In most cases, our website features interviews with players from our partner teams or, on rare occasions, with the organisation’s CEO. This time, however, we have quite a notable exception. A man who has probably done everything in the underground esports scene. From being a player to a commentator, and currently organising tournaments. He is, of course, the CEO of Feather Cup – Lerty Area. In our conversation, he touched on a few interesting aspects of his career, both as a player and a commentator. I invite all those curious to read on:
[R] Hi Lerty Area, to start with, please introduce yourself to our readers and tell us a little bit about yourself.
Hi everyone, I’m Lertyarea and most of you probably know me as a commentator, the administrator of the “Polish CS2 Underground” community, or for organising the Feather Cup tournament. Apart from that, I’m a huge fan of volleyball and the gym.
[R] How did your journey with CS begin, and what made you decide to get involved in the scene more ‘professionally’?
Generally speaking, my story with CS began quite amusingly around 2017/2018, when I was a hater of the game because I thought it was overhyped, but I quickly caught the bug and became fascinated by it, especially the AWP, which I could spend up to 12 hours a day playing on community servers like 1S2K AWP, Fragujemy and UWujka. I reckon the people I played with back then still recognise my nickname to this day. I only started getting seriously involved in the game in 2022, when my interest and skills were slowly growing, but factors such as the internet and then the switch to CS2 blocked that opportunity for me. I became a commentator out of passion for the game, and today I’m even organising a tournament that I’d planned to run almost three years ago, but that’s a story for another time.
[R] You have experience in various roles – sniper, rifler, IGL. Which of these roles gave you the most satisfaction and why?
Being a sniper definitely gave me the most satisfaction; everyone has surely had that moment once in their life where they picked up a sniper rifle and won a round, or perhaps the whole match, landing an incredible flick or quick scope. It’s definitely the role that gets you most hyped, and it is – or rather was in CS:GO – one of the most important and spectacular roles. In CS2, I definitely really enjoyed playing as a sniper, because I could shout at my mates on Pandemonium and Nox, and this role really develops your perception of the game and what’s happening around you.
[R] What challenges did you face in your first team, Phoenix Ignis, and what did they teach you?
Learning to play as a team is definitely a different game to Faceit or casual MMs, but for me at the time, it was certainly a challenge due to my internet connection.
[R] Pandemonium Nox is the team with which you achieved the greatest success in your esports career. How do you look back on those matches and the atmosphere within the team?
I wouldn’t exactly call it a ‘career’ in the strictest sense, as that sounds a bit silly given that I never played in the ESEA, and the furthest I got in Arrmy was the Arrmy Open to Rising playoffs, where I finished the season with a negative K/D ratio, but I have great memories of that time, because it was definitely the best team I’ve played with so far – perhaps not in terms of skill, but in terms of atmosphere and vibe. I reckon that if we’d trained more and developed further, Arrmy Rising could have been ours.
[R] You had internet issues at the start of your career. How did you cope with those difficulties, and did it affect your development? Do you think that if it weren’t for those problems, you’d still be playing for a team?
If I hadn’t had those problems, I reckon I could have easily reached rank 10 in CS:GO just as I did in CS2; obviously, the mindset was different, but I believe I would have developed my skills faster, because I feel my internet connection held back my career and development and I could have been better, but right now I reckon reaching 2500 ELO is my ceiling – not necessarily in terms of skill, but mentally. I’m no longer looking for a future in esports, at least not as a player. I think that if it weren’t for these problems, I’d still be playing for a team.
[R] You also have experience commentating on matches. What attracted you most to this role, and how do you rate your first attempts?
I started commentating because I was benched at Phoenix Ignis precisely because I had an unstable internet connection; back then, a 100-ping connection was considered ‘good internet’ for me, which I didn’t even have very often, and I think every viewer of my streams remembers this – when I was on GOTV, I had a 1500-ping connection on stream, and sometimes even more. My first attempts began with a duo cast with another commentator, Sadek, whom I still mention on streams or in interviews, because he’s the duo cast partner with whom I commentated on almost every one of my matches at the start, and it was funny because, looking back, I think I was a hopeless commentator, but I had back then what I’d like to have today: that enthusiasm.
[R] How do your experiences as a player help you with commentary? Do you view the game differently from other commentators?
In a way, analysis – especially as an IGL – really helps me read what the players on both teams are doing, knowing the map positions, and I think that someone who hasn’t played the game, at least in my opinion, won’t experience it in the same way or enjoy commentating on it as much as someone who has played it and perhaps even wanted to be commentated on themselves, having been a player, you have a clue what’s going on on the server.
