How is India’s first CS:GO franchise league shaping up

With a prize pool of  $250,000, Skyesports Masters is poised to become India’s biggest gaming event ever.  The competition is scheduled to begin next month with the gaming café qualifiers, which will be held in more than 20 locations throughout the nation to honor the finest CS: GO players and launch a grassroots resurgence for the game. Here is how the groundbreaking competition shaping up:

The franchised clubs will be allowed to select the top performers when the qualifiers are over and add them to their squads of Indian and foreign Counter-Strike players. Once roster selections are finalized, the eight teams will play in Mumbai to decide the national champion. The three-month LAN event is divided into two distinct parts: the league stage and the playoffs. Both stages would be open to live spectators, though Skyesports has yet to reveal the exact venue or the price of tickets.

The event will be powered by Microsoft Windows 11, the most popular operating system in the world, which will not only improve the aesthetic appeal of the competition but also give the competitors a flawless gameplay experience thanks to its cutting-edge capabilities. A variety of revenue alternatives will also be offered by the event organizers to the franchises to support the viability of grassroots CS:GO in India. Moreover, Skyesports intends to collaborate with a significant OTT platform to broadcast the competition in different languages.

Skyesports Masters confirmed the name of four organizations participating in the event, while four more will join soon. Fans can expect to see some of the internationally popular pros returning since each team is allowed to include two imports. CS:GO is about to embark on an exciting journey, so here are the franchised teams that will compete at Skyesports Masters with the hope of shining and making a lasting impression on the Indian esports scene.

Skyesports Masters participating team

Gods Reign

As a second franchise team, Gods Reign, a top Esports organization in India, joins Skyesports Masters. revealing the Counter-Strik lineup it has assembled for the competition. Anshul “KiiLSwitCh” Adarkar, the prominent CS:GO player, has been signed by the organization as the IGL. He previously represented India in the World Esports Championships in 2021 and 2022.

Gods Reign’s CS:GO roster:

• Hrishikesh “Crazy_Gamer” Shenoy
• Piyush “Clouda” Kalwania 
• Akash “Ph1NN” Bose
• Parijaat “Rev3nn” Banerjee
• Anshul “KiiLSwitCh” Adarkar

Gods Reign has built a foothold in many Esports games, including Fifa, Pokemon Unite, Valorant, Battlegrounds Mobile India, and New State Mobile. Yet CS:GO adds a fresh element to its developing Esports division, expanding its range of competitive pursuits.

Gods Reign’s CS:GO squad captain, Anshul Adarkar, expressed his delight at having the opportunity to represent the group in this historic competition. He stressed the team’s commitment to developing its gameplay, teamwork, and strategies to succeed in the league. 

Revenant Esports

Revenant Esports, an emerging organization in the Indian esports sector, is the first franchised team in Skyesports Masters. Revenant Esports has been making waves in the Indian esports scene, and a recent sponsorship from famed Bollywood actor Tiger Shroff has further strengthened its standing.

The organization has experienced exponential development, and participation in India’s first franchised esports competition is proof of it. Five key players and two backups will make up Revenant Esports’ impressive seven-player lineup for the clash, which will be added from café qualifications that are slated to take place across 20 cities from June 17 through June 25.

Reckoning Esports

Reckoning presently fields lineups in several esports games, including Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Valorant, New State Mobile, and Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI). Reckoning Esports founder Sharang Naicker expressed his delight at joining Skyesports Masters, calling it an outstanding opportunity to expand the organisation’s roots in CS:GO scene. He stressed that the tournament structure is exciting and will help the CS: GO scene in India to recover. The Mumbai-based esports organization will soon sign a five-man roster for India’s biggest CS: GO tournament. 

7Seas

7Sea Esports is the latest to join the announcing its five-man roster ahead of the Skyesports Masters 2023 tournament. Although many of the 7Sea Esports roster members are quite young due to the brand’s emphasis on developing a quality gaming environment, these athletes have been participating in professional competitions for about two years.  The team features five Indian players, including:  

7Seas’ CS:GO roster:

• Yash “Benzene” Kumar Singh
• Vishvesh “CycloneF
• ”Bhavesh “Bhavi” Sejwan
• iPrateek “DiceDealer” Saini
• Elvis “ELV1S” Eric Soans. 

With their appearance in important CS:GO competitions like the Taiwan Excellence Cup 2022 and the WD Black Cup 2023, Benzene, DiceDealer, CycloneF, and Bhavi have gained massive popularity in the Indian gaming scene. ELV1S has also performed admirably in recent years, taking second place in the Logitech Loco Cup 2022 and the ROG Showdown Fall 2021.

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