Snap Tap has been all the rage in the Counter-Strike 2 world for the past few months but following its publicized ban, its time in the spotlight appeared over—that is, until a player at ESL Pro League in Malta this week was caught using it mid-series.
HEROIC opened its CS2 EPL Season 20 account against Ninjas in Pyjamas on Sept. 3 with the opening map, Ancient, going down to the wire. Despite a push for a comeback from NiP, it was HEROIC that emerged victorious to secure the opener 13-10. But, after the CS2‘s series mid-play break, the winning squad looked far from happy.
“TeSeS looks very flustered and stressed, did they find something on his PC? This looks pretty sus,” commentator Bleh joked as the EPL broadcast switched to HEROIC, but just minutes later there was no more joking: ESL admins and referees conducted an investigation and found rifler René “TeSeS” Madsen had played Ancient with the banned Snap Tap enabled, and as a result, HEROIC was forced to forfeit the result. HEROIC went on to win map two but lost on Vertigo, handing the series win to NiP.
“Fucking embarrassing and amateur from me,” TeSes said on X (formerly Twitter) shortly after the series. He added he turned Snap Tap off when Valve banned the tech in August, but he “didn’t notice it during the game or anything and obviously didn’t do it on purpose.”
NiP coach Xizt went in to bat for TeSeS, calling him “one of the best and most honest guys in the scene,” and that it was a “fucked up way to ‘win’” the series. “I don’t even know what to say.”
Snap Tap, the tech included with the latest line of Razer keyboards that assists players with counter-strafing and movement, caused quite a controversy in the wider CS2 community when it was first announced. Many pros called for it to be banned but with radio silence from Valve, organizers allowed the tech to be employed in-play.
Valve, it turns out, was working behind the scenes to outlaw the use of third-party assisted tools like Snap Tap, ultimately banning the use of the product on live CS2 servers. Tournament organizers quickly followed in Valve’s footsteps: “Ahead of the next ESL Pro Tour in-person event for Counter-Strike, we’re announcing that the use of Snap Tap or similar assistants that produce the same outcome will no longer be allowed,” ESL said in a statement on Aug. 29.
At the very least TeSeS’ slip-up has put the rest of the teams on notice, and it wouldn’t surprise us if many swapped out their keyboards midway during the event or immediately following EPL this week. HEROIC, meanwhile, will need to live with the mistake and bounce back through the group stage—their next match is against Lynn Vision later today.
