Much like their traditional sports counterparts, esports are dogged by the problem of performance-enhancing drug use. The rampant use of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drugs, such as Adderall and Ritalin, is often kept under wraps—but this weekend at the Electronic Sports World Cup, former Cloud9 and current Nihilum rifler Kory “Semphis” Friesen opened up about his old team’s drug use at a major event.
While the team was at ESL One Katowice 2015, the world’s largest premiere tournament, each Cloud9 player was under the influence of Adderall.
“The ESL [Katowice] comms were kinda funny in my opinion,” Friesen told CEVO caster and Counter-Strike content creator Mohan “Launders” Govindasamy, “I don’t even care. We were all on Adderall. I don’t even give a fuck. It was pretty obvious, like, if you listen to the comms. People can hate it or whatever.”
Govindasamy continued and asked, “Everyone does Adderall at ESEA LAN, right?” Friesen replied, “Yeah.”
Friesen was released from the Cloud9 team on April 24 after he underperformed at both the ESL One Katowice and ESEA Season 18 Finals tournaments. He would go on to join Nihilum on April 28. Last weekend, he served as the coach for Counter Logic Gaming Red, the latest addition to the North American esports giant’s arsenal. The all-women’s team went on to win the ESWC Women’s Cup.
