Become a pro: Player

We have all seen it and so many have experienced it firsthand. High expectations from the beginning and a promise to be completely unstoppable. A new self proclaimed top team.

Almost every week a new and ambitious team is born, and yet so few ever make it anywhere near the top. There are many reasons for a failed professional gaming project. HLTV.org has been investigated on how to avoid failure.

In order to make it all the way to the top there are three important parts that need be working optimal.

We have spoken to prominent people in the different positions and asked them to share their knowledge through years of experience with you in order for you to avoid the most common rookie mistakes and prepare you for the long a hard journey to becoming a professional gamer.

Carefully study this article and you will soon be a successful gamer!

The team
First and perhaps the most vital step of the journey is to gather a perfect team. zonic currently playing for mTw have been in pro-gaming for many years and has gathered experience at the biggest tournaments and in some of the most famous and successful teams the world have ever seen.

Who better to take advice from, than a champion of ESWC, Masters WCG and KODE5.

How do you gather a team? Where do you find the players? Should it be through friends, forums, mix’s or are there other ways?
It might not seem as the perfect team when you start, but then you play some matches and adjust the team as you proceed.
You don’t just pick 5 players and then instantly have a top team. Instead find someone you socialize with and who can play Counter Strike on a high level. When you have this, start stating your ambitions individually and hopefully they are the same.

So it is beneficial to setup goals for the team right from the beginning?
Yes! If the 5 players don’t fight for the same goals from day one you might as well pull the plug on the project. People needs to be clear on how far they want to go and even more important; how much they are willing to sacrifice themselves.

What are the pros and con’s when good friends plays in the same team?
I think the pro's are that the social part is perfect when 5 friends are playing together, but however if someone has to be let go off it might take longer time than expected. And I think you need to remember that Counter Strike on a highly level is a job, and if a friend has to go, so be it. No matter how sad it is.

How does the process work when a player is cut from the team?
Depends on the professionalism you are surrounded by. Usually the player stays in his contract and is later being released – unless a party’s wish is different.

What is the personal worst experience you have had with this?
I once lost the bond to a close friend.

What kind of constellation, both mentally and playing stylewise, is good in a team and why do you believe it is like that?
First you need the mentally part to be the same on a team, because if you have different goals or the mind set aren’t the same in a team, it won’t work on the long term. However playing wise it’s different, you need to think fast and kind of like the same if you know what I mean. There are so many times where the aim isn’t enough when you are in a 2on2 situation and the bomb is ticking fast. Then you need to know each other to win this kind of situation that often wins your games. With that said, then you need to have a fair variation of players.

How is the constellation in the current mTw team?
We have a good variation in the team. whiMp is a defensive player and me and mJe are our offensive force. Sunde is both defensive and offensive with his AWP and finally we have Ave who was defensive, but has become offensive over the years.

What key attributes is needed for the various types of players?
The sniper needs quick reflexes and to be stable.
The tactician need creativity and knowledge of the other teams.
Keywords for the in-game leader is: Leadership, knowledge of opponent and determination. As for the attacking players it is all about aim, reflexes and not being afraid of drying.

In a recent interview TaZ from mYm stated:
“He (whimp) always does the hard stuff, gets the most boring positions, but he does his job, and he goes for his A game when the team really needs it. Star players like zonic, neo or solo are getting a lot of kills, but most of the time the player who's under the radar makes the difference.”

What kind of player and personality is he talking about here?
A down-to-earth guy, who freely speaks his mind and have a very good delicacy. His game-performance reflected on our success in 2008. With patience, sublime aim and right movement he eliminate his opponents.

Back in the days every team had a “Clan leader”. Is there still a need for this or is today’s way of running a team leaning towards a more democratic way?
It is, with no doubt, democracy all the way – though you still need a guy who can step up and talk for the team. I call it; team captain. He tosses the coins at tournaments, signs the result and does the things only one person can do.

When it is time to get a manager and what should his role be in the team? Is it really a war arranger in the beginning and then later on you can get a real manager?
Actually when you decide you want to go all the way it’s time to get a manager, because when you know there is a guy working his ass off trying to getting sponsors working with the team etc. you automatically starts taking things more serious.

What do you look for when you choose a manager?
We look for a guy who knows what he is doing. There are a lot of guys who does it for the fame, and when they get bored or they run into a hard time, they just quit. So you need to find a manager you like outside the game as well.

How does a new team approach the art of making tactics?
Either you get some inspiration from the other teams, or we just sit a few of us trying to throw some different flashes, and hopefully we can create a tactic from scratch that we can build up on during praccs.

How does a team overcome huge failure at an event after lots of practice up until? What can you do to proceed?
We just sit down and talk things through, look at the demos and just come up with some honest critique about ourselves. And we want to point finger on what went wrong at that event, so we can move forward and people know what they have to work on when we get home.

So many teams fail and shut down. What are the main thing teams does wrong in your opinion?
They give up too fast. We have had that problem in Denmark for years, and it’s typical that the teams that finished top 3 in DK stays together and the rest just split up because they didn’t do well enough. So it’s a common problem all over the world I think, but if you stay together and never give up you’ll get there someday. But just find out if you have the same mindset when you begin, otherwise don’t bother.

This was the first of 3 article on "How to be a pro:". Soon you can read about "How to be a pro: manager". An article for both players and people with a little manager inside.