Influencers, Blacklists, and Why CS2 Sponsorships Feel Like Solo-Queuing Mirage at 3 A.M.
You’ve worked with a lot of influencers in the CS:GO and CS2 scene. What’s that world actually like behind the curtain?
Imagine solo-queuing Mirage at 3 a.m.
No mic.
One guy AFK in spawn.
One guy yelling callouts from last round.
Another promising “I go A” and instantly dying mid.
That’s influencer marketing in CS2.
Over the last nine years, we’ve talked to thousands of influencers — YouTubers, streamers, semi-pros, “brand ambassadors,” self-proclaimed marketing agencies, and an impressive number of people whose only qualification was typing “bro trust me” very confidently.
If anyone wonders why legit CS2 case-opening sites are paranoid, paperwork-heavy, and slightly traumatized — this is why.
“Was There a Moment When You Realized This Could All Go Wrong?”
Oh yes. Very early.
Early DaddySkins days felt like playing pistol round with no armor, no nades, and zero map knowledge.
We had no influencer guidelines, no real contracts, no PR instincts — just vibes.
So we hired a part-time influencer manager.
His first big strategic idea?
“Let’s record a video where the influencer wins. We’ll make him win.”
That sentence alone was a self-flash, team kill, and rage-quit combo.
First of all — even back then, we couldn’t force wins.
Second — saying that out loud is how you get speed-banned from credibility.
The influencer on the other side was Ozzny.
And to his credit — massive credit — he didn’t try to “resolve it quietly.”
He did exactly what an honest creator should do.
He collected the evidence.
He recorded the context.
And he published a video that basically said:
“Guys, this looks wrong.”
Employee fired faster than a silver baiting mid.
Damage done? Nuclear.
For six months, every influencer reply we got was the same:
“Cool site. Here’s Ozzny’s video.”
Painful? Absolutely.
Fair? Also yes.
Here’s the plot twist people don’t expect:
We later talked everything through with Ozzny, resolved it properly, and even worked together again.
Anyone who protects their audience over money deserves permanent respect.
Ozzny stays on the Fav List.
“So Who Was the First Influencer That Actually Worked?”
Funny enough — not a big name.
Some old-school gamer from Hungary. I honestly don’t even remember his nickname.
No hype thumbnails.
No screaming reactions.
No “INSANE 0.01% DROP!!!” energy.
Just calm, honest content.
He explained what the site was.
He didn’t overpromise.
He didn’t fake excitement.
And suddenly — real users arrived.
Not tourists. Not hit-and-run clickers. Actual players.
That’s when we learned the hard truth:
Influencer marketing isn’t about reach.
It’s about trust per viewer.
“Were There Influencers You Personally Enjoyed Working With?”
Yes — and this matters, because the internet loves pretending everyone is awful.
Take Chaboyy.
Super expensive.
None of the videos paid off financially.
But man — one of the nicest people you’ll ever talk to.
No greed. No pressure. No ego. Just straight, respectful communication.
We’re still in contact, even though he retired from content. That alone tells you something.
Then there’s Dadosh, Dhalucard, Exsy, Syrinxx — people who understood long-term cooperation instead of one-video cash grabs.
Dona deserves a special mention.
At one point, he actively tried to find something wrong with the site. Dug deep. Checked systems. Tested edge cases.
All he found were bugs.
And honestly? That’s fine. Respect for actually looking instead of inventing drama.
And Bibanator… yeah. Always a complicated story.
He helped us a lot. He really did.
Did he have dozens of ideas we couldn’t afford or implement? Absolutely.
Do we regret not implementing all of them? Sometimes.
Do we respect him and his audience? 100%.
His fans are real. And that’s rare.
“You Mentioned Grim Earlier — What Happened There?”
We worked with Grim when he was still small.
Eco-round famous.
We believed early. Supported early.
Then success came.
Then more sponsors.
Then casino money entered the chat.
And suddenly the relationship shifted.
I don’t blame anyone for following money. That’s business.
What’s disappointing is when people later act like you never played those rounds together.
That pattern repeated more than once in this industry.
“Let’s Talk About the Ugly Stuff. How Bad Does It Get?”
Worse than people think.
Fake Influencers — Warm-Up Bots With Confidence
At first it was amateur hour:
- Slightly altered email addresses
- “Hey bro it’s me, official account”
Then scammers evolved.
Full man-in-the-middle operations:
- Pretending to be DaddySkins when talking to influencers
- Pretending to be influencers when talking to us
- Passing verification like matchmaking abuse
Impressive.
Still banned.
Fake Stats — Silver Math, Global Confidence
People sent us:
- Fake YouTube analytics
- Fake Twitch dashboards
- Fake conversion screenshots
Guys…
We’ve stared at dashboards longer than you’ve been playing CS.
This takes seconds to verify.
Stop dry-peeking.
System Abuse & KYC Speedruns
Some influencers tried:
- Fake KYC
- Double withdrawals
- Exploiting edge cases
- Then blaming the platform when checks finally kicked in
Which brings us to…
“Do You Actually Have a Blacklist?”
Yes.
We’ve never made drama videos.
Never posted exposé threads.
We just quietly stopped queueing with certain people.
Some names on that list include:
Hellboy, Missclick, FallenBets, Chris, Guziol, Myctu, Sheezer, Culsuz
No witch hunts.
Just mute and move on.
Maybe one day we’ll drop the demo files.
Maybe not.
“What’s Been the Most Disappointing Part Overall?”
Honestly?
Not scams.
It’s when long-term partners — after months or years —
try to rewrite history instead of just saying:
“GG. Thanks for the rounds.”
That one tilts harder than losing a 1v5 to a guy with a P250.
“So… Is There a Whitelist?”
Simple rule:
If you’re not on the blacklist — you’re on the whitelist.
That said, some people deserve special recognition:
- Sparkles — real community leader, loyal, thoughtful.
- Moe — already a legend.
- Pyrexx, Slax, MemoTV — solid teammates.
- Bibanator — still.
If I missed someone, that’s my memory — not your contribution.
Final Question: “Would You Do It All Again?”
Working with influencers is like opening cases.
Most drops are fine.
Some are insane.
A few explode in your face and crash the server.
But without influencers, DaddySkins wouldn’t exist.
And despite the scams, fake stats, blacklist drama, and eco-round betrayals —
I’d still queue this match again.
Just with:
- better strats
- tighter contracts
- and no more silver-rank influencer managers
