In our previous instalment of the “STATE OF THE UNDERGROUND” series, we were joined by Lighta2k, who nominated Szata, the former CEO of Armitra Esports. We asked him why he stepped down from running Armitra Esports and what his new career path looks like, as a Counter-Strike 2 tournament organiser. Questions from our editor are marked [R], and those from the previous guest as [L].
[R] Hi Szataaa, to start with, please introduce yourself to our readers.
First of all, a warm welcome to all our readers. Of course, you may know me by my nickname, Szataaa. I joined UG in 2024, still as a player, but I quickly realised that nothing would come of it. Because I love CS, that’s when the idea of taking over and running the Armitra Esports team was born.
[R] In the past, you served as the owner of Armitra Esports; are you the original founder of this project? Why did you decide to jump ship and hand the project over to others?
I’m not the original owner. I don’t quite remember the whole story myself, but from what I recall, Kam1lkoovy (the current CEO of Vandals) founded Armitra, and then shirjo took it over from him. As I know shirjo, he let me run it alongside him, but he always stayed more in the background. I initially decided to put the project on hold and then sell it so that I could focus fully on developing the Galaxy Cup.
[R] Does organising the Counter-Strike 2 tournament in the broadest sense currently give you more satisfaction than running your own ‘organisation’, or is it perhaps comparable?
I definitely get more joy out of organising the Galaxy Cup, but here I’m focusing on the last two editions with LAN finals in Łódź and Gdańsk. The online editions didn’t inspire as much positive emotion or motivation for development in me.
[R] Which Underground are you currently closer to? What are the strengths of the ‘green underground’ and the ‘red underground’, from your point of view?
Ooh… here I’d most likely say ‘tomato’ [laughs]. I was part of the Green UG administration, but that was ages ago when Baton and Bartman were CEOs, and after that I wasn’t really that interested in those Discords anymore. I certainly don’t hold the owner of one of those communities in high regard, but I’d rather not mention any names here. As for strengths, to be honest, neither one nor the other has that certain something for me that would make people hang out on them day in, day out. It’s always the same old, same old, though that ranking sponsored by Mora Agency was actually a cool project that deserves a mention.
[R] Exactly… if we’re talking about strengths, let’s perhaps talk about the weaknesses – how does it look from your perspective, or from the perspective of a tournament organiser?
Well, when it comes to weaknesses, I’d particularly mention the lack of any regular, interesting activities that would somehow bring the community together.
[R] Does organising tournaments in Poland pay off financially? Does it pay off at all, perhaps in terms of reach? If it pays off in terms of reach, do you have a metric for why, in your opinion, the tournament ‘paid off’? Is it simply a matter of ‘media buzz’?
Let’s start with the more important issue, namely finances. No edition of the Galaxy Cup has yet broken even or made a profit. As organisers, we’ve had to subsidise every edition, but we don’t have a major problem with that. We do it for the love of it, and seeing the reception of previous editions, we want to keep organising more and more editions, gradually learning from our mistakes, ironing them out and creating an ever-better tournament with each edition. As for reach, however, we’ve made significant progress in that area over the last two editions. But these are mainly a source of motivation for us, as we see growing interest in our events, and of course they’re important when talking to partners.
[R] In the underground scene, you often come across the topic of ‘neutrality’. It’s quite a controversial subject. What’s your take on it? Which project comes closest to neutrality?
I don’t follow all such projects that closely. I can only say that, in my opinion, Axide had a few articles that were terrible in terms of research and content, and also biased. And the articles from the red UG are certainly far from neutral. I don’t have an opinion on the rest because I don’t read them.
[R] What do you think is the biggest problem facing the Polish CS community, and how can it be solved?
It seems to me that the current problem lies in financial aspects. Take TNC, for example, which dominated the Polish underground scene, then performed fantastically at the Polish Championships, securing themselves three VRS matches. The problem here is that they are still two matches short of the requirement to be included in the VRS ranking, which must be played within a three-month period. The simplest solution is to buy a slot at a LAN event, after which VRS qualification would be guaranteed, but this is where the costs become too high for the UG organisation to afford. Such a slot alone costs around 1,000 dollars/euros, plus travel, accommodation and meals. When you add it all up, we’re talking about sums in the tens of thousands of zlotys. And unfortunately, without a certain level of VRS, you won’t be able to break through and will remain stagnant. That’s why initiatives such as the Polish Championships by Whatever.gg are worth appreciating.
