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Why ESL is esports' most reliable event organiser When it comes to esports, there are many event organisers that have become prominent. However, only a few have matched ESL’s level of quality. Orgs like DreamHack and Major League Gaming are similar but ESL has settled in the top-tier of esports. Formerly known as Electronic Sports League, ESL was established in 2000 to serve as the successor of the Deutsche Clanliga. ESL started off as an online gaming league and a gaming magazine. They also rented out servers for games which was the start of big events under the ESL banner. Let us talk about the ESL and its presence in certain esports. Dota 2 In the early days of Dota 2, ESL had a limited presence. They did not start off until 2013 when they had three ESL Major Series events. It was a bracket stage online and then it was held in front of a crowd for the finals with all three events being held in Poland. They were not the only Valve title to be present in that event as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive was also in Poland to play their own finals. EMS transitioned to ESL One events which is now the norm for their esports events. In Dota 2, there have been so many ESL One events starting with ESL One Frankfurt back in 2014. This was a big deal in the scene back then because it started off a string of events with big prize pools apart from The International. Valve trusted them enough to warrant their big events to be known as Majors in the Dota Pro Circuit. ESL became a fixture in the scene with regular events popping up. Dota fans got accustomed to the org to have good events because they had a good relationship with both the teams and the fans. It is great to see that there is an event org in esports that you can rely on to make good decisions on all aspects of the game. When it comes to Dota, ESL is the most reliable event org because of the overall quality of their broadcasts and presentation. Play Hilo on Gamdom CSGO CSGO is similar to Dota because of the tournament set ups that are usually involved in ESL events. In the early days, Dota and CSGO were involved in the same events like the EMS dates back in 2014. They were usually split on a day where the first half was for CSGO and Dota in the second half. ESL events are usually a landmark occasion for the CS scene because this is where the best quality of games were played. It also gave a platform for the personalities from the CSGO scene to come together and celebrate the game that they love. This is where certain CSGO teams found their form as well. The most prominent would have to be the Team Liquid squad of 2016. People may remember the time where Spencer ‘Hiko’ Martin and Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev were playing for Team Liquid and they found their form at ESL One Cologne 2016. People might look down on Team Liquid as a squad that failed to win a Major but they were influential enough to send waves to many teams in the CSGO scene. S1mple would go on to win many events including some ESL Ones with Natus Vincere. The North American scene became a top region after the s1mple and Hiko era because teams started to realize that they can compete at the highest level. CSGO is connected well to ESL because of their constant run of events. This is not just because of the ESL One events but the Intel Extreme Masters as well. Alongside the Majors, these events are a barometer for success in CSGO. Once again Liquid is making an appearance as they won the 2019 Intel Grand Slam which involved wins in at least four S-Tier events that are held by both ESL and DreamHack Masters. There have been two teams that have won this so far with Astralis in 2018 and Liquid in 2019. Alongside Valve Majors, this Grand Slam is the best award that a team can get in the CSGO pro scene. Play Crash on Gamdom What makes ESL so good? ESL is not just an event organiser because they are also an org that can be called as the best broadcasters in the game. Esports are a tough scene to commentate over but ESL constantly has talents who are iconic personalities in the game. In these broadcasts, ESL was also known for giving free CSGO skins away to staunch viewers. Dota 2 is a game where analysis is so important which has led to some people becoming iconic analysts. These casters like Troels ‘syndereN’ Nielsen and Ioannis ‘Fogged’ Loucas were former pro players turned analysts. People respected their take on the game as they give good points and they relay the info to the viewers. The play-by-play is usually the casters who garner attention but the analysts were given a platform at ESL events with long analytical takes which has a lot of positive takeaways and criticisms. Pro players themselves usually take this the right way as they know that these analysts want them to play well. Going to the play-by-play people, they are probably the most well-known personalities when it comes to the game. CSGO is probably the most talent-laden broadcaster crew with Anders Blume and Auguste ‘Semmler’ Massonnat leading the way. When you hear them on the call, you just feel that they love the game and they are happy to share that happiness with the people who are streaming. Dota 2 is the same with people like Owen ‘ODPixel’ Davies and Austin ‘Capitalist’ Walsh as the best of the scene. They were once led by Toby ‘TobiWan’ Dawson but he had to step away from the game due to some issues. ESL is keeping up with the progress of esports Marketing is one of the most important aspects of esports orgs and ESL is the best at it. They did have some hiccups back in the day but they never failed to keep up with the rest of the scene’s innovations. When it comes to their LAN events, they are reliable enough to make a spectacular viewing experience with massive screens on the stage. The production is a professional set up when shown on the stream. They usually stream their events on Twitch but they also have some channels on Facebook which gives them the biggest medium possible. There are even some aspects of betting where players can also get free CSGO skins. Their LAN setups are amazing to see because it just shows that esports are on par with the traditional sports that we are familiar with. The presentation is effective and with the profiles that they create on players, you can see that these players are talented but they also worked hard to get where they are right now. Audio-visual production is important in esports. ESL is the best at it with their insane quality and the casters they hire are also immersed in their craft. This is not even exclusive to Dota 2 and CSGO because there are also some events for StarCraft II and Warcraft which have gone under the radar lately. ESL still treats them with the best quality in both casting and visuals. Play Hilo on Gamdom ESL provides a structure for esports While every esports title has their own pro structure, ESL has proven that they can be trusted to take charge of events. They lay out the structure of the events when it comes to the format for the tournament itself but they also take care of the players. ESL North America CEO Yvette Martinez-Rea has talked about how the structure helps them with their efforts for the esports scene. She said, ‘The nice thing for us at this point — I’ve seen this over the last four years. As ESL, we now have a global structure with our major events. It becomes a lot easier for us to take titles like this and plug them into the DreamHack and ESL properties that already have fanbases, that already have infrastructure, all of that’. Martinez Rea continued saying, ‘It’s much easier than it is for Blizzard to go off and keep doing this stuff as one-offs. We’re excited that we’re now at a point globally that we can do this with very little extra heavy lifting’. Transportation is a must for LAN events and ESL is a reliable org that helps players where they need to go. When it comes to the event itself, they are responsible for taking care of the players and based on what the pros have said, they were treated very well. Is ESL the best org out there? ESL is not the only top entity out there because there are multiple orgs that have made their names in holding big events as well. DreamHack is probably the top contender that can contest ESL’s status as the top dog because of their similar quality. PGL is another org that has made a name for themselves in the past few years highlighted by Majors in both Dota and Valve. However, people should know that Valve trusts them enough to be the main org to help them during The International. ESL is the best out there today but it will not be a surprise if others come out in the future and build high quality companies on the foundation that these three orgs have created. Find out more info on CSGO at Gamdom Words: Pocholo Magsino