MartinezSa: Smaller events are gateways to tier-one
HEROIC beat 100 Thieves to win Stake Pulse Beat II. Antonio ‘MartinezSa’ Martinez called smaller events gateways to tier-one tournaments and described the victory as boosting their Major qualification points.
HEROIC defeated 100 Thieves to lift the Stake Pulse Beat II trophy. The title came less than three months after the club formed its current roster and followed a prior win at Stake Ranked Episode 3. The team earned tournament points that count toward the PGL Major Singapore cutoff.
MartinezSa described the win as important after several lost closed qualifiers that offered many points. He said the result “feels really good for us,” and noted the points improve HEROIC’s chances ahead of the Major cutoff. The squad also won its closed qualifier for IEM Beijing.
The grand final began on Ancient, where HEROIC led 10-6 before 100 Thieves recovered to force overtime and send the match to Inferno. On Inferno, stand-in susp produced the match’s top performance. MartinezSa described susp as “unkillable until the last round of the half,” recalling a round in which susp spammed through smoke for four kills and later secured an ace after pushing a smoke.
MartinezSa credited new additions for stabilizing the lineup. Emil “Brollan” brings playoff experience and acts as a secondary in-game voice who assists main caller Chr1zN and handles some CT-side calling. MartinezSa outlined role distribution: he and susp take many entry and active playmaking duties, while niko operates as the lurker and primary star. Coach doto, promoted from HEROIC’s academy, contributed game plans, preparation and pauses that helped the team reset during matches.
HEROIC plan a short break before returning for Stake Pulse III and a media day for IEM Beijing. MartinezSa expects those events will likely be their final tournaments before the Major cutoff and said the season goal remains to qualify for the Major.
MartinezSa reflected on his personal situation after the win, calling HEROIC his first international team and noting the adjustment to playing in a different language: “I’m so happy to be in this team, my first international team.”
Follow the latest CS2 developments and visit our CS2 skin market to see what is currently available.
Articles by this author