[R] You started your journey into organising tournaments with the EAL – tell me, what prompted you to launch such a project and why didn’t you ‘push’ it further?
I actually started my journey back in 2022 when I was already planning my first tournament, but I won’t say anything about that for now because I’ll come back to it later thanks to Feather. What prompted me to organise this tournament was the growth of our CS underground community and the wider community; together with the lads, we had big plans and were even in talks with MLE, having been invited to join the administration of their tournament. The ‘transfer’ didn’t happen mainly because of our lack of desire to join MLE at that point; I didn’t push it further due to my disappearance, which I’d announced even before the start of the EAL, because unfortunately, for personal reasons, I couldn’t handle the pressure and had to put my online life on hold.
[R] There was the EAL; now we have the Feather Cup as your main project. What inspired you to create the Feather Cup, and what were the first steps in organising the tournament?
As for the Feather Cup, you could say it was a whim and a matter of conscience. I messed up with the EAL, which I organised together with Husarz and Szampersyn; admittedly, I don’t agree that the EAL has a reputation as a tournament that failed because of my departure, but I can’t deny that my departure contributed significantly to the failure. Despite everything, I owed Husarz 100 zł, which I’ve since settled by donating the collection to a child in need. The first step was definitely writing to eox and announcing the tournament itself; we were looking for the first partners and teams. It also turned out that teams weren’t the problem – at least not a lack of them, but rather an excess. We’ll talk about this in detail in our YouTube video, which will be released in September with all the answers to the drama and so on.
[R] What were the biggest challenges with the first edition of the tournament, and what gave you the greatest satisfaction?
The biggest challenge was money – a typical problem in Poland, which is why there are no tournaments, and the ones that did exist sometimes didn’t pay out. Well, we managed to sort it out, and for those who are curious, the prize pool was 300 zł, but I spent around 500 zł on the event itself.
[R] Do you have any ideas for new formats or innovations you’d like to introduce in future editions?
Yes, definitely Elo-based seeding; we won’t be messing about with random team groupings where a 1300 Elo average might end up against a 3000 Elo average. We’ll improve the rules and a few other things – I’d definitely like to increase the number of commentators for next season.
[R] In your opinion, what qualities are key to succeeding as a tournament organiser on the Polish CS scene?
That’s a question best asked of someone who’s already achieved something in this field – you can joke about Axemis, but it’s the perfect question for him as the more experienced one; I’ve only organised two tournaments so far, whereas he’s done many, plus LANs. From my perspective, definitely patience and resilience to hate – not letting it get to you when people mock you, just getting on with the job.
[R] What is most important to you personally when working on a tournament – the competitive aspect, the community, or the development of the CS scene?
For me, the most important thing is to combine all these elements; I believe that without one, the other aspects won’t exist.
[R] How do you assess the development of the Polish CS scene in recent years, and what do you think young players starting out are missing?
When the underground community was starting out, things were bad, and by 2025 the leading Polish teams had collapsed. Of course, we have replacements in the form of Kolesi or Betclic, but they’re mainly the same people we know. The Phantom project has contributed greatly to this development – it’s all Poles who didn’t give up. As a commentator, I watch Polish teams in ESEA competitions all the time, and this season I was surprised by how many Polish teams we have in the Intermediate and Main divisions; there used to be 3–6 of these teams, and today there are perhaps around 20 teams in total across both divisions. Young players lack teams, or rather organisations that can provide them with opportunities for development; there aren’t really many such organisations in the ESEA scene in Poland, and I’m talking here about organisations like Phantom, because apart from them we have smaller organisations such as Armitra, TNC, or the lads from The Vynz, who are doing a great job of developing esports in Poland.
[R] Is there anything you’d like to say to young people who want to try their hand at the ‘big leagues’? I’m not just talking about playing in a team, but also about creating various esports projects.
Play, but don’t waste time doing so, because that shows a lack of respect not only towards yourselves, but also towards the teammates you play with and, most importantly, the people who support you. Use your head; think not only about what’s happening in front of your crosshairs, but also what’s going on around you and your teammates. Think about the rounds – in my opinion, the best approach is to play retakes, but not just by running around aimlessly, but by testing new possibilities and playing with your head. And of course, practising as an IGL would certainly help you develop your strategic thinking, but these are just my thoughts as someone who has reached level 10, though I’m not an expert in more advanced team play, so you’d need to ask a coach or a professional player about that.
[R] Thank you very much for your time. Is there anyone you’d like to say hello to from here?
Definitely Eoxa, who helped me immensely in organising the tournament, as well as all the spectator teams and anyone who wants to help and has helped, like the team on the server. I’d also like to thank you for conducting this interview.
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