The BO2 tournament with COD icons has been canceled, and some viewers blame Twitch streamer EliasN97. He denies the accusations.
What kind of tournament was it? The “Call of Duty” YouTuber Cem “HapticRush” Gülken organized a creator tournament to celebrate the next-gen port of Black Ops 2, where Germany’s former COD icons were supposed to compete against each other.
A total of 8 teams of four players each were supposed to participate. Each team consisted of a team leader directly invited by Haptic and three additional players who should determine the team leaders in a first step. Subsequently, the team leaders – including Elias Nerlich alias EliasN97 – were responsible for balancing the teams to prevent unfair combinations.
The tournament was supposed to take place after weeks of planning on August 5th and 6th, 2026, but was canceled just hours before it was set to start due to various discrepancies, disputes, and last-minute cancellations.
Haptic himself explained the cancellation in a video on YouTube. You can read our news on the topic here: “What a kindergarten” – The BO2 tournament with German COD legends is canceled at short notice because Twitch streamers can’t get it together
EliasN97 rejects accusations, demands: Haptic should name names
Who is to blame? After the tournament was canceled and Haptic vaguely explained the situation in his video without naming names, many viewers blamed EliasN97. Particularly on TikTok, YouTube, and Twitch, the suspicion spread that he had criticized the start time, left the team leaders’ WhatsApp group, and subsequently canceled his participation in the tournament.
In response to the accusations, EliasN97 spoke about his role in the tournament’s cancellation during a Twitch stream.
This is what EliasN97 says: The Twitch streamer stated during a live stream that he was not responsible for the tournament’s cancellation. Although he was bothered by the start time, he had clarified this with Haptic.
However, he ultimately left the WhatsApp group because he found the behavior of the other creators too toxic.
I was the one who left the group because they were all whining and screwing each other over with “The team is dis” and “If he’s in that team, I’m out.” I was so disgusted by this ultimatum of “either he’s in, or I’m out.” “If he’s in that team, I’m out.”
via X
I was so repulsed that I had to leave this group because I couldn’t believe how you can treat someone like that. I then left with a bang. I said:
“Hey guys, this is not going to work. You all need to think about it. How can you be so disgusting and present such a selection to Cem? I can’t understand that.“
I said it like that. You know me, I don’t hold back. I didn’t insult them, but I said that’s just disgusting.
Furthermore, EliasN97 demands that Haptic names names since many viewers blame him just because he is a major streamer. Although he found the start time and the dynamics of the WhatsApp group disturbing, he also stated he would play with anyone, regardless of who it is. He basically abstained from team balancing.
“My O-Ton: You all are whining. It’s unbearable. I’m looking forward to getting out of this group. Just give me anyone, I’ll play with everyone. You should be glad we’re in this tournament. Don’t make it harder for Cem than it already is. Just give me whoever you want. Talked with Cem, tournament at 3:00 PM, mhh, not great, okay, fits. But I already knew beforehand. We cleared that together, that’s it. And now people say it was canceled because of me?! Are they out of their minds?!” – EliasN97 via Twitch
He was again bothered by the time because he was told that streamers had set the ultimatum that they would cancel if the tournament did not start at 3:00 PM, “because they wouldn’t agree to play at 12:00 AM.” The alleged ultimatum annoyed him, but the information eventually turned out to be incorrect. (via Twitch)
Whether there will be a replacement date for the tournament at a later point and whether all team leaders will still be involved is currently unknown. For now, the tournament is on hold.
Haptic himself indicated that a possible upcoming tournament could be played in another Call of Duty. The upcoming Modern Warfare 4 might be a candidate. A beta is set to start this month, in which you can also participate for free: Call of Duty: You can test Modern Warfare 4 for free before buying it, but gamers with deep pockets have an advantage
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