eSports in Ukraine – Teams, and Leagues That Everyone Should Know Of!

Ukraine stands as one of the top eSports Organizations in the European Union. Ukrainian eSports have been producing some of the biggest eSports superstars to take down the fierce European and worldwide competitors. This federation has been around for quite some time now and has been consistent in producing top-notch players and delivering amazing results. Ukraine is no stranger to the eSports scene, and Ukrainian teams and players have been winning many tournaments throughout the years. That makes them one of the fiercest competitors on the scene!

This eSports Federation is providing innovative and entertaining ways to dominate the scene, and Ukrainian eSports has its presence in the biggest gaming titles.

Whenever a Ukrainian superstar is being mentioned, it always reminds us of the top-quality show they put on. Ukrainian eSports pro players are famous for their concrete game knowledge, good game sense, and lightning-fast reflexes.

Consistently standing on the leaderboards, Ukrainian players have become superstars worldwide. That said, their gameplay is what separates them from being ‘regular’ players to real eSports superstars! The Ukrainian eSports Federation did a massive move and became one of the first federations to recognize eSports as an official sport. Ukrainian gamers are among the most popular eSports stars in the world, and with names as Dendi, S1mple, Zeus,  Resolut1on, and many others- it’s no wonder why!

Most of the Ukrainian pro players are filling up the most dedicated teams throughout Europe. While some of the superstars are a part of big organization names from Ukraine such as Na’Vi, Team Spirit, or Pro100GG, others have moved out of Ukraine and currently play in some of the best eSports teams in the world. Nonetheless, these eSports teams have managed to take many championships and tournaments throughout the world, and they’re not focusing just on one game title.

The Rise of eSports in Ukraine

Ukraine is no stranger to eSports. The Ukrainian eSports market was among the earliest to come to life in Europe, as it was fueled by the availability and big interest from young talents to play video games. A big set of uprising talents on the horizon got them the title of being the most successful eSports country in Europe.

Statistically speaking, Ukrainian gamers are spending more time than the average gamer on their PCs and consoles. Even in these tiring times of the pandemic, gaming becomes more and more popular in Ukraine. The recognition of eSports is finally being taken seriously by the government, and the Ukrainian eSports Federation UESF and Ukrainian Professional Cybersport Association managed to bring eSports recognized and officialized by their government as a sport.

The Most Popular Tournaments and Events

Being one of the most popular countries in the world when it comes to eSports, the Ukrainian association regularly organizes big events and tournaments with amazing prize pools. These organizations are constantly pushing their limits to upgrade their production value as well as earn better sponsorships that would guarantee bigger prizes for the players. Ukrainians are no strangers to the local tournaments as well, and there are hundreds of local events taking place across Ukraine every year. But what makes Ukrainian eSports unique is the sheer number of professional players and teams that have been winning hundreds of tournaments and championships worldwide in the past decade.

Despite their local tournaments, Ukrainians are well known for their lust for taking trophies from around the world.  Statistics show that Ukraine is one of the best prize-earning countries per player when it comes to eSports. Unsurprisingly, prize money is one of the key factors to keep players motivated to not hold back on the competition.

Although eSports brings uniqueness and creativity to the players, professional gaming is one of the most time-consuming and skill-based professions, and it requires a lot of hard work and practice to stand out from the competition. Ukrainian viewers are keeping up with the Twitch.tv trend to watch and enjoy every moment of the tournaments. Viewers from Ukraine are always passionate about supporting their favorite teams/players!

Supporters of Ukrainian eSports usually watch the events and tournaments on Twitch.tv – the number one streaming platform for eSports and gaming around the world. Most of the tournaments and events are being streamed on Twitch and watched by thousands of fans.

Ukrainian eSports superstars have multiple championships under their belt, and they’re among the most successful gamers in the world. Starting from Counter-Strike, Dota 2, and Player Unknown Battlegrounds, their specter of popular gaming championships won is increasing tremendously.

PUBG Mobile Campus Championship Ukraine 2020

With mobile gaming slowly taking over, the Ukrainian thirst for competing cannot be ignored. The Battle Royale hit game Player Unknown Battlegrounds, also known as PUBG, recently hit the iOS App Store and Google Play Store. Tencent did a marvelous job of porting the PC game into mobile devices so it’s expected for PUBG Mobile to become competitive at some point.

