everything. And sure, they have some losses and whatnot, but they're also showing that they can compete with some of the other teams in Asia, maybe not at the levels of, let's say, The MongolZ, TYLOO or Rare Atom, but the fact that they're still sticking around, still grinding it out, putting in the work, I think it's (Indian Counter-Strike scene) the best place it's been in since a very long time.

When asked about his thoughts on new tournament organisers (TO) entering the Indian Counter-Strike scene, Bleh termed Counter-Strike as the logical option considering how it's competitors have rigid policies around licensing for tournament related stuff. He also pointed out how certain actions could paint a bad image on the scene and hoped to see trustworthy, legitimate organizers, rather than "scammy" ones.

Jam-packed with events towards the end of '24 and in '25 as well with new organizers coming in like Bharath Ascend, so with regards to tournament organisers in our Indian scene, what are your thoughts on that?

I think it's obviously good to see more TOs come in and get into Counter-Strike because we all know how when it comes to other games, I'm not going to name any names, but it can be a little hard for TOs to come in because of how some publishers operate and how they don't necessarily give licenses and whatnot to do stuff. So for me, look, honestly, obviously, I'm a little bit biased as well, but Counter-Strike just seems like the logical option, especially considering 2025, Valve have put out that there can't be any exclusivity and exclusive leaks. We have so many TOs coming back again, so to speak, we have Star-Ladder, we have PGL internationally and likewise in India as well, I think it's a very good time for TOs to just be a part of the circuit, right? And also gives an impetus for a lot of these newer Counter-Strike teams to play. With CS2 coming out we have seen an influx of newer players coming in as well, so I can just hope for the best and also, I'm also a little, I wouldn't say paranoid, but a little trepidant about how they can be bad actors if people don't pay out, people that don't do a good job in the events. Hopefully, that won't be the case and we have better TOs rather than the scammy ones.

A common talking point across the venue on the day of the final, was the Indian slot at eXTREMESLAND which got reinstated after five long years and who better than Bleh to provide a solid viewpoint on the topic? Bleh referred to the eXTREMSLAND LAN as a respected event with a good profile that catered to the APAC scene and went on to talk about how going up against some of the top Asian teams on such a big stage could serve as a great learning opportunity.

Finally, our Indian slot reinstated at eXTREMESLAND after five years, what does this mean for our scene?

I think it's a good opportunity obviously. We have all our IEMs happening in Shanghai, in Chengdu and of course, a Major happening in Shanghai as well. Outside of the big ones, I think the one thing that Asia really lacked which eXTREMESLAND used to fill years ago was a very Asia-focused, Asia-centric, respected LAN, you know what I mean? You don't really find that. It never used to be that many back then as well, but eXTREMESLAND was one of the few ones that did it, then COVID hit and obviously, the Asian scene took a very big hit. But I feel, with so many events happening now in Asia this year and next year as well, then we have the rise of The MongolZ or the rise of Asian CS, generally speaking, more LANs happening in the region as well, I think eXTREMESLAND coming in, they will fill that void of having a respected name, a respected event, which caters to the APAC scene in general. For an Indian team, especially with a couple of these teams like True Rippers and Gods Reign who have been duking it out, who have been putting in the work, who have been on the grind, and having a start like this, I think it means a lot and hopefully, even if they might not necessarily place high, whichever team qualifies for this LAN, as long as they put a respectable showing, it's good for me, also, if they use it as a learning experience, because you're going to be playing pretty top-tier teams from the region, so it's a great learning experience as well. So, yeah, overall, there's nothing bad I can say about this. It's just good, and hopefully, it leads to more things.