The Top 10 Cheese Strats in Esports

Strategy is super important in esports. The ability to out-think your opponent is what separates the good teams from the great ones. But sometimes you just need that quick kill, that quick map. Sometimes, it’s time to bring out the cheese.
We’re talking cannon rushing, death brushes, just about any one-time gimmick that can nab you a win in a pinch.
This week, we're counting down the Top 10 Cheese Strats in esports.
Edited by: Brian Van Huynh (@beevanhuynh)
Written by: Malcom Abbas (@smashhh)
Hosted by: Dimitri Pascaluta (@DPascaluta)
Footage courtesy of: pastebin.com/5JWEUjGV
Music used under license from Associated Production Music LLC (”APM”).
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[@BigBadBuzz]

The olofboost dead horse that is only a leg at this stage: theScore esports: "bro I just got this new bat"

[@smile6676]

1k likes but no replies

[@skbnera]

@@smile6676 you still the only reply

[@rockerfarm6445]

haven't watched it yet but i bet Olofboost and Gigabyte Marines are in it

[@kmmonster40]

I wanted the Gigabyte Marines so badly

[@ALLAHwithdaughterALLAT]

dota master race the proud race!!!!!

[@HaPham-jn7jk]

@@kmmonster40 father of funnel

[@Betweendaeye]

@@kmmonster40 was this the lvl 6 nocturne at 4 minutes or something? cuz i thought that would be in there for sure

[@nu3566]

@@Betweendaeye yep that one

[@burakalpyasar9711]

Disqualifing cheesers doesnt make any sense. They were practicing finding good strategies. Accidently finds a powerful one. Meanwhile enemy team was not practicing any strategy. So they didnt find the cheesy strategy. And they lost. This is not the player fault, if they work hard and find good strategies they deserves to win.

[@Cookie-3]

Poor interns had to pull up the olafboost again Just pay them by the olafboost and they'll be rich af

[@AsianSensationist]

I remember an interview a couple years ago with Hong JinHo about the triple bunker rush. I think he said something along the lines of "I told myself there is no way he'd tried the bunker rush again. After the 2nd game, I told myself again since he has done it twice there is no way he'd do it a third time."

[@MisaeShimamura]

Makes sense

[@wowJhil]

He is smart but also not :)

[@HerrW0lf]

No way you can win such mind games.

[@justintime2026]

Lol it's best of 5. If you're down 2-0 your opponent can afford to try the cheese strat a third time even if it fails, but you can't afford to risk it.

[@gravity111587]

Broodwar is a difficult game. If scouting is denied and your opponent plays economically you can put yourself too far behind to play counter-aggression

[@cogsban5690]

That's where the " no one has ever done that" clips comes frommm

[@im2shady4u13]

That Gladiator play was galaxy brained, and will forever be one of my favorite plays in esports

[@lukesimmonds4695]

im2shady4u13 yeah it’s not a cheese strat it’s a 5Head 200iq strat

[@scottwallbank4794]

Agreed, it relies on a combination of tactics, knowing how Spitfire would rotate against Goats to keep space, plus the skill to get those widow headshots. It's fantastic.

[@rickvangils100]

I will never forget HuK hallucination strategy against Idra during MLG 2011. He hallucinated a whole bunch of void rays to make Idra believe he had a giant, impossible deadball. Idra pretty much surrendered as soon as he saw HuK's 'army'. Cheesy but also brilliant.

[@joaobrito2653]

the fountain hook is similar to the olof boost. i believe that both should be awarded wins. yes, it is frustrating, but you need a lot of dedication and mastery over the map/game to find those things out, and that is part of being a good team. fnatic was able to pull off the boost because they knew everything about that map, they knew something that even valve didnt know about, and same goes for the fountain hook

[@TheDreamLeaf]

I thought the same as you, until the organisers explained that they disqualified fnatic not because of the boost itself, but because the boost unfortunately led to certain texture(s) not being rendered. Meaning fnatic could "see through" a wall for example, which was against rules already established before fnatic did the boost

[@jackcphelps]

NO HAS EVER DONE THAT IN THE HISTORY OF DOTA

[@kaiwinkler7856]

Thats sarcasm right?

[@brillsmith2207]

lolllllll

[@blueberryblues5644]

Kai Winkler don’t blink you’ll miss it

[@mariamolly3637]

WAOW

[@diegozunun9821]

Is this what we call Rat'ing'?

[@channingtaintum]

"Some guy named Woox" ... How dare you. Woox is a Runescape GOD. Greatest PvM player with multiple world first kills and raid completions. The man even has a statue in the game dedicated to him.

