The CS2 team of HEROIC experienced a map victory being reversed during a match against NIP in ESL Pro League Season 20, as the SnapTap feature was discovered on one of their player’s keyboards.
SnapTap is a feature available on some newer keyboards that allows players to more easily counter-strafe in certain input automation modes. Recently, Valve banned SnapTap and other automation macros from CS2 and its competitive circuit.
After ESL implemented a ban on the hardware assistant mode on August 29, other Counter-Strike tournament organizers swiftly followed suit. Despite the widespread usage of such tools among players, many are currently in the process of transitioning away from them and adjusting their settings to comply with the ban.
ESL revealed both during the tournament’s live stream and on social media, while the series was in progress, that the outcome of the match between HEROIC and NIP would be altered from a map victory for HEROIC to a victory for NIP due to the detection of SnapTap.
NIP emerged victorious, with a final score of 2-1.
Before #ESLProLeague we announced that the use of Snap Tap, Rappy Snappy, SOCD or similar assistants is prohibited at our events going forward.During the map of Ancient between @heroicgg & @NIPCS it was found that one of Heroic’s players were using Snap Tap and thus the map has… pic.twitter.com/PwExnpzefS
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) September 3, 2024
Following the match, it was disclosed that René ‘TeSeS’ Madsen was the player utilizing SnapTap. According to the player’s statement on social media, he had disabled the feature on his keyboard following Valve’s declaration of its illegality.
TeSeS expressed his disappointment, admitting that his behavior was unprofessional and shameful. He explained that he had turned off the banned feature from Valve a long time ago and had not noticed it during the game. He assured that it was not intentional and felt devastated for letting his team down.
TeSeS’s colleague, Guy ‘NertZ’ Iluz, clarified on X that the function automatically activates when players switch computers, resulting in its utilization during the match and consequent forfeit of the map.
The team has become the first to face consequences for using SnapTap. CS2 players who use keyboards with hardware assistance must now take extra precautions when setting up their equipment for LAN events in order to avoid potentially losing a series due to punishment.
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