Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken, one of the most decorated players in North American Counter-Strike history, has publicly called for tier-one Counter-Strike tournaments to finally make their way to Canada.
The twenty-six-year-old FaZe Clan rifler and in-game leader shared his yearning for bringing elite competitive tactical shooting back to his home country on social media. Canada, as a region, has historically been starved of major international circuit stops despite its massive and highly passionate community.
Twistzz’s comments come directly after the wrap-up of the recent high-profile competitive tournaments in the USA, including the Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Atlanta and BLAST Premier Rivals in Fort Worth.
On his official X handle, Twistzz wrote, “Now that Atlanta is over, PLEASE PGL/BLAST/ESL consider Canada, Vancouver/Toronto are perfect locations for events (Especially Vancouver).” In the same post, he also lamented not being able to play in front of a Canadian crowd despite being active in the scene for the past ten years.
Currently, Twistzz has a very respectful standing within the global Counter-Strike landscape. As the first Canadian player to ever win a Major championship, clinching the PGL Antwerp Major title in 2022 during his legendary initial stint with FaZe Clan, his legacy is utterly concrete.
Image credit: Twistzz on X
Historically, North American Counter-Strike events have overwhelmingly favored major United States metropolitan hubs like Dallas, Atlanta, and Boston. Canada has not hosted an elite international tournament of this scale since the mid-2010s, leaving cities like Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal out of the modern Counter-Strike 2 circuit map entirely.
While logistically there are a lot of hurdles, including expensive venue costs and challenging global broadcast time zones for European audiences, the immense success of esports events in neighboring sectors shows there’s true potential in the market.
Backed by public agreement from elite international peers like teammates Robin “ropz” Kool and David “frozen” Čerňanský, Twistzz’s public push could be a topic of discussion for ESL and PGL to expand their horizons northward. However, at this point, the chances of it happening look incredibly slim.
Featured image credit: PGL
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