Player in CS2 ESL Pro League Caught Using Snap Tap

Uh-oh. Fans can’t help but scratch their heads after an incident caused Team Heroic to forfeit the match. 

The matches are heating up in Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) ESL Pro League Season 20 as the opening day begins. Among the eight teams competing on the first day of the tournament, Team Heroic significantly gained attention from the CS2 community. Their best-of-three match against Ninjas in Pyjamas was struck with controversy as their player was caught using Snap Tap. 

With this, Team Heroic were left with no choice but to forfeit the game, which handed the victory to Ninjas in Pyjamas. On the other hand, the incident opened discussions on the banning of Snap Tap in CS2.

The Incident

An intense Team Heroic against Ninjas in Pyjamas sets the start of CS2 ESL Pro League S20 on September 2, 2024. The first game of the series took place in Ancient, where both teams cooked up and performed well. Ninjas in Pyjamas kept up closely with Team Heroic, however, fell short and lost the game in 13:10. 

With this win, Team Heroic celebrated their 1-0 lead in the game series. Yet, moments later, Heroic’s rifler, René “TeSeS” Madsen, was revealed to enable the Snap Tap feature on their keyboard. This led to ESL swift action by awarding the victory to Ninjas in Pyjamas and forfeiture of Heroic’s map win. Besides this, discussions in the community arise questioning the participation of the team in the tournament and the incident. 

The Player’s Apology

After the game incident, TeSeS posted an apology to address the situation in his X (formerly Twitter) account. He expressed disappointment over his mistake and insisted he was unaware that the feature was turned on during the match. 

He posted, “F**king embarrassing and amateur from me… I turned it off ages ago when it was banned from Valve. I didn’t notice it during the game or anything and obviously didn’t do it on purpose. I let the boys down and I’m devastated about it… Sry” 

Fucking embarrassing and amateur from me… I turned it off ages ago when it was banned from Valve. I didn’t notice it during the game or anything and obviously didn’t do it on purpose.
I let the boys down and I’m devastated about it… Sry

— René “TeSeS” Madsen (@TesesCS) September 3, 2024

What is Snap Tap?

As new keyboards are released in the market, expect new innovations to come along as well. The Snap Tap is a feature made available on some of Razer’s newest keyboards. With this, players are allowed to switch their directions instantly. When players hit two opposing options, the feature will input the last key pressed without having to release the previous key. This serves as a huge advantage for players in leagues where precise movement and quick time reaction are needed. 

Why is Snap Tap Banned?

Even before the tournament, the ban on the use of Snap Tap was already announced. Valve, the developer of Counter-Strike 2, classified it as an unacceptable form of automation due to bypassing the natural input delay of players. The delay typically occurs when players switch between two buttons at the same time. Without it, users will have an unfair movement advantage against opponents. 

Implications for Competitive CS2

Due to this, the community raised several concerns in regards to the competitive scene of CS2. It started to question the regulations and severity of the consequences imposed for violating teams. People are now uneasy about how the organizers conduct their checking of players’ hardware before the matches. Since a snap-tap feature was able to slip up, should there be stricter checks of the hardware? Beside that, the incident only imposed a map forfeiture for the offending team, which seems too relaxed. 

Conclusion

The Snap Tap scandal highlights the challenge the competitive esports world is facing right now. With the advancement of technology, maintaining a level playing field becomes tougher. That’s why the organizing community will have to double their attentiveness to prevent such incidents. The organizers also have responsibility to ensure that they are strictly checking whether the teams adhere to the hardware regulations. 

As CS2 ESL Pro League Season 20 continues, the community is keeping their eyes on Team Heroic and the aftermath of the incident. They are waiting on the possible long-term consequences for the team or if Valve will announce new changes in the hardware regulations of the tournament.