[@Daisuke177]

Greatest osrs pvmer.

[@jaroddowdell2850]

Curbstomp soooo you’re a virgin huh?

[@infernaltotorow]

@@jaroddowdell2850 thats a yikes

[@swaitis_9423]

What is runescape?

[@Bonde7280]

For the majority of people who has no interest in runescape, he very much is "some guy named Woox"

[@NathanielCoran]

13:28 is exactly what you imagine the opponent who's just cheesed you looks like behind their screen

[@NathanielCoran]

@Mister Fields Sure okay man, I don't really care?

[@CaramelCapptn]

@Mister Fields lol, Na'vi literally drafted that team explicitly for the cheese. Any casual dota 2 player knew about that mechanic by 2011, this was 2 years later and it was still in the game.

[@nicholasperry8834]

Hahahahah man I laughed for a good few minutes at this

[@nicholasperry8834]

Lickin his lips and feverishly smashing hook button. Lmfao

[@SoupRS]

WOOX ALWAYS WINS

[@bruce8232]

Lol, he really is the GOAT.

[@duchi882]

0:30 That iconic face you make when you've just been bamboozled or about to destroy your keyboard

[@TROLOL1232]

O

[@Ramsey276one]

And the flying keys spell a word... XD

[@LetsRaZe]

If you don't know how runescape dmm goes, just believe me that that lobster trick is probably the most genius play out of all of these. He made use of an NPC which is only used for a certain goal (converting planks and nails in construction) and used it for converting food in a deadzone. That's very very very creative thinking. For the next tournament they patched it to be certain. 😉

[@AendM]

8:45 oh so this is where this meme comes from

[@baulzzzzzzz2278]

The olafboost was legit, fair and square, there’s no reason there they should have forfeited for that

[@axkane]

It abused an ingame bug where the player stands in mid air

[@baulzzzzzzz2278]

Arkhan159 I understand that, but, what I’m saying that it’s a devs responsibility to make sure those things don’t exist. The boost is still a boost, and personally if the dev can’t fix their shit why not abuse it? It’s not like they were under the map or invisible, they were just creative and it’s like everyone got really butt hurt about it. It’s like when SCVI came out and Voldo has unlimited soul charge do to a combo but, players exploited it in competition untill it was fixed. Idk, I just feel like the Olafboost especially is a big brain 200iq play that everyone got really butt hurt about

[@TheDreamLeaf]

@@baulzzzzzzz2278 I thought the same as you, until the organisers explained that they disqualified fnatic not because of the boost itself, but because the boost unfortunately led to certain texture(s) not being rendered. Meaning fnatic could "see through" a wall for example, which was against rules already established before fnatic did the boost

[@atrbulldog5955]

So scummy of runescape to disqualify him, they made the ducking game

[@hymnisian]

Jagex didn't disqualify him, the event organizers did.

[@kaberle71]

@@hymnisian the event organizers were jagex tho

[@infernaltotorow]

i would give him more for entertainment value

[@lohvrti]

@Over Yonder it's also very anti-skilled. Fair enough, it's innovative, but the entire premise of the game is to have a faceoff between the final two to decide a winner.

[@ArmitageShanksMC]

Yeah, I hate how the players are punished for the holes developers create in games. They just need to accept their mistake, fix it and move on. Banning/suspending/disqualifying players for using unintentional mechanics is BS and blameshifting at it's best.

[@jonathanfisher3916]

I had a cheese start this morning and my bathroom still stinks

[@aryamanrajaputra9753]

oooof lol

[@not_xabi]

I'm so glad you added the Woox one in here. Smartest gamer I've ever seen and they robbed him of his achievement. The worst part is all of the devs love him and the fact that they stripped him of the win was disgusting, cheese or not.

[@reggie7653]

Been really fond of this channel ever since I stumbled upon it, but the fact that you included Woox in this really makes me love it,

[@nightelf4161]

saw title, came here for fountain hook, wasn't dissapointed

[@TheEnigma271]

Anytime moba footage or terms are used I have no idea what’s going on

[@imayummysteak8184]

bro same it’s confusing

[@veRGe02]

Huge issue in MOBA esports compared to other esports like CSGO, RL, FIFA, etc - way less entertaining for spectators since you don't know wtf is going on unless you've played the game.

[@veRGe02]

@JC Bloomfield Why would anyone watch the superbowl or world cup if they never played those games? Same shit. It's entertaining to watch the best go at it in an impressive sport or esport.

[@veRGe02]

@JC Bloomfield yes?

