At ESL Pro League Season 20, Heroic faced a major setback after their first map victory against Ninjas in Pyjamas (NIP) was overturned due to the use of a banned feature called Snap Tap.

The controversy unfolded during their opening match on the map Ancient, where Heroic initially secured a 13-10 win.

However, during the break between maps, ESL announced that the victory had been invalidated because one of Heroic’s players had used Snap Tap, a movement-automating feature available on certain Razer keyboards.

Snap Tap allows players to switch directions instantly by prioritising the last key pressed, effectively making counter-strafing perfect.

While this feature can still be used in online tournaments, it was recently banned from in-person events by ESL, following Valve’s stance that it undermines the skill-based nature of games like Counter-Strike 2.

The detection of Snap Tap in Heroic’s gameplay led to the immediate nullification of their map win, putting NIP ahead 1-0 in the series.

Following their 1-2 defeat in the group stage clash, René “?TeSeS?” Madsen admitted that he was the player who accidentally used the Snap Tap feature on his keyboard during the first map.

Fucking embarrassing and amateur from me… I turned it off ages ago when it was banned from Valve. I didn’t notice it during the game or anything and obviously didn’t do it on purpose.
I let the boys down and I’m devastated about it… Sry

— René "TeSeS" Madsen (@TesesCS) September 3, 2024

Although no further punishments were levied against the player, the incident has sparked significant controversy within the Counter-Strike community.

Other day one results included two upsets, with FaZe Clan falling to Sangal Esports 1-2 and MIBR sweeping 9z Team 2-0.

Meanwhile, Eternal Fire, Natus Vincere and G2 Esports eased through their opening round matches, recording 2-0 wins over FlyQuest, Lynn Vision and KOI, respectively.

Wednesday’s ESL Pro League fixtures

• Team Spirit ($1.04) vs Wildcard ($9.00) @ 1:30pm CEST
• The MongolZ ($1.50) vs 3DMAX ($2.50) @ 1:30pm CEST
• Eternal Fire ($1.53) vs Sangal Esports ($2.37) @ 4:30pm CEST
• FlyQuest ($6.50) vs FaZe Clan ($1.10) @ 4:30pm CEST
• Lynn Vision ($4.50) vs Heroic ($1.16) @ 7:30pm CEST
• Natus Vincere ($1.11) vs Ninjas in Pyjamas ($6.00) @ 7:30pm CEST

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