The second season of the RKL CS eSports League started today. This is the first professional sports league in Russia in the “3D tactical combat” discipline of the Counter-Strike program. It was organized by analogy with the RPL and the KHL, where the strongest teams are determined over several months, who then play a knockout match against each other. Created in 2023, the RKL has become the oldest tournament in eSports history.
The second season of the RKL Esports League was supposed to start a month ago. But the planned departure had to be postponed due to a boycott by European teams. Initially, European athletes from Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Switzerland and Romania expressed a desire to participate in the tournament. But literally a day before the start, one after another they left the tournament. All because Ukrainian esports bloggers called for a boycott of the competition. European athletes agreed, explaining that they supported Ukraine.
The second season kicked off today with a new lineup of contestants. 12 teams from Russia and the CIS countries will play there, including: “Forze” – winner of international competitions and the first season of RKL, ranked 48th in the HLTV world ranking, XGOD – the Russian team – winner of the Counter-Tournament Strike at the Future Games in Kazan, VP.Prodigy – the academic team of the champion of international tournaments Virtus PRO, ARCRED – the best team of Uzbekistan, Nemiga and Rushb – Belarusian teams, as well as Russian teams – LEON, Espace d team, ILIN, RUBY. A surprise for eSports fans – two Russian media projects were invited: Insilio – the team of blogger Rachel and GUN5 – the project of the famous video blogger and streamer Booster.
— I am happy that we were invited to the second season of RKL. I think that participation in the league is a good opportunity for teams from Russia and other countries to prove themselves,” commented streamer Vyacheslav Buster Leontyev.
— Interesting format of the tournament. It’s great that they listened to the players and the public and made the League more convenient for the teams and the fans. The tournament can be played in a few months. Definitely a like for that. It is clear that work is underway on the League. Good selection of opponents, lots of interesting teams. If we do not take into account the CIS level 1-1.5, then at the tournament we will see all the best professional teams in our region. The offline finals for the top 4 are also important, I would like to go there and get some LAN experience. We will do everything possible to make this wish come true,” said streamer Oleg Rachelr Tyurkaev.
The total prize money for the season is 10 million rubles. The competition will take place in a traditional format – with three maps (Best-of-3), where all teams will compete against each other for 2 months. An offline final will take place in May, where the top 4 teams will compete. Anyone can visit it. Additionally, in October 2023, the RKL eSports League was included in the unified calendar of physical education and sports competitions of the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation. This means that League competitions have become official and athletes participating in these tournaments will be able to qualify for official ranks or titles.
Source : MatchTV
I am Barry Fitzgerald and I have been working in the news industry for more than 9 years now. I specialize in covering eSports news and other related topics, and have written articles for various websites. As an avid fan of eSports, I am passionate about providing comprehensive information on the latest happenings in gaming.
