Durban gamer shoots her way to continental crown

Durban — In celebration of Women’s Month, Durban’s Christin “2SSB” Brazier was recently crowned African Champion and helped her side qualify for the World Championships later this year.

Brazier formed part of the Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA's) Protea Female Counter-Strike 2 Esports Team that blew away all competition and clinched the title after beating Tunisia in the Grand Final.

The International Esports Federation's (IESF) African Esports Championships (AEC24) took place between 17-23 August at the Complexe Sportif Mohammed V, Casablanca, Morocco.

Brazier said that she was very proud to have won the finals in a 2-0 fashion for the Counter-strike 2 female league. She said they walked into the tournament as favourites and definitely lived up to expectations.

The MSSA lived up to their pre-tournament favourites tag as they remained undefeated all tournament.

Brazier said her gaming journey began due to her competitive nature and wanting to be better than her brother.

She said, “I was always a very competitive and sporty person growing up, often giving my everything until I became the best at it. When I was 17 years old and suffering from a knee injury, I found my older brother playing this weird game on his computer. In true Christin fashion, it was now my goal to make sure I beat him at it and that is when I discovered my passion and love for the game, quickly getting involved in the community and playing with people all over the country.”

Brazier said that she had confidence in her ability amongst women in the country, but didn’t expect to play internationally - a dream she realised in 2021 after playing in Dallas, USA.

She added that this came with excitement and shock because from a little country like South Africa, both her and the team didn’t know what to expect of the big world, but they constantly tried to keep up with the bigger communities and tournaments that gave international experience.

Brazier has competed previously representing various different organisations within South Africa, however this was her first time competing for MSSA and was proud to wear her South African shirt.

“⁠Counter-Strike quickly became a passion of mine as I am super competitive and not only enjoy the skill required to have a faster and more accurate shot than your opponents, but mostly the complete mental battle that needs to be played within the game. There are so many aspects to the game that no round is ever the same and you are always pushed to your limits,” she said.

Brazier said due to many years of experience, she’s able to out call her opponents, predict their patterns, habits and counter them.

She prides herself in being able to outwit them at every stage of the game, which shone through by helping her teammates play the best they could and ultimately winning.

“This victory is the biggest highlight within my gaming career as not only were we five girls from a country, we overcame diversity in and outside of the servers, created a community, friends and now champions. This just shows that if you give of your best and keep pushing, that these opportunities do exist and can come true,” Brazier said.

Following the result and qualifying for the world championships, Brazier said they will go back to analysing patterns and opponents.

Outside gaming, Brazier said she loves spending time with her family and participating in various outdoor activities including: quad biking, going to the beach and spending time with her two dogs on her farm.

President of Mind Sports South Africa, Colin Webster expressed his jubilation following his side’s result. He said he was not too surprised given the work that went into preparation.

Webster said, “MSSA has promoted females in esports over decades and this is the happy outcome of all those years of support and promotion.”

He said the team will now do a post-mortem on their games played and concentrate on ironing out any kinks in order to face the best Europeans, Americans and Asians.

During the AEC24, over 180 athletes from 25 African countries participated to showcase their skills across three game titles in five competitions: CS2 Open, CS2 Women, MLBB Open, MLBB Women, and Dota 2.

South Africa was represented by 19 athletes.

The International Esports Federation's (IESF) World Esports Championships (WEC24) will take place between 11-19 November in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

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