Why NA Falls Behind (No Troll)

#1

eMdeee

Tried thinking about why NA falls behind EU and came to some conclusions:

NA mindset, generally, is all about making money. Less people are trying to make it as a "pro" in CS as very few are going to make enough money relative to just getting a regular job there. As long as you graduate high school and apply yourself you will most likely have a better salary/hours worked than someone grinding T2 24/7. Not the same case in parts of the EU/BR/CIS etc. This is why there is such a focus on "content creation" as it is the bigger payday compared to grinding CS/VAL/etc. NA literally has an entire Valorant fanbase on Tiktok because on content. This, in my opinion, is the core issue.
NA also does not have access to the gambling sponsors that EU/CIS/BR/others do. Less cash means less desire, feeds into the above point. If this changes you might see a better T2 scene.

PC Gaming does not have the same impact that console gaming does in the US. Everyone memes on COD yet it is the only "mainstream" NA esport and it is dominated by NA players. The only other game that comes close was Fortnite at its peak, and even while I hate that game and don't consider it an esport NA dominated that too. While NA may have a comparable population, the amount actually PC gaming relative to EU is lower, and definitely not mainstream. Given that COD has fallen off hard since BO2 this may start to change in the future if VAL markets itself right.

Ego is somewhat of an issue. We often do not prepare well enough, and think that just because we are better mechanically than other regions (besides EU) we can ego-peek and win 9 times out of 10. The poor prep is just the icing on the cake.

Am I wrong? retarded? The next Socrates? Lmk

#2

youngblood

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Its just year 1 so cant make statements just yet but yeah I somewhat agree. I think they are talented but maybe the mindset is just completely different and since your career in esports is never guaranteed might as well make some good money while you're at it

#5

eMdeee

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I was kinda speaking to the history of NA is esports as a whole, less so about VAL particularly

#3

blicey

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its been 1 year where we took 1 tourney undefeated in not only games but rounds too, good enough for me there is always next year

#15

Larry

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Let’s be real here. They won Iceland when there were 4 maps in the pool and there was no real competition lol.

#20

blicey

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copium mad cause they didnt drop a map

#27

ipok6

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5 maps + number of maps have nothing to do with level of competition + cope

#30

Larry

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The number of maps do matter, the words map pool exist for a reason. I'm not coping. I'm from NA, I'm just not afraid of the truth.

#33

ipok6

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map pool is about how well you know the existing maps, the fact that there were only a 5 in the pool is not a knock on sentinels

#34

Vortexy

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Not exactly. Those 5 maps could be very favorable to one specific team's style and gameplay mentality and not to others. By adding a wider variety of maps that offer new and unique strategies, it can help new teams be potential challengers to the few proven teams which excel on that small map pool, provided their teamwork and style excels on new maps, thus raising the number of players/teams competing and increasing the overall competition level.

#35

ipok6

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thats a good point, but i dont think it makes enough of a difference, im sure sentinels would have won iceland regardless especially since they seem to be good on breeze and fracture

#37

Vortexy

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True, but I'll reiterate what I said earlier about the generally lower level of competition at Reykjavik. As time goes on, the level of competition, strats, and overall gameplay will be at a much higher level. As the first ever international tournament for the game with a considerably smaller amount of agents and maps, the results their will become less and less reflecting of reality in the future.

#29

ShadowisBAD

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COPIUM . stop complaining , still salty u guys got skullfucked in iceland , accept the L , EU fanboys telling NA cant accept an L

#31

Larry

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seems I've triggered a wild herd of sentinels fans

#32

kristof

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Iceland was a fluke. The only good team sentinels played against in iceland was fnatic.

#39

Aperture

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why you so mad bro?

Regards
Aperture
Son of Oil, Father of QueueK and Causer of Arguments

#4

PoohShiesty

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esports aren't very popular in NA

#7

eMdeee

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That's what I was kinda getting at the "mainstream" part. Lots of people in NA can recognize Optic and FaZe from COD, but if you ask them about Team Liquid or NRG you might as well be speaking gibberish. Most people still look down on esports as a whole too.

#8

PoohShiesty

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True
I grew up in the US and no one knew anything about esports, mostly just casual PC games and majority PS/XBOX.