[R] If you were to put together one perfect tournament, whose ideas would you borrow?
A very interesting question. Certainly, when it comes to social media, not the Galaxy Cup, because I know that’s our Achilles’ heel, but I’ll try to change that. So, off the top of my head without overanalysing it too much:
Social media: Immunity League Technical
innovations: Feather Cup (mainly for the website here)
Media coverage: Galaxy Cup
Visuals (overall): Galaxy Cup/Immunity League (Summit Clash also had some very nice ones)
Broadcast + broadcast production: Galaxy Cup
[R] Which edition of the Galaxy Cup gives you the most satisfaction, which do you think was the best? Perhaps the best is yet to come?
The best edition was definitely in Łódź. The first LAN, and with the finals on HLTV to boot. Strong Polish teams like KOLESIE and Koguty, and of course that beautiful Cinderella story – TNC’s ultimate triumph. At the moment, I reckon that was the PEAK of the Galaxy Cup, which we won’t surpass without VRS.
[R] Could you tell us what the Galaxy Cup’s goals are for this year?
I can’t reveal any details about the upcoming edition just yet, but it’s only a matter of a few weeks. Our biggest goal is definitely the Galaxy Cup with VRS, but we’ll see if it works out.
[R] Let’s go back to the past for a moment, to the days when Szata was CEO of Armitra. If you had to pick a five-man squad from your entire ‘CEO career’, what would it look like?
My UG dream team would look like this: Kamoes, Kizzzi, Qwe, Patrikinho, Zireael.
[R] Can you tell us how you ended up in the Galaxy Cup ranks? A sudden impulse for a change, something new?
Well, here’s another situation I don’t quite remember. I think I came along once or twice to help Axemis with something or give him some advice, and that’s how I got a bit drawn into the project until I became part of it.
[R] Galaxy Cup doesn’t seem to have one thing that’s become quite common at tournaments lately, namely its own website… will we ever get a GC website, or are you not keen to go down that route?
Well, if the Feather Cup already has its own website, I suppose it’s our turn too [laughs]. But seriously, we are thinking about it and we’ll see if we can get it ready by the time registration opens, which I doubt.
[R] We can divide Polish teams into professional and amateur ones, but how do we categorise Polish tournaments? In your opinion, is the Galaxy Cup still part of the underground scene?
You know what, I’d compare the Galaxy Cup to the TNC, but without VRS we can’t take that step further, so for now we’ll keep creating a space for underground teams and beyond, but in our own style, adding new twists – whether to the format, for the players, or especially to the broadcast production.
[R] Exactly… speaking of the word ‘underground’. It seems to me that the current level of Polish CS is fairly balanced in some cases, so when can we say that a particular team has emerged from the underground?
I reckon only TNC has emerged from the underground, but they’re somewhere between the underground and something higher up. It seems to me there aren’t any clear-cut criteria for emerging from the underground, and everyone can interpret it differently. For me, it’s making it into the Advanced division, and ideally the VRS.
[L] What are your plans regarding the Galaxy Cup? Will 2026 be the year you break into professional VRS tournaments, or are you planning steady development and fixing bugs instead?
I don’t want to repeat myself here, so I’ll just go for steady development and ironing out the mistakes, of which there are still plenty. As for the VRS, we’ll see how it goes.
[L] What prompted the decision to sell Armitra? Was it mainly the US dollars that convinced you, or did you simply want to see Armitra in a new guise?
As I’ve already mentioned, I initially put the Armitra Esports project on hold to focus on the Galaxy Cup, but in the meantime a buyer interested in it came to me, so I seized the opportunity and we struck a deal.
[L] Will we ever see Szata as the head of an esports organisation again?
No, this stage of my ‘adventure’ is definitely over. Now I’d like to focus on commentating and the opportunity I’ve been given by Phantom Esports, as well as further developing the Galaxy Cup, without ruling out new prospects.
[L] Do you consider organising tournaments strictly a hobby, or do you plan to turn esports into a career?
I consider organising tournaments strictly a hobby, seeing no potential in it for a professional career, but it’s a different story with commentary, where I see a tiny glimmer of a chance with a bit of luck [laughs].
[L] Who is the person who has taught you the most when it comes to the underground scene?
There isn’t such a person.
[R] Thank you for accepting the invitation. Would you like to add anything yourself, or send greetings to anyone?
I’d also like to thank Light for the nomination; I’d like to say hello to Soszyn333 and nominate Ostrowianin for the next interview.
Thank you once again for accepting the invitation.
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