There are very few things more fun to do in CS:GO than competing. I mean, that was the point of the game when it was made, originally as a Half-Life mod - to be a competitive game and one of the firsts at it, if we look back into the history of esports.

More than twenty years have passed and Counter-Strike is now one of the most recognizable esports in the world, serving as the home of multimillion-dollar tournaments and teams with immense budgets. But, even for those players, it all started somewhere… and for some of them, it was in ESEA.

But What Exactly Is ESEA?

ESEA is a PUG service that can be compared to FACEIT, which gained more traction in the North American scene. It also has a competition, divided into several divisions, for teams to compete through several months and with prize money attached.

The ESEA competition is becoming more and more popular throughout the years, reaching a new level once they announced a partnership with ESL, opening the doors for players to possibly qualify for ESL Pro League, one of the most important tournaments in the world, via ESEA.

So, why should you play? I mean, if the reasons above are not enough for you, you also have the opportunity to compete for prize money (which escalates the higher the division you’re playing) and simply having the experience to play in a semi-professional way, which match scheduling and official matches that are counting for a seasonal leaderboard and playoff access.

How Does it Work?

ESEA hosts 4 seasons per civil year, with the calendar being something along these lines (it might change slightly every year):

Season #1 - January through April

Season #2 - May through July

Season #3 - August through October

Season #4 - October through December

Each season has two different stages - the regular and the playoffs. During the regular stage, each player has a set number of matches in Best of One, with the draw being made two matches at a time. If you end up winning your first two matches, you’re more likely to play against teams with the same record, as a way of separating the best teams from the worst, and solidifying the top part of the leaderboard. You have a lot of freedom to schedule the matches, as long as they’re played within the season’s time frame.

What divisions are there?

ESEA is comprised of four divisions, without counting ESL Challenger and Pro Leagues. From bottom to top, they are the following:

ESEA Open
ESEA Intermediate
ESEA Main
ESEA Advanced
ESL Challenger League

Besides the ESL Challenger League (previously known as ESEA Premier), all the others follow the same structure and format. The only one you can sign up for is Open - everyone starts from the bottom and needs to climb their way up. The only difference is that you won’t have to go through every individual one if you’re good enough.

If the Open division has enough teams signing up, the winning team of the entire division (which most of the time has more than 150-200 teams playing) will be automatically promoted to the Advanced. After that, the top X teams will go to Main and the other few that got to a good enough placement to be promoted will go up to Intermediate. The number of teams promoted solely depends on the number of teams participating, with the promotion brackets being announced together with the season.

How Can You Enter?

Entering is easy! Once the season is announced (generally happens during the playoffs of the previous one), they provide all the links necessary. You can follow their social media for constant updates on all things related to their products.

If you want to get ahead, you can come here and create your team. Make sure to set up everything as you want and then invite your teammates to join. They’ll be able to do it through the password you set up during the team creation.

After that, just go to the page of the next season (refer to the news article I’ve talked about earlier) and sign up for ESEA Open. After that, you need to make sure you pay all the fees before the deadline comes.

Payments

There’s a different deadline to pay your fees, but one thing’s certain - at least five players need to have their league fees paid before the start of the season. If you don’t manage to field the players after the first match, you’ll be removed from the league. ESEA has a very easy procedure to pay, with different and usual payment options, like credit card or PayPal.

The players also need to have ESEA Premium to play, which has a duration of one month. If you can, start paying for the premium only on the day of the first match and try to schedule all the matches from the regular stage in the first month.

If you need to have a stand-in during a match, he also needs to pay their fees - the advantage is that he only needs to pay the fees if he’s needed to play. As long as you have five players with the fees paid in the beginning, you’re set.

Scheduling Matches

You can schedule your match through your team page. You’ll have a list of teams you’ll be facing in the future with a default time set. If you can’t play at that time, you can propose a new date and time (as well as a server location). After you send that proposal, your opponents have 24 hours to accept or decline and make a new proposal (he can also send a message on that new proposal).

Pro Tip: There’s a limit on how many days forward you can schedule a match, but you can actually schedule it to a different date that’s not available. Get in touch with your opponent, and after getting into an agreement, comment on the match page the date and hours you agreed.

After both teams comment on the match page, just open a support ticket with the match page link, saying that you need to reschedule the match and that both teams have agreed on a date and time - and there you go, the admins change the match to the date and time you wanted.

Get Out There And Win

After all of that, you’re ready to play. The only thing left to do is to get out there and play your best. Make sure to prepare matches, look for demos of your opponents, and study their tendencies if you’re really serious about it.

Above all, make sure you have fun! That’s the most important thing. In the end, if you’re good enough, you’ll get promoted and maybe even reach the higher divisions!

If you have any feedback or suggestions, you can reach me through Twitter!