ESL Pro League Season 11 has concluded. On Sunday, Fnatic became the European champions, while Team Liquid took the gold in North America. But neither team was able to raise a trophy.
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Following Fnatic's 3-2 victory over mousesports, the camera in the ESL studio zoomed in through a glass window onto a Fnatic jersey on a mannequin, positioned next to the trophy, with a head-to-head, five-versus-five gaming PC setup behind it. The photos cataloguing 10 seasons of offline competition won't see an 11th album this year. Fnatic's and Liquid's players won't have their special championship moments. In a community known for loving LAN competition at the expense of online matches, these wins will forever have an asterisk next to them.
But they shouldn't. This is the world we live in, the one of the coronavirus, which has infected nearly 2 million people as of Monday and shut down sports leagues, entertainment venues and nonessential businesses all around the world.
Counter-Strike is no exception -- from the barring of fans at Intel Extreme Masters Katowice in February to the postponement of the ESL Rio Major from May to November. It doesn't seem like offline events will be back any time soon, with DreamHack announcing its Masters competition, the final qualifying event for ESL One Cologne, will run online from May to June, assuming Cologne happens on time.
Yes, LAN competitions test players in ways that online events don't. There's the pressure of being in an arena with fans, the lower latency of button and mouse input that allows for cleaner and smoother play and the adrenaline rush of being in the moment. The latter is far less likely while sitting at home, playing over the internet, but it's not as if challenges don't exist there, too. It's easier to be distracted, harder to lock in on the game, separation between teammates doesn't allow for smooth communication and setups are often of lower quality than those in LAN competitions.
Fnatic placed second in the Season 10 Finals in December, falling only to mousesports, whom they beat on Sunday to win this championship. Liquid placed higher than any of the North American teams they faced in the American leg of Pro League Season 11. Both deserve the championships they won, asterisk or not.
We as fans of this game will have to make do. Cologne is the next major offline event on the calendar, scheduled for just under three months from now, but Germany, as of Monday, had confirmed 128,208 cases of COVID-19. Three months may seem like a long time, but as we eclipse a month of many countries or states being on lockdown or issuing stay-at-home orders, three months isn't as long as it seems. ESL hasn't announced plans to alter Cologne at this time, but it's not far-fetched that it could be postponed.
The world is in flux. Everything is changing. Sports have been suspended globally. We should be sympathetic and respectful to the lives affected and lost at the hands of this pandemic. But we should also be grateful that esports, including Counter-Strike, is able to continue on. This moment for esports -- the only sports show in town, other than pro wrestling -- means something. Rather than bicker over offline-versus-online tournament weight, we should focus on making the best with what we've got.
For now that means supporting the organizers, teams and players who are still competing during this pandemic. Teams and organizers are financially struggling and the postponement of the Major will ultimately affect the bottom lines of many as a result of lack of sticker revenue and potential sponsorship activations. This isn't an easy time for anyone, but it's one we need to stick to together.