tory on the women’s CS2 pro scene: “We need more support from Valve, just like in Valorant.”
Clutchain Female rifler Victoria “tory” Kazieva reflected on the development of the women’s CS scene in a podcast on Artem “malik” Arkhipov’s YouTube channel, and also spoke about her hiatus from professional play and playing on a men’s team.
On the development of the women’s scene
We need more support from Valve, just like in Valorant—Riot really supports the women’s scene there and organizes tournaments. We just [need] three tournaments a year for women, and then everything would be fine, just like it was with ESL Impact. [Back then] everything rested on ESL’s shoulders. If we could have one tournament from ESL, one from BLAST, and one from PGL, the women’s scene would thrive and grow. Plus, if Valve would support it in any way at all.
On the hiatus in her pro-gaming career
We don’t really have any tournaments right now, and we’re not training. I posted on Telegram and in my Stories that I’m putting my esports career on hold for now and want to focus on streaming, because I don’t want to just sit around training without knowing whether there will be tournaments or not. I enjoy streaming, and I want to focus more on streaming. <...>
...> I’ll be grinding CS. I’d also like to participate in some media tournaments, because I feel like competition is in my blood. And I want to participate in at least some media tournaments, maybe instead of women’s tournaments.
On playing on a men’s team
I don’t think I’d want to, because it’s mentally tough to play with men—they’ll treat you differently just because you’re a woman. Even if that weren’t the case, I’d still feel like it would be. Especially as captain—if I were to join a team, I don’t think they’d really listen to me. I don’t know… Even on a platform like FACEIT, when I play with more well-known players, they might not listen to me because it’s a matter of trust—and because I’m a woman—it’s a stereotype, again.
Earlier in this podcast, Victoria “tory” Kazieva talked about receiving an invite to BLAST Bounty Winter 2025 and participating in a match against Natus Vincere, as well as reflecting on the future of women’s Counter-Strike.
Photo by Luc Bouchon, ESL.