[@minhhieunguyen613]

veRGe02 I don’t think people would enjoy the World Cup if they don’t at least know the rules but ok.

[@stanislavmarko133]

You got one part about Woox wrong, Mod Ash killed Woox in DMM, and after that Woox posted on Twitter that rules never specified that you have to fight to win just to stay last man standing which he did. Afterwards, Mod Ash offered that he will pay him the prize money of his own pocket, admitting they made a mistake when setting out rules.

[@bigchunk1]

If you can think out of the box and surprise your opponent, you deserve the advantage. Inventive play makes for some of the best esports.

[@bagaboogey7403]

“Cheese starts”

[@c3st0fd3rk]

"look we know this is runescape but", mate why try finding arguments to feature the best game in the list.

[@tylersimmons2154]

Here from r/2007scape for woox

[@npviking]

They just wanted a clip of God Ash, let's be honest

[@Zesilo]

Why did he get DQ'd for clever game mechanics? Obviously the mist should have ticked higher damage the longer you are in it...

[@justintime2026]

@@Zesilo because it's unfair to the people who actually played the game legitimately. Imagine working hard as fuck to win against dozens of veteran players only to lose 10 grand cause of a guy sitting in the fog eating lobsters

[@peternguyen3306]

Define legitimately? Just have to be the last man standing. If by winning legitimately you mean, whoever can join the biggest team to survive, then sure. Woox just showed that you don’t need a huge team to be able to win. legitimate win in my book *copy and pasted from my other comment*

[@madscot_]

Nobody: theScore esports : O L O F B O O S T

[@Potato-jt6rn]

It's not even a cheesy strat. It's straight up cheating and bm. Shitting on everything that is Counter-Strike.

[@sm4r7sh4d3r]

@@Potato-jt6rn why should it be a cheat? getting boost to a better position happens all the time and hes not invisible at that point. so they just used a position nobody knew at this time.

[@Potato-jt6rn]

@@sm4r7sh4d3r It's cheating because they're exploiting a bug in the game. That boost is not supposed to be possible, and in the rules is even said that exploiting known and unknown bugs will be seen as cheating.

[@sm4r7sh4d3r]

@@Potato-jt6rn well I know 3 man boosts are legit and I also know that map got fixed after that. So in that point nobody thought of that and its not a special trick or movement nessesary to do it. For me its not a bug/cheat/exploit, just a brilliant trick they used :)

[@bluerath]

@@sm4r7sh4d3r iirc somebody did think of it and put up a youtube video which is where they learned of it and they then asked the person who put up the video to take it down so they could keep it a secret.

[@QKsilver58]

Perfect list guys, awesome video!

[@mehdildj6199]

i know Fountain Hook or the Tidehunter Roshan Bait is The first one (Edit): Knew it

[@successfulmen2414]

*Olof in the thumbnail* Me: ah shit here we go again

[@gamr1902]

God damn it Olof, you always make your way into every top 10!

[@Taalanos]

Nice to see Lim YoHwan on the list. His nuke rush cheese vs toss was legendary.

[@OnyxOfMadness]

THANK U FOR THE RUNESCAPE REPRESENTATION

[@luk8734]

First of all, I really enjoy your content and thank you for it ! Second I´m sad that in the last 3 month every video is kinda the same, all clips are doubled or trippled to watch. I think you guys can do better then that, you did before! Would like to see that. Would love to see that. kind regards a stanger.

[@AlrightThere]

That Woox moment is still legendary in the osrs community to this day. Woox is basically the new Zezima

[@hexion383]

8:44 best line in the history of games

[@protosszocker5678]

Damn and now classic is in the Military and soO finally won a tournament, time changes, but slowly.

[@partriarche]

You had another one in EU(?) LCS many years ago, where Alistar flash under mid tower through wraith wall to headbut the midlaner and allow him to be kill, and that at lvl 1 or 2 (searching for the video for many years and couldn't find it)

[@CrixCz]

Solid list, only thing missing was Duke's smirk after he cleared the death-bush

[@slayinmyself4564]

Before even watching the vid, i already know who's going to be the 1st, Dota Fountain Hook by Dendi n Puppey

[@Agk3los]

Boxer's SCV rush in the grand finals is by far the cheesiest and greatest esports play that required the largest balls EVER.

[@gfg1651]

What aboud HAS mass Orakel in sc2

[@nobodysman143]

Michael Straub-Riedler HAS is the SC2 cheese god.

[@gedster]

Hello yeah! Lots of different games in this video. Good to see that you aren't always biased towards mobas and Counter Strike

[@Semibrucelee]

During the whole video I kept thinking they weren't going to include the fountain hook. Glad to see it there.

