On the eve of the start of StarLadder CIS 2021, Akuma player Sergey “Sergiz” Atamanchuk gave an interview on the official channel of the tournament, in which he shared his thoughts on the team’s preparation. He noted that the team has every chance to qualify for the major and expects to be in the top five at these competitions. He also mentioned that the team did not use any special training system – Basically, the participants worked on their individual skills.
However, Akuma's first two appearances at the tournament were unsuccessful. They were defeated by forZe 0:2, prompting some commentators to note the stark difference between the team's performance in the previous tournament and its current state. On June 28, she suffered another defeat — from Gambit, also with a score of 0 : 2.
On the one hand, there is nothing surprising in losing to a team that is now at the top of the world rankings. On the other hand, two crushing defeats in a row and the fact that so far the players have not managed to retain a single card made analysts again recall that Akuma was accused of cheating at the previous tournament. In the next two days, the team will play two more matches - against Natus Vincere and Nemiga.