Ukraine hosted one of the first PUBG Mobile championships in the world! This event represents the large caliber and seriousness of the competition. The Ukrainian eSports Federation followed up with Tencent and eSports Ukraine put amazing efforts to make the Championship tournament flawless! According to both the audience and competitors, the whole event went as smoothly as expected.

This Championship was one of the first PUBG Championships in Ukraine of this caliber. The rich prize pool of $3,800 brought the heat up among players. With such a prize, gamers couldn’t resist but bring their best cards to the table.

This championship was watched for a cumulative of 6 thousand hours! Statistics show that Ukrainian eSports fans loved the event, with thousands of viewers interacting through Twitch and other streaming platforms. Streamed real-time across their official media, the event brought many PUBG fans together and paved the way for mobile eSports gaming to reach new heights. The Championship had 61 hours of air time and was a really refreshing and fun experience. With such success last year, it is only to be expected that this year’s PUBG Mobile Championship will set the bar sky-high.

University Master Cup 2019

This event was first introduced and established for non-professional teams so the new and upcoming talents get a fair chance on the new opportunity. The Ukrainian eSports Federation was searching for young gamers who could put on a show, which was partly their goal for this event. According to the competitors and the audience, the University Master Cup 2019 was executed flawlessly!

The event was divided over a few days, featuring three of the most played titles ever. Dota 2, as the biggest game on this event started on 18.05.2019. It’s safe to say that they completed their mission of entertaining the audience! With stunning numbers hitting thousands of viewers for just 25 hours of watch time, the event surpassed all expectations. The prize pool for the event was $2,000 plus allowing stepping into the Ukrainian official eSports scene for the most skilled players.

Another part of this event was the Counter-Strike Global Offensive Championship. Counter-Strike Global Offensive has been out for quite a while and has been topping the charts since its release. It was a revolutionary game for the FPS genre, and its concurrent viewers are always among the top on Twitch.tv. This event was not far from the norm. With just 3 hours of air time, it gathered thousands of viewers, and the top prize was $2,000 plus membership in the big leagues.

Ukraine is no stranger to the gaming trends. The event also included the biggest eSports MOBA of today, League of Legends. With millions of players still enjoying the game, it was featured on the University Master Cup 2019 as well, with a prize pool of $1,200.

Other Competitions

The Ukrainian eSports federation UESF did wonders in pushing eSports across the country to the next level. Acknowledged by the ministry, this industry has been growing massively in Ukraine. Ukrainian talents get their recognition everywhere, and they often get called prodigies for consistently dominating the leaderboards. That being said, they have the support from millions of viewers online and many A-list teams keep an eye on them.

Ukrainian players’ talent and charisma can’t be ignored. They regularly get scouted and are being picked by eSports giants. The big knowledge and game sense make their decision-making more aggressive and notable, and their unique content is something that keeps the hype up on social media sites.

Extended throughout the top eSports teams worldwide, they’ve put so many trophies under their belts. With hundreds of tournaments, Ukrainian players, as well as trustworthy Ukrainian eSports websites have among the biggest earnings in this industry.

eSports Ukraine is constantly under development to become the best in this business. Ukrainian superstars are going savage on the mission to take pole positions and win tournaments throughout Europe. From taking down the biggest competitors to often playing a meta of their own, they’re called the fiercest players for a reason!

Tournament Wins and Earnings

Ukrainian players have the biggest percentage of taking championship titles as well as international pole positions. With their wide range of gaming talents in different genres, Ukrainian gamers are competing in the biggest eSports game titles. Counter-Strike Global Offensive, Dota 2, and League of Legends are among the most played and watched games ever, and Ukrainian teams and players have been winning the biggest tournaments in these games for more than a decade. Honorable mentions for some of the biggest tournaments Ukrainian teams have won include ESL Cologne, Dota International, LCS, etc.

Starting with an enormous prize pool of multiple million dollars, The Dota International has its limits moved up every year. The quality and the organization of this tournament are out of the question, and it all started with the outstanding showcasing of the most famous Ukrainian Dota 2 team – Na’Vi.

The top-earning Ukrainian player is the Dota 2 master Vladimir ‘Noone’ Minenk. He is in the Top 50 in the World and is topping the list in Ukraine’s top earnings with $1,627,223. Followed up with his Dota colleague Roman ‘Resolut1on’ Fominok with earnings of $1,469,220, it only shows why eSports Ukraine was taken seriously by the Ukrainian minister and considered as an official sport.