[@SteCollects]

8:45 and thus a meme was born

[@Banondax]

Like... The Meta Athena wasnt even cheese, it was just pure skill.

[@saltlick18]

Nice bait

[@firstnamelastname489]

I agree. It's map knowledge and I'm surprised people didn't expect it... boosting has been a thing even in the old CSGO days.

[@TurtleBoxOfficial]

Fun fact, I was part of the original open division team that the LA Gladiators stole / borrowed this strat from. We used it in a streamed open division game the season before, and had a similar strat to this on Blizzard World.

[@imwithsmart7244]

"enjoys drinking cheese for breakfast" *gagging in the background*

[@stupiedhead]

Thank you for including woox the absolute legend

[@roosky13]

Saw the thumbnail "Ah yes olofboost, we meet again at last."

[@enricocasonato2222]

I think that top 10s like this one should include at least a little explanation of the mechanics of the games i'm looking at! It might be me being a complete casual viewer (and never played or watched the games on the lists) but i think 10-15 seconds of explaining how tricks work and why they're cheese might please more people than just me and won't bother the others. I got into liking speedruns a LOT because of youtubers constantly telling you what's going on and what is required to pull of that trick and that one and so on. Here i got the point just on number one 'cause it looks quite obvious, and had to watch two of your other videos where olofboost appeared to really understand all the fuss about it and it's a pity considered that aside for this all of your videos are pretty entertainig to watch! It's not meant to be a harsh critique on your videos' format, just a small suggestion that i believe could make your videos even more entertaining for all type of audiences!

[@Pandemamon]

The thing with cheesy strats is that the players who do it gets hated on or get banned for thinking outside the box. Basically they’re just too genius that it’s too unfair for those who haven’t thought of what they’re gonna do. Being creative to win the game is not unfair.

[@kishenpankhania363]

That olofboost clip looks kinda dope, you should maybe put it in some videos

[@Wadeinh20]

I gatta say that starcraft broodwar and sc2 are just filled with memorable cheese. They could just reserve a spot for all the cheese that happened. Sooo much cheese at important moments.

[@SamOGr]

That gladiators play was so good to watch live

[@steel5897]

That number 7 is legendary, so good.

[@aidenbar511]

I too want to know the 10 most effective ways to start my cheese

[@papadapolas853]

Imagine not having ten has clips when you're taking about cheese strats

[@Tzkaar]

and not to forget Florencio. i bet he could chees the crap out of Has^^

[@mestari8502]

I swear you guys always misspell the title on purpose so it shows in the notifications

[@dontforget2blink]

god that kings row gladiator flank never gets old

[@user-kj5us8vk5b]

Me now: aight imma ash rush Me in Chimera: aight imma lion rush

[@purplestain946]

This channel is basically league of legends/ counter strike videos, featuring other games once in a while

[@jalenec]

I've gotta put GOATS comp on this list. They changed competitive mode and handed out many nerfs due in part to triple heal triple tank.

[@gammelhund]

I had money on LDLC in that olofboost game. I was so pissed.

[@Existential_Tempest]

A little saddened that Scarlett's Protoss pick and subsequent stalker rush wasn't on here but still a good list overall!

[@Kevino0o0o]

Wow look at Dendi's hand 13:27 shaking like crazy. Never noticed that before.

[@-Timur1214]

Oh finally another ACTUAL ESPORTS video!!

[@f2dajay]

I feel like Cheese strats should be rewarded to the people that use them first and then banned out. Players found something they could use to give them a huge advantage.

[@RoemDaug]

What are those words coming out of his mouth about cheese at the end‽¿‽¿‽

[@ramonvicentevallesterosric7802]

BM and Meepo cheese picks when pulled out correctly ends a DOTA game under 15 minutes

[@gershonyoung3916]

I remember a league game in korea challenger series where they go for 4man mid and 1 top cheese. Edi: nlb winter 2012 final game 5 gsg vs cj entus. Go check it score esports

[@Im_Just_A_Dreamer]

Here when it still says cheese starts

[@whyme943]

Any link to the full match of Soo vs classic?

[@jsu8994]

Triple bunker is sooooooooo classic for Koreans that even settled down as a slang for "Getting asskicked by same shit several times" That match was so hyped but legend says that some guy ordered a delivery food to eat while watching, but when it came to him the full set was over.

