India's love for Counter-Strike has begun to rekindle with their largest event to date

India just hosted its largest-ever CS:GO tournament in an effort to bring the game back to the forefront of its esport scene.

Skyesports Masters 2023 came to a close on Sunday and wrapped up a two-month-long circuit aimed at rekindling local interest in Counter-Strike. The tournament was announced in April and it was marketed as the largest Indian CS:GO event to date, with a $245,000 prize pool and a series of internet café qualifiers aimed at finding local talent for franchised organizations.

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Gods Reign were crowned champions after a flawless run in the playoffs, and took home the $54,000 top prize after their victory over Revenant at the Koramangala Indoor Stadium.

It was a landmark event for the Indian Counter-Strike community, which had never hosted an event of this scale in CS:GO up to that point — especially after the decline of the game's popularity in the country. "Honestly, when you're at rock bottom the only direction is up and that is always the right direction," said Sudhen "⁠Bleh⁠" Wahengbam, who commentated Skyesports' playoffs alongside Adam "⁠Dinko⁠" Hawthorne.

"The scene suffered a massive blow with COVID coming in, and players and TOs moving to other games, but there still remains a massive player base in the country. Right now it's about finding new, fresh talent."

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HLTV recently launched an India and wider Asia-focused coverage website Dust2.in, where you can learn more about the scene and its teams

Finding new talent was one of the explicit aims for Skyesports as the circuit opened with a café qualifier phase across 20 Indian cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, and Chennai. The first stage was live between June 17-28, shining the spotlight on the region's rising stars from their local venues.

None of the players from the café qualifiers managed to reach the LAN finals, but five of the rookies found a home with Velocity before ending last in the league with a 1-13 record. Bleh was still hopeful for the future of Indian talent despite their presence in the competition's late stages. "I saw some very mechanically skilled newer players I hadn't heard of. Unpolished as of now, but I look forward to how they grow in the future," he said. "Hopefully, we get more TOs in the region picking up CS, especially with CS2 coming out."

Gods Reign might have breezed past their opposition in the playoffs with ease, but Bleh hopes to see more ambition for Indian teams and players to move past the desire of just being the best in the country. "We need success stories to kind of kindle that fire in the local scene. The only way we might get that is if the new breed of players are looking to be the absolute best they can be and not just big fish in a small pond."

The Indian commentator also held a positive view on the presence of international players at the tournament, believing they could help local players elevate their game. "The scene is so backward that the most optimal way forward is to get coaches and IGLs from regions where CS is more developed. What's lacking here isn't individual skill, but understanding how to play CS at a high level, and the work that's needed."

The foreign duo of Maclane "⁠gump⁠" Cross and Muhammad-Ridzuan "⁠3nable⁠" Hazi helped Revenant reach the final, but they weren't the only individuals from abroad to participate in the competition. Several players from Australia, Malaysia, and Russia took part in the event's league phase alongside teams such as Enigma and Reckoning.

Skyesports Masters aimed to kickstart a new wave of interest in India for CS:GO, and with another edition of the tournament for Counter-Strike 2 already in the pipeline, the hope is that the region will continue to grow. "I fucking hope so," Bleh said when asked if CS2 could help rekindle India's interest in the shooter.