Although the Counter-Strike competitions were always there on the horizon, the biggest ‘boom’ happened with the release of CS: GO. Earlier versions of Counter-Strike known as Counter-Strike Classic or 1.6 were huge indicators that this might become the biggest competitive scene.  The iconic FPS game evolved into its newer version called Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, making it more tactical and ultimately more popular than its ancestor.

The superstar Alexander ‘S1mple’ Kostyliev holds the number 1 spot in the earnings chart for CS: GO. With just a few years in this competition, he managed to win over 10 Championships and his rewards money-wise stand on $820,888. That makes the young superstar standing in the top 70 in the world for earning just from tournaments and number 4 in Ukraine.

Honorable mentions that have been topping the leaderboard and earning charts in some of the hottest eSports games include Na’Vi’s Dota superstar ‘Dendi’ and CS: GO’s most famous rifler ‘Zeus’.

Na’Vi Top Pole Tournaments

Na’Vi represents the pinnacle of Ukrainian eSports gaming. This is one of the most dedicated and well-organized competitive teams not only in Ukraine but in the world! The team has been recruiting Ukrainian players and making great results in some of the top eSports tournaments for over a decade, and it all started when Na’Vi won the first Dota 2 International back in 2011.

With their roster at that time, they managed to take on the IEM 4 European Finals in Cologne Germany. The same year they managed to win more pole positions, such as their win in DreamHack Winter 2010, which was followed up with their biggest success to date.

Taking the throne of The International 2011, the biggest Dota 2 and eSports tournament at the time with the first-time to-be-seen $1,000,000 as a prize pool is one of the reasons why eSports and gaming became so popular in Ukraine.

Known Ukrainian eSports Athletes

With the number of eSports tournaments rising day by day and eSports becoming more accessible by everyone, Ukrainian titans arrive with prodigies in multiple gaming categories. Ukrainian players are well known throughout the world for their recognizable playstyle. Some of them focus on the top-grossing titles in the industry such as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Dota 2, Hearthstone, Quake Champions, etc.

Ukrainian players focus mostly on Dota 2. Statistically, the majority of the Dota 2 players come from  East Europe. Taking multiple Championships and having pole positions on some of the biggest Dota 2 tournaments, Ukrainian players are known for their amazing skills and fearless gameplay. Their accomplishments speak on the worldwide level, not just locally.

The number of superstars in Ukraine is rising day by day, alongside the fresh new strategies they bring to the eSports market. Their skillset is recognizable throughout the world, and these players are constantly under the watchful eye of the biggest eSports teams in the world. Most of the eSports associations are watching Ukrainian gamers’ content and want to bring their set of skills into their roster. These are some of the most popular Ukrainian eSports players that have had a massive impact on the Ukrainian eSports progress and gaming as a whole:

Simple(S1mple) – Oleksandr Olehovych Kostyliev

Oleksandr Olenovych Kostyliev, mostly known in the media as ‘S1mple’ is a Ukrainian superstar that made a boom on the Counter-Strike eSports scene. At the age of 23 years, the young uprising superstar has taken the throne as the most valuable player among the Counter-Strike competitors for multiple seasons. With many championships won, he sets new heights of skills almost impossible to reach.

Guided by his teammate ‘GuardiaN’ in the roster of Na’Vi, ‘S1mple’, also known as ‘Sasha’ by his teammates, stepped into the big leagues and had quite the impact. His aggressive playstyle as a role of AWPer is supported by his insane knowledge of the game. However, this role doesn’t mean that he is lacking the skill of assault rifles.

S1mple’s first major win was in 2016 at the ESL ONE – New York 2016 when Na’Vi managed to win the finals against the tough Polish bears Virtus Pro. Like everyone else in their young age, he got pretty confident and opened up some conspiracies about his behavior on the team.

He is known for coming to all the tournaments well prepared. He is one step ahead of everyone as his game sense is on another level. Reading their moves before they happen is something that nobody can deny. His lightning-fast reactions and KD of well above 1.33 makes ‘S1mple’ titled as Most Valuable Player in more than 15 major tournaments in his career.

