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Last month, OpTic Gaming, one of the largest esports organizations in the world, had announced its plans to hold tryouts for an Indian Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team.
OpTic Gaming is one of the most known esports organizations in the world and among other achievements, has won the 2017 Call of Duty World League Championship, ELEAGUE Season 2 in 2016 and the Starladder ImbaTV Invitational Season 5. The organization has successful rosters across a variety of esports titles including Call of Duty, CS:GO, League of Legends and Dota 2.
The brand possess a slot in the LCS and is also involved in the Overwatch League (through its ownership of the Houston Outlaws) - slots for which are reported to cost as high as $20 million.
The selection process for the Indian team involved a psychometric evaluation with theoretical tests and a practical evaluation monitored by industry professionals.
The final five players that have been selected are a mix of professional players and newly discovered talent that emerged as a result of the rigorous tryouts. The OpTic India squad will feature Vishal ‘HAIVAAN’ Sharma (21), Sabyasachi ‘ANTIDOTE’ Bose (21), Agneya ‘MARZIL’ Koushik (20), Nikhil ‘FORSAKEN’ Kumawat (21) and Rishab ‘FORMLESS’ Tomar (21).
The team will play under the title ‘OpTic India’ and in addition to being paid competitive salaries, they will be provided with a state of the art team house in Bangalore where they will stay and train together. They will also have access to OpTic Gaming’s international coaches and analysts. Additionally, the team will have technical and coaching support from SoStronk along with content and marketing support from AFK Gaming.
"The tryouts were a super success and we believe that this roster has immense potential. That said, the selection was only the beginning and the real journey for OpTic India has just begun. The support from the local CS:GO community has been overwhelming so far and we're honoured to be able to contribute to the growth of Indian esports." - Jesal J Parekh, International Development Manager.
