Reason Gaming has announced their new Counter-Strike 2 roster, signing the full-Polish ‘M1’ roster as the organisation looks to do damage at the international level. The British organisation sign an M1 who have made recent strides in European competition, but were under scrutiny in June after Ence made their concerns public regarding fair play.
The full-Polish roster, competing largely in European online competition, has seen a recent rankings surge to their Grand Final run at YGames Pro Series Season 5, which saw them defeat Ence, Eclot and Cypershoke before losing in the Grand Final in a rematch against Ence.
Crucially, the roster has secured the required wins to secure a Valve ranking. Despite not showing on the latest snapshot of the rankings, HLTV’s VRS live model has the roster at #93, providing a pathway for future progression. The roster expects to compete in United21, ESEA Advanced and intends to “push” for European Pro League.
We are thrilled to be back in Counter Strike. This game is rooted in our history and we can’t wait to watch this new iteration of Reason start competing under our name. It’s also great to be back in Polish esports!
Adam ‘Blanks’ Heath, Owner of Reason Gaming
Reason Gaming previously had a long-term Polish roster in League of Legends, but it’s their Counter-Strike heritage, which saw them qualify for the 2014 Katowice Major, that they now must invoke as they re-enter international competition.
Reason Gaming’s owner responds to Ence “integrity concerns”
M1 found themselves at the centre of controversy prior to the YGames Pro Series Season 5 Grand Final against Ence, with the Finnish org sharing “integrity concerns” on X. ENCE’s coach, enkay J went as far as to post a video on YouTube detailing what the twitter post describes as “behaviours and actions that raise significant questions about fair play.”
The allegations received an official response from the Tournament Organiser (TO), Y-Games Slovakia. In the statement, the TO asserts that Akros anti-cheat was used from closed-qualifiers onwards, Teamspeak was monitored and reviewed from the main stage onwards, and, from the second week, teams were required to supply camera feeds of their monitors. That particular feed was only made public for the Grand Final.
Despite reassurances, the issue was not the first time a member of the roster had been put under scrutiny. While AntyVirus was playing for Illuminar as a stand-in, Adrian ‘Kadziu’ Lis took the decision to step away from the roster, providing the following statement:
“After today’s match and day, I’m resigning from playing in this lineup and tournament. I won’t hide that this whole situation looks very strange, especially Antyvirus‘s other remaining actions. From the start, I didn’t want to play with such a stand-in and was against it, but unfortunately, I let myself be persuaded.” (translated)
Following enquiries from Esports News UK, Reason Gaming provided the following statement:
Sadly allegations like this happen all the time in CS, it’s the ugly side of what betting does to the game. On the one hand it provides increased viewership, sponsorship, and money to the industry. On the other it opens the doors for match fixing allegations, threats towards players and organisations, and other antisocial behaviour. As with any team we talk to, we have done an extensive investigation on the team and their matches.
Adam ‘Blanks’ Heath, Owner of Reason Gaming
Reason Gaming’s new roster is:
Kamil ‘suonko’ Węgrzynkiewicz
Piotr ‘PeTeRoOo’ Barcik
Piotr ‘Frontsiderr’ Moś
Dominik ‘fanatyk’ Barkiet
Miłosz ‘AntyVirus’ Konieczka
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Darragh Harbinson is an esports writer specialising in Counter-Strike. He has written for Esports News UK, Esports Insider, UKCSGO, Dexerto, and Rush B Media.