EU has the PC Gaming culture + more social benefits to fall back on. In the USA you're utterly fucked if you don't make it pro.

#9

eMdeee

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Never really though about the last part too, but it definitely makes sense (for US not Canada). The US is the greatest 3rd world country, in that if you make it you can make it big but if you are complacent you can be fucked and no one will help you or pity you.

#17

Larry

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Yeah +1
Sports have and always will be the dominant factors in NA. People love their big four sports here and I am one of them. I just like to watch CS and Val in my free time. We live in a console dominant region, things like Internet cafes don’t exist here like in EU.

#6

KyLZi

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I agree, especially with what you said about consoles. I think there is a similarity with Japan in that aspect.

#10

WezleySnipezz

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100% agree with you.

Sen in general seem to have slipped since Shahz streamed with Pokimane and then continued streaming extra hours to keep up the buff he got in viewers from her. More time spent streaming = less time to watch vods and review the strengths and weaknesses of their opponents.
I personally think once Sen sign a REAL coach who can do the majority of the prep for them, they'll be a top 3 team in the world again and go deep in international tournaments.

General question: Is Rocket League a popular Esport for NA?

#11

eMdeee

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Yes in that it has "casual" gamers and more people know about it but it isn't on the same level as COD, which is the benchmark in my opinion. Nothing else is really "mainstream" (FN doesnt count). VAL could be that if it markets itself right and tries to bring in the casual audience to make it more widely accepted.

#12

WezleySnipezz

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Thanks for the info!

I also would say that the COVID pandemic has greatly impacted the popularity of esports in NA due to being unable to do live events. We've even heard from some players that they would rather not play until live events are back.
Just look at the Overwatch League as an example.

#21

0utbreak

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Pokimane killed NA valorant

#28

Golem

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W

#13

yungbasel

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You're overthinking the fuck out of this lol.

Every game Vs NA had been mega close and could have been reversed any day. Let's just enjoy the wins man

#14

eMdeee

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NA has always been behind in EU whether it was PC FPS or MOBAs. Being able to realize what has historically gone wrong despite having similar talent allows us to do better. Yeah Valorant has been closer, but if CS has shown us anything, for how long?

#18

yungbasel

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Time will tell.

#16

Larry

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NA has always had a scuffed mentality. It’s what has always held them back. Not to mention they are the most egotistical region. NA egos is what people care about most and their reputation.

Back in CS, the same problems that NA CS had will happen in NA VAL because the same problems and players in NA CS are now in Valorant.

EU just has the better mentality.

#24

CSGO_Enjoyer

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EU also gave tier 2 players a chance in tier 1 which worked out greatly for them. NA was so boxed in which never allowed for any expansion in the scene and then ultimately killed NA in cs.

#26

Larry

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That and Covid. Covid cucked the scene more than anything tbh. Took away all LANs and moved everything to Europe. No way the smaller teams will be able to compete in anything.

#19

Shashwat_Singh

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I feel like NA teams don’t practice enough for example here in india in a year out of 12 months our teams bootcamp for like 9-10 months and also the SEA teams practice a lot (like playing multiple tournaments simultaneously , doing multiple scrims in a single in a way i just want to say they are very dedicated). In NA i feel like some pros are more focused on streaming there is nothing wrong it but how are they supposed to practice when they stream for like hours every single day.

#22

Wavee

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u dont know it all stopacting like you do

#23

Wavee

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.

#25

yunoo

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Most people in NA have consoles as their main gaming platform whereas in other parts of the world console is a luxury that people can't afford. That is why in NA people ask their friends at school to play COD/2k/GTA/RL and the people asking to play CS and Val are the nerdy people. Esports is looked down on way more than other regions and is imo one of the main reasons NA isn't as succesful as other regions

#36

StockfishZ

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NA need to do less streaming and more playing

#38

m8te

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Hey by the end of champions global tournaments will be 1 for NA, 1 for EU and 1 for LATAM

#40

AladdinINSANE

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Just came to my mind that
Luminosity and Tempo Storm were two NA teams that won everything in NA and they were with full brazilians roster i don't what happen to na pros in terms of shooter games i think their ego is the problem.