The first Regional Major Ranking (RMR) event of the CIS community, the EPIC League CIS 2021, occurred between May 12th and June 1st, with a prize pool of $40,000. Its first place went to Gambit Esports after turning the game around and beating Virtus.pro. The decisive battle, however, is not the main focus of those who accompany the event. The Ukrainian Akuma, which was granted 3rd place, is the center of a polemic that still extends itself without a clear resolution.

General Overview of the EPIC CIS League Spring 2021

The group phases were not easy to read and, although both Gambit and Virtus.pro held the title of world leaders, they did not have an easy time in ensuring their place in the elimination phase.

Gambit’s way to the final was the less troubled one, with the team quickly revealing its mastery in the play-offs, losing only a single map for Entropiq, which ended in 6th. VP had a more troublesome path, being defeated by Akuma after defeating forZe.

However, they made their way through the lower bracket, eliminating both Team Spirit and Entropiq to finally have their revenge on Akuma with 2-0, the same result Gambit got against the polemic Ukrainian team. VP tried to react in the second half in the map they chose against Gambit, but it was already too late, with an advantage of 8 points.

The first CIS RMR came to an end with Team Spirit holding tight to its leadership, followed by Natus Vincere, VP, Gambit, and Entropiq.

The Akuma Polemic

Fourteen out of the sixteen teams participating in the EPIC CIS League Spring 2021, plus the Russian Unique, delivered a signed letter to Valve claiming that Akuma should be investigated. The only two teams that did not participate were Akuma itself and those from the ex-Marlian.

According to the signatories, the incredible performance of the Akuma team is connected to anti-competitive practices, such as cheating with external help or the use of some radar hack.

Also, in accordance with their claim against the 3rd place in the competition, a minimal or inexisting delay in the GOTV, the fact that the communication between them was not recorded, and the absence of an anti-cheat is strong evidence of their concerns.

Prior to sending the letter, the event was already surrounded by polemics due to the same reasons exposed above. Oleksandr “s1mple” and Alexandr “zorte” were some of the players who complained about the conditions of the RMR event on Twitter.

While there should be nothing to be done to the technical concerns shown during the event, it is worth accompanying if there will be any decision regarding the Ukrainian Akuma.

What to Expect Next?

So far, in an interview with HTLV, the Russian Esports Federation (RESF), one of the companies responsible for the event, admitted the issues that were reported by the players. However, their investigation seems to have revealed no guilt of the Akuma team. In their message, they declare that they welcome any new information that could reopen an investigation.