Is this the year that UK CSGO teams return to form and put the scene back on the map? Ewan Taylor certainly thinks so, as he writes in this opinion piece…
For all those players that aren’t sure whether to join that team, try out for that org or just enter a tournament, do it.
For those wondering: ‘Maybe I should take part in an event.’ Do it. For those teams on a big losing streak – you will win the next one, and if not, you’ll win the one after that. For those companies wondering whether to sponsor that UK team – do it. We WILL make you proud.
2016 is the year that our country, our scene, our players, make it. I believe we can, why don’t you?
Why is our scene struggling? Simple – because we’ve lost what it means to be British. Why aren’t we picking ourselves up after a defeat to a main EU team and just simply saying how we can improve, and how we can move forward?
The more you feed a fire, the more intense it becomes. If our scene starts getting fed by big companies, even if it’s just the tournaments getting more money, then we can return to being a scene as big as we were with previous Counter-Strike games.
Something we’re lacking is either having teams come to us, or sending our teams outside of the UK. We’ve become isolated, meaning that only our number one team is being sent outside of the UK to large tournaments.
If more teams step outside of their comfort zone and head to these LANs, their knowledge and experience would skyrocket. Only by playing against the best can we learn how to beat them.
If just one UK team qualifies for any big EU tournament this year, then maybe, just maybe, the lift we need will come.
There’s talent here, not tier one talent, but people willing to improve, willing to put in the work to become a tier one player. I think at the moment we’re just waiting for precisely that to happen; all they need is the support of the small UK fanbase. With a solid organisation, it will happen.
All I can say to anyone in the UK CSGO scene is don’t give up. Come on, surely we can beat the NA scene sometime soon?
In terms of staying up to date and supporting the UK CSGO scene, I would recommend keeping an eye on tournaments in the UK such as the amazing new online tournament, JGLUK, and LANs like Insomnia and Epic.lan. There’s also our friends over at ukcsgo.com who cover the scene (this Reddit post on the downfall of the UK CSGO scene is also worth a read).
The next Insomnia, i57, takes place from March 25th to 27th, while Epic.Lan will run from February 18th to 21st. There’s also another i-series in August and Epic.Lan in June.
Don’t forget there will be more CSGO action with Gfinity throughout the year, as well as ESL – which has yet to announce its 2016 UK CSGO Premiership, but details for that should be due imminently.
