America’s Counter Strike, meaning big moves, even bigger goals, and finally the biggest disappointments. A quick look at the current CS: GO world ranking: Complexity ranks highest in it, being 22nd. This is an extremely weak result, in fact the worst result in the history of the entire discipline. Of course there are some other strong teams in the United States that have lost points as a result of the midseason changes, but these rotations don’t come from nowhere. American CS: GO is in a serious crisis that lasts until today. All attempts to lift him off his knees ended in humiliating blows. More and more players are moving to Europe, and the US and Canada are becoming dead regions, where they can not break out, and in the process of taking off their careers.
It used to be better
The Americans have never dominated CS: GO and this must be emphasized at the very beginning. Over the years, their region has had its permanent representatives. Team Liquid, Cloud9 and Evil Geniuses have become recognizable brands that deal cards in their backyard. The idyll lasted, however, until they had to play against European teams.
The first years of the Counter Strike scene performed by the Americans were a practical drought. Only in 2016 did the first successes appear. Cloud9 won the ESL Pro League and Liquid made it to the Major’s final in Cologne. The real laurel, however, was the triumph of Cloud9 at the Major in Boston in January 2018.
And while the organization itself underwent major changes shortly thereafter, so did Team Liquid take over the North American leadership team. 2019 a great trip for “Rumakw”. They have won as many as six major tournaments, and as a result, also won Intel Grand Slam bonus awards, amounting to one million dollars. The Americans really seemed to make their mark in the CS: GO world. Well – it seemed.
Pandemic, Valorant and other vicissitudes
Gradually, the level of the American scene began to decline. Various factors influenced this, but one of the first was the virtually nonexistent competition in the region itself. Cloud9 lowered flights. ENVY experimented extremely ineptly. Evil Geniuses had single successes but lacked stabilization. Team Liquid stood for the height of the task, but it quickly turned out to be the only class-leading option in the entire region. There were less and less class warehouses, and no new investors appeared. Successive players lost their motivation to continue playing, reflecting on their future.
That’s when the pandemic comes. Its influence is comparable to that of the powerful right hook that falls on the head of an already dazed drinker. Instant knock down. Organizing stationary tournaments has become impossible. In such a situation, tournaments were divided according to regions. North American teams were thus competing against each other, but this form of competition was not good for the development of the local scene. While Europe received new sensations and new serious players appeared, the Americans were sticking in their own sauce. It wasn’t a breakthrough, it was a nail in a coffin.
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With time, more bands started falling apart. The players did not see any further prospects for themselves, but around the corner new opportunities in the form of Valorant were springing up. Some of them said it was a good time to move. In this way, Timothy “autimatic” Ta (temporarily), Ethan “Ethan” Arnold and a few other recognizable American players left the scene. In addition, the future in the production of Riot Games was chosen by young prospects, among others from Chaos. The North American Counter Strike will lose significant names that could raise its level.
It’s sad but you can’t blame them because they don’t have any prospects. That’s the truth. In America, people don’t earn enough money and people are getting bored of CS: GO.
Such a comment was made by the veteran of the CS: GO scene, the American Tarik “tarik” Celik. Even the biggest brands crumbled with the departure of the players. Manatki to quickly roll up ENVY. The Cloud9 project with a European-American composition will drown millions of dollars, falling apart after a few months. Evil Geniuses put up construction signs that lasted practically all of 2021. Complexity’s ambitions are overwhelming and, similarly to EG, hopes were focused on 2022. Team Liquid and the Brazilian FURIA have once again become the major teams overseas.
What’s next?
2022 will open several doors for America. Refreshed Evil Geniuses and Complexity are back in the game, and he is ready to jump into the fun of long-lost OpTic Gaming. Liquid changed its own by betting on something new. Pki what the future of the scene is shrouded in a bit of uncertainty, because all of the above-mentioned bands are just beginning to rebuild.
The aforementioned “autimatic” and Nicolas “nitr0” Canella will return to CS: GO from Valorant. The gentlemen found new employers without any problems, and this is, in a way, a positive symptom for Counter Strike. The title of Riot Games will not buy them big. They took a chance by going back to CS: GO.
It is much worse with smaller teams. They include promising plywood that has been unorganized for months. Bad News Bears or Party Astronauts made a lot of progress last season, but part of it, since there is no investor to invest in their further development of money? To the disadvantage of niche players and their teams is also exceptionally famous. Scandals come up very regularly. Recent months have brought another scandal with selling games, which were leaked to social media or accused of fraud. Never boring.
The upcoming 15th season of the ESL Pro League is the Americans’ first chance to remind the rest of their existence. Four American teams will participate in the league, as well as the Brazilian FURIA, which is also indirectly attributed to the North America region. Crossing another humiliation pill is not an option. Everyone overseas is fed up with shame. A few more ksw, and the scene will explode with a bang.
Source: Sport
Tristin is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
