Esports team ex-MANA advances to ESL Challenger League final as competitive gaming eyes crypto crossover

A Kosovo-based Counter-Strike 2 team called ex-MANA just punched its ticket to the finals of ESL Challenger League Season 52 Europe Cup #2, defeating BasementBoysCS2 in the semi-finals. The win itself is a milestone for a squad that has only existed since early June 2026. In roughly two months, ex-MANA has gone from a freshly assembled roster to finalists in one of Europe’s most recognized competitive CS2 circuits. From roster shuffle to rapid ascent Ex-MANA formed after key players, including cerber, BledarD, and ammar, transferred from the previous MANA organization on June 2-3, 2026. As of late July 2026, ex-MANA sits at #170 in the global rankings and #208 in Valve’s own ranking system. Their peak ranking hit #83, suggesting the ceiling for this roster is considerably higher than where they currently sit. Total earnings for the roster clock in at approximately $6,000. That number looks modest when compared to the millions flowing through top-tier esports, but this is a two-month-old team competing in challenger-level tournaments, not a legacy organization with years of prize pools behind it. The esports-crypto relationship: it’s complicated Major crypto exchanges like FTX (befo...