Anastasia Tolmacheva: From Purvciems to Esports Star

Briefly:

Anastasia’s Heccu Tolmacheva’s life story is not a contrast – after her bachelor’s studies in microbiology, she continued her education in Geneva, gaining a master’s degree in cellular and molecular biology. At that time, Tolmachev had to decide whether to continue the safe path in science or to indulge in the passion that led in a completely different direction.

Tolmacev’s digital environment has been fascinated by childhood despite academic career in biology. “I played computer games all my life. I wanted to become better in the League of Legends, and the way to do it was to watch the professionals. Then came the moment when I realized that it was very interesting,” she said.

In 2013, Tolmachev first attended an international e-sport event as a viewer. She remembers that there was a fantastic atmosphere and, when returning home, it was clear that it was time to start working on her own.

Fight for a place in e-sports

Initially, Tolmachev was involved in the Latvian e-sports environment as a photographer, visiting various local networks (LAN) tournaments “League of Legends” and “Counter-Strike” in disciplines and documenting the race for free. In this way, she managed to show that e-sports in Latvia are growing and developing.

“If the pictures were good, the player posted it on his profile and the audience increased,” Tolmacheva explained.

Later, Heccu worked as an interviewer in various “Heroes of the Storm” tournaments, but in 2018, when the game developer Blizzard announced that she would no longer invest in this e-sports discipline, she began to be interested in the counter-strike. This video game in Tolmachev was along with childhood, as in Purvciems Internet cafe for 50 santims everyone could play “Counter-Strike 1.6” for one hour. When the year 2019 came, e-sports enthusiasts decided to study this discipline in depth to better understand the rules of the game, the community and its story.

Since then, Tolmachev has been active in various events, including the Baltic E-Sports League, and turned to the Youtube platform in 2020, creating interviews with new Academy players-those who no one has yet talked about, but soon they could become the leading discipline professionals.

A year later, Heccu started working in the largest counter-strike media HLTV, which publishes tournaments, game results and other news materials.

Tolmachev has acquired HLTV’s work due to perseverance because he initially received a refusal to represent the media.

To prove his abilities, Tolmacheva paid for a trip to Kijiv, where the Weplay Academy League tournament took place. Her dedication and perseverance in interviews with the players were noticed, and soon the reporter was given the opportunity to formally create content on the HLTV website.

An important turning point in Tolmachev’s career was in the year 2022, when she became an interviewer in one of the largest counter-strike tournaments, Cathovices Intel Extreme Masters. There, Heccu earned the audience’s affection, and positive reviews were further encouraged to continue his career in e-sports. Tolmachev has since attended several prestigious Counter-Strike events while interviewing, working as a reporter and an e-sport event manager.

In parallel, she is dealing with streaming, which is not just a hobby, but also an important career tool, allowing you to show an in -depth understanding of a game that is not fully discovered in interviews. Live broadcasts also allow freely communicating with fans and community, promoting recognition and involvement.

“You can immediately feel the difference-people associate me with my face and see that I’m still interested in the counter-strike,” Tolmacheva added.

Challenging environment

The biggest change in Tolmacheva’s daily routine was when she began to participate in live broadcasts. “This is a completely different level with greater responsibility. For example, the article can be corrected, but everyone will see it on the air,” she explained.

In addition, it is easier for people to associate the “heccu” name with “Counter-Strike” when creating content in video format, which helps her draw the attention of other tournament organizers and promotes career growth. Tolmachev admitted that it is difficult to maintain energy during long -term measures, as the working day can take up to 18 hours. Not only does she interview before and after the games, she also films additional content, follow the matches and prepare the materials for the next day, so very little time for time to relax.

The most important feature that helps Tolmachev to stay in such a dynamic environment is the ability to adapt.

The reporter revealed that she likes to develop a plan, but experience has taught that the situation is often changing – players and teams are replaced, and formats tend to change.

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One of the biggest challenges for e-sports reporters is the tendency of several players to respond laconic. Tolmaceva told about the case with Latvian Helvia “Broky” Saukant, who in the interview gave a very short “yes” and “no” answers, making the conversation boring.

To address this problem, she prepared about 70 questions for the next interview and warned, “Helvij, I have three good questions, and I want you to give normal answers. If again, I will go through the entire list.”

“There were even issues that were not related to the counter-strike, for example, what he would order in McDonald’s,” Tolmachev remembered with a smile on his face. The strategy worked – Saukant took the challenge and was successful in the interview.

In the interview, not only the player’s desire to speak, but also the time limit, Tolmachev said. If the match is drawn, it is often just a minute until the next game, so the player who can answer quickly is preferred. After a short duel, the team’s captain is most appropriate – he is able to comment on simple issues.

“You need to know what you need at the time,” the reporter added, stressing that a brief interview can also be valuable if it is adapted to the situation.

Each tournament has its own atmosphere, as the differences in the audience can be felt in emotion and behavior.

“Brazilian fans are very loud-at a level that you don’t even hear yourself. It’s wonderful that they will play so much emotion, but sometimes it has a minus. If there are no Brazilian team on the stage, they are no longer interested in Counter-Strike,” Tolmaceva explained.

According to Heccu, European fans are calmer and they just like to enjoy quality games, although local teams always earn special support. The experience in China, on the other hand, has been quite different – there fans were waiting for the hotel lifts or at the player door, hoping for a signature or photo.

“One player had a situation where he returned to the hotel and sat a stranger at the door. You never know how he would end,” Tolmachev revealed.

A small country with great potential

Latvia’s place on the e-sports world map is largely dependent on what is compared, says Tolmachev. “If we look at Sweden or Denmark – yes, we are lagging behind, but if we compare it to Italy, we even go very well,” she stated.

Latvia is a small country, and under these circumstances, two high-level counter-strike players are already an important achievement. As an example, Tolmacheva mentions Saukant, whose victory in the Major tournament in 2022 showed that talents can also grow in Latvia as well.

“If others have succeeded, you can also come from a small country,” Tolmachev emphasized. She often hears pessimistic allegations that nothing can be achieved in Latvia, but she is convinced of the opposite: “You will not be easy, but by investing time and knowledge, it is possible.”

In terms of development opportunities in Latvia, Tolmaceva particularly emphasized the importance of LAN events, as they allow young players to prove themselves outside of online and prove that their skills are real.

Experience in LAN tournaments makes the player much more attractive to teams and academies.

Funding is still the biggest challenge for e-sports development. Tolmacheva admitted that there were more LAN events before the Pandemic, but now their number has decreased due to lack of sponsors. This is not just a problem for Latvia-it affects everyone, as the e-sports industry is changing regularly.

At the moment, the situation in Latvia is particularly difficult, but Tolmachev hopes that more people and companies will be ready to invest in e-sports in the future.