[@flyingsteaks]

You guys are complaining about the olofboost being there but mad props for remembering the triple bunker rush in starcraft 1

[@Kalatakieta]

There was the clairvoyance on self death brush too

[@ShivayaLmao]

I wish Siege's OG lion+dokkaebi+jackal combo was here. Theres nothing worse than you having to stay still repeatedly while ur phone vibrates and theres a jackal putting 5 pings on you

[@prajwalnayak1873]

me when i see olof in a score esports video: ah shit here we go again

[@GingerEazyE]

I was fully expecting to see the Lion/ Blitz/ Finka rush from R6

[@wilkinson6400]

I already know olofmeister boost is going to be in here.

[@sinatrashotya]

That Runescape thing is exactly what Evermore did in PUBG to win that first solo pubg tourney.

[@zawaktv1673]

As a French and we are the specialist when it come to cheese (we eat cheese with mold in it and we love it). The best cheese in esport should have been that game in League of legends with Heimerdinger jungle and the team just push as 5 middle and win in like 15 min.

[@RealTaIk]

I still can't understand why people are outraged about the fountain hook or the olof boost. Both were strats commonly used on high level play (not exactly the same boost as olof used but pixel boosts in general), but as soon as it happens in a big tournament everyone gets butthurt.

[@reggie7653]

Bro they included Woox winning. This channel is the best

[@jonnyraff1241]

I can't believe the Starcraft clip at 9 was not MVP bunker rush in game 7 of the GSL FINAL!!! (v Squirtle)

[@svendegen9431]

Half of these aren't even cheeses just new interesting strats

[@Mesphitos]

that's literally all cheese ever is, tbh. Cheese is cheese right up until it's patched out or becomes a new meta because people realize that it's way smarter than what they were doing before.

[@GodOfWarBG]

@@Mesphitos Sometimes cheese is cheese because it will work only one time like the suicide to Roshan.

[@maxischaffler9399]

In my opinion Gigabyte Marines cheese strat at LoL Worlds 2017 was one i missed

[@thadzdingo]

kong is definitely boxer's favorite cheese victim. i know that the triple bunker rush is his greatest creation but his scv rush is also as cheesy as it can get

[@thdrknight]

I miss the hive snipe by classic a few month ago

[@thendar823]

I missed Disguised Toast´s Hearthstone play, killing the enemy Hero using Jaraxxus with this 0 Mana kill a Demon card. Cant remember when that was but it was so funny

[@LetsRaZe]

Montecristo's laugh is just so iconic.

[@abwilliam6290]

Leave it to theScore to fulfill my daily 'Smithzz is looking confused and dazed' quota

[@aaezero8606]

Cheeses shouldn't be a bad thing in fact it should be commended for using the game mechanics to its finest and most effective way possible

[@bencegergohocz5988]

here's a clip in 144p(or even lower?) and without any english commentary but believe us guys,this is probably maybe possibly epic...

[@jaxsonbateman]

I've said this in another video - but things like the OlofBoost and FountainHook are fine for players to use. If they're not banned pre-tournament, it's not fair to ban them mid-tournament. They're open to all players to use - the fact that most players didn't shouldn't be held against the players that did. The fault for both these situations lies with the devs (for not patching it out, and/or not being aware of it) and the tournament organisers (for not being aware of it and banning it within the rules). I don't play either game myself so I'm not familiar with the timeframes of people becoming aware of these strats, but it's my understanding that most people didn't know about the OlofBoost beforehand (so it's a bit unfortunate that no-one could deal with it pre-tournament, but on that note it doesn't seem fair to ban it mid-tournament when a team has already used it as part of their strategy, and may have strategised a lot around it), but it's also my understanding that people were aware of FountainHook, so the tournament organisers really should have said it was illegal even if Valve hadn't patched it out yet. PUBG had an exploit a while ago - I can't remember the specifics, but I think it was something about seeing through walls if you looked at them at certain angles, or peeking further, or something like that. It wasn't patched out but a tournament did disallow it's use, and did DQ a team when they found a player had done it. That's how you deal with cheese that's a bug exploit when the devs haven't dealt with it themselves yet.

[@Dissonant-Clash]

The Gladiator play was straight up god-like

[@stompa6424]

There easily could have been a whole list only with Dota OG plays. Those guys are the Mozarella of cheese

[@Lux07s]

they aint cheesing they just too fking good man, if you want to talk about cheese it would be Ti3 Alliance

[@JL-ef7bh]

That cannon rush was so cheesy, even SoO stuck out his tongue due to the saltiness.

[@reidydanny]

imagine making a cheese strat top 10 without Has in it

[@justinallmaras2341]

Jesus that clip from 2004 was everything really that blurry back then and I just don't remember it?

[@tanu8711]

The olafboost was awesome