Tundra Esports' sporting director, Alexander "sweetypotz" Shcherbakov, spoke about the club's efforts to establish a CS2 lineup in an interview with an esports portal. He outlined why the project has not yet come to fruition and described recent near-misses that were ultimately halted by financial and market factors.
"I really want to sign a CS roster," Shcherbakov said, noting that recruiting a Counter-Strike team was part of the reason he was brought into the organization. He emphasized, however, that the current market environment is difficult: recent taxes on bookmakers have reduced the available budgets for esports organizations, making signings harder to complete.
Over the past year, he explained, he came very close to finalizing a roster on two separate occasions. The first plan was to assemble a team from various individual pieces, but the deal fell apart for technical reasons — chiefly because it required securing a large sum of money on a tight timeline.
The second opportunity involved signing the roster known as BETERA. That option stalled when problems emerged with bookmakers, and the process stopped moving forward. In both cases, those external financial pressures were decisive.
Asked about the immediate prospects, Shcherbakov said that everything is blocked by funding. "As soon as it's possible to put together the squad the way I see it — with a proper bootcamp and competitive salaries — I'm ready to consider any options," he stated, making clear that roster quality and infrastructure are non-negotiable for him.
He also revealed there is currently a Russian-speaking team performing at a high level that he would like to bring into Tundra. When asked whether he recognized any players there, his answer was emphatic: "Yes, yes, yes," indicating familiar faces among that roster.
Shcherbakov joined Tundra in 2025. Before that, he worked as a manager for Counter-Strike lineups at Cloud9 and at Gambit Esports. At the time of his remarks, Tundra did not field a Counter-Strike team; the organization’s public competitive presence was limited to a Dota 2 roster.