While people in the Czech Republic are well-known for their love of traditional sports like football, ice hockey, volleyball and tennis, it seems that the younger generation is increasingly getting into competitive gaming. Esports has become one of the fastest growing entertainment trends of the 21st century, and playing video games has become a massive hit in the Czech Republic.
From Czech gamers battling on classic esports like League of Legends and Counter-Strike Global Offensive, to players getting some surprisingly good results in sports simulators like the Formula One Esports Series, it seems that the Czech Republic is taking to the esports phenomenon with ease.
What’s interesting is that Czech gamers seem to be excelling at the game of Hearthstone. This collectable card game is one of the biggest esports around, and the Czech Republic team have dominated the game recently.
With veteran stars like Jamomir ‘Jarla’ Vyskocil and Mikulas ‘Pokrovac’ Dio in their ranks, it’s little surprise to find that the Czech Republic has picked up top honours for important tournaments like the Hearthstone Global Games and the HCT Tour Stops. Plus with plenty of new blood like Vasek ‘Findan’ Prosser on board, then we can expect the Czech team to feature well in the HCT Summer Championships in the future.
But what about the popular games like Counter Strike Global Offensive and League of Legends? Everybody knows that League of Legends is the world’s most favourite, and you can bet on teams, players and much more at some LoL betting sites.
When it comes to Czech success in the League of Legends realm, then be sure to keep an eye on the 18-year old Czech star, Patrik ‘Sheriff’ Jiru, who has been in some incredible form for the H2K LoL team recently. In 2018, Sheriff managed to cause shockwaves in the Counter-Strike realm when he took down the ADC icon Rekkles in the match between H2K and Fnatic. What was more impressive is the fact that this was one of the first times that the young Czech gamer had played in the LCS and it’s going to be fascinating to see where he goes from here.
Counter-Strike Global Offensive is the most popular esports title in the Czech Republic, and the nation’s gamers have shown that they can easily take on the world’s best. There are currently six pro-CSGO teams playing in the Czech Republic with the likes of Extatus, Esuba and Neophyte all picking up some significant prize winnings.
While the Czech team didn’t fare too well in the first Overwatch World Cup, there are plenty of signs that gamers from the nation seem to be picking up sports simulators with lots of success. Nowhere can this be better seen that in the Formula One Esports Series. Here we have witnessed top Czech gamers like Martin Stefanko and Michal Smidl getting signed up to represent the Haas Formula One team in the esports tournaments.
Stefanko has already picked up plenty of acclaim for winning the Virtual GP title, and it’s hoped that the pair can help the Czech Republic find success in the Formula One Esports Series like Tomas Enge managed in the real-life Formula One races.
What’s truly impressive is how even some of the Czech Republic’s most prominent sporting institutions have started getting behind esports. Last year we saw the iconic football team, Sparta Prague, entering its own players into the FIFA 19 domestic and international esports competitions.
So while the Czech Republic might be well known for giving the world acclaimed sports stars like Petra Kvitova and Pavel Nedved, it seems that esports is giving young Czech gamers another chance to get short at glory.
