Dunked in a frozen lake: Season 2 of awkward CSGO reality show Gamerz begins
Cringe.
I have no idea how dunking a bunch of 20-somethings in a hole in a frozen lake helps pro esports organisation Fnatic find a new Counter-Strike: Global Offensive academy team, nor how watching a largely unfit group tackle a kind of special ops obstacle course helps their cause, but it's cringingly fun to watch. And that, I suppose, is what Season 2 of CSGO reality show Gamerz is all about.
Gamerz whittles CSGO applications from all over Europe (this is the Euro edition) into two teams of six players, then moves them into a house together for 20 days, and peppers them with various challenges in addition to playing the game. Over the course of the show, underperforming players will be turfed out and replaced by new challengers entering the fray.
There's a new episode every day, in addition to live lunchtime practices, and Episode 3 airs today. Episode 1 follows the gang, which includes two UK players - ardiis and neph - as they meet each other, do the military exercises mentioned above, and settle into their new house. It's all a bit contrived and awkward, naturally, but settles in Episode 2 when the two fresh teams get down to business in a best of 30 CSGO match.
Episode 3 ought to take the all-male group out on another excursion to mix things up. Excursions in Gamerz Season 1 included very badly playing football, doing assault courses under the watch of a personal trailer, and meeting some goats. I... what?
The winning team of Gamerz earns a place at the Fnatic Academy, and the opportunity to go on and join the elite and well paid ranks of the CSGO esports scene.