Fun Fact: The breathtaking clutch on the Major against the fierce Fnatic in the finals was being immortalized by Valve. The developers were stunned by the play of Oleksandr so they put spray for the clutch on the Official Map-Cache. ‘S1mple’ managed to clutch 1v2 with his most used weapon AWP with a stunt: a mid-air headshot with no scope. This move was something that had never been seen in a  high-risk match before, especially in the finals. After that, he even tattooed the spray on himself afterward to be reminded of his greatness.

Dendi – Danil Ishutin

Danil ‘Dendi’ Ishutin born on December 30, 1989, is Dota and Dota 2 superstar who evolved from a local legend to a worldwide icon. Starting his eSports journey from humble beginnings, he started playing DOTA as a Warcraft 3 mod. As a veteran in MOBA games, he started to win local coffee tournaments before he got noticed by the big teams.

‘Dendi’ started his journey in Dota 2 playing the Support role as he climbed the ranks and learned the mechanics. At some point, his talent for the Solo Mid position was undeniable. As eSports took new heights, the recognition of eSports started to develop to become the next big thing to look out for. After Valve bought the title and upgraded it to Dota 2, the young Danil made a massive decision to transfer his skills to the new title by Valve Dota 2.

He was picked by Na’Vi as they saw the potential of ‘Dendi’ as a Solo Mid Captain not long after they saw his performance in Dota 2. With the Na’Vi roster, he accomplished many wins and pole positions on the biggest Championships Worldwide. He is placed as the number 5 in most earned money from eSports Ukraine.  Among the rich trophies, his biggest achievements are winning The International 2011, StarLadder i-League StarSeries Season 2, and Dota 2 Champions League Season 2 among many others.

Pro100.gg – A Worthy Team to Follow

Before the creation of Na’Vi, Pro100.gg was the team to look at in the early eSports Ukraine CS: GO scene.  Danylo ‘Zeus‘ Teslenko created this team and was the Team Captain for the Counter-Strike roster. With this strong roster, they managed to accomplish so much for the early stages of eSports in Ukraine.

After winning three of the ASUS Open Tournaments in the classic Counter-Strike, the forming roster got picked by bigger eSports organizations in that time. They decided to make a big pause of 10 years before the idea was brought back by ‘Zeus’. Like a phoenix from the ashes, this organization got back in 2017 and started winning more events. Three of the honorable mentions are winning the DreamHack Delhi Invitational 2019, Qi Banja Luka 2019, and HardCup.

UESF – The National Federation of eSports Organizations

The Ukrainian eSports federation UESF is one of the most dedicated sports organizations around the world. eSports in Ukraine were pushed hard as the Ukrainian ministry recognized the talent and dedication of Ukrainian youth and sports. The Ministry of Ukraine made a great decision to make eSports an official sport in 2020. Many believe that the Ukrainian eSport Federation UESF did an amazing job of putting Ukrainians in the biggest industry on the map.

That being said, Ukraine is one of the first countries to have eSports approved as an official sport by their government. With multiple players and teams participating in some of the biggest eSports tournaments in the world, the sky’s the limit for Ukrainian players.

Known Ukrainian eSports Teams

When someone mentions eSports, Ukrainian teams are always among the first that come to mind. Providing viewers around the world with extraordinary fun, every gamer knows that whenever a Ukrainian team participates in a tournament – fun is guaranteed! Ukrainian players often set a new meta in the most popular games and are featured on top of the leader boards. With their talent, they are regularly getting picked by the largest eSports teams around the world.

These are some of the most popular Ukrainian eSports teams:

• Na’Vi – The Na’Vi Dota 2 and CS: GO teams have won multiple major tournaments, including The Dota 2 International, ESL Dream Hack, Dream Hack Cologne and others.
• Team Spirit – Team Spirit is the second most successful Ukrainian eSports team, both in earnings and tournaments won.
• Pro100.gg – Pro100.gg is a popular name when it comes to Ukrainian eSports team. This is the first A-list Ukrainian CS: GO team that was recreated in 2017 and has been winning tournaments even after its reborn

From the giants dominating the industry to local teams that have huge potential, eSports have never been more popular in Ukraine. The first name that comes to mind when hearing eSports in Ukraine is Na’Vi. With their accomplishments, Na’Vi became a huge trend in the eSports industry and paved the way for future Ukrainian eSports teams to form and take their game to the biggest eSports tournaments in the world. Notably, though, there are other teams to keep an eye on, including Pro100.gg and Team Spirit Ukrainian players are popular across the streaming platforms, and their skills and game-decision are keeping the viewers and competition on their toes!

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