EPT![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/riptide/dota2/2013_05_23_vpnsblogs_banner.jpg)
NS' Blog: "How To Break Into eSports" 15.07.13
This is a translation of the original article from virtuspro.org.
Note: this article is for people who aren't very familiar with eSports. If you are already playing in some kind of semi-pro team then you will not find anything interesting or new here. Simply close the page and don't bother replying. Thank you!
Originally I was going to write a giant article and I even started to write it, but it was beginning to look like some kind of an epic saga that lost it's meaning. In the end, I came to the conclusion that it is actually much more simple and can be described with a few simple items that you can find below.
![[image loading]](/staff/dfs/articles/NS_Blog_Break_Into_Esports/iem_katowice.jpg)
(IEM Katowice)
However, before proceeding you need to understand something. Esports, at the time of this writing, has almost nothing to do with the actual sports. For example, eSports in Russia is not recognized as an official sport, there is no federation, no sections and schools, no clear way of breaking into it. There is currently no practice where you go to any class where you learn, where you show results, become one of the best, and get invited to the team. None of this is in eSports, but all of this is in actual sports.
You break into eSports with completely different, more prosaic and simple way, but you will have to do everything yourself. Below, a few simple paragraphs describe the way if almost every modern professional player. This mini-guide is written for Dota 2 players, although it is probably true for any other team discipline.
So:
- You must play really well (seems logical, but this is mandatory and the most important point. Lots of people write to me that they would like to get into the eSports, but in the course of conversation it turns out that their experience in the game is a couple of years and is less than 1000 hours of play. Obviously, you will not get anywhere with these numbers).
- You must have a team of guys who play really well, or at least are trying to. Building a team - is a laborious and difficult work, so I would advise everyone to start with small stack of two people (better with three). It will be the backbone of the team that you can use to pick players on desired roles. You must always have this base, it is important, you can't do everything alone. You can look for players anywhere: on forums, in pub games, in the yard, it doesn't matter, good players can be found everywhere. Creating a strong team is usually not a fast process, so be patient.
- Once you have a team, you need to go and register on an open tournament for any skill level, which there are many. You can easily find out about them on eSports sites like teamliquid.net, joindota.com, you can google them, etc. It is not a problem to find one of these tournaments and it is not important which one to start with.
- If you did everything right, you know how to play Dota really well, and your team does not do much worse, then you should have taken a good place in an open tournament for any skill level, because really good teams do not register on these kind of tournaments. It is unlikely to win from the first time, though, it rarely happens, but if you are very talented, then anything can happen.
So, once you have flashed a couple of times at these tournaments - you can say you're already in the eSports, not in the big leagues, though. Then you can go to tournaments rank above that are conducted by invitations only, and poke everyone in the face with the results. Believe me, if you poke actively enough then you will definitely get invited somewhere. There are a great many invitational-only tournaments, often they held small qualifications for a few spots - there's your chance.![[image loading]](/staff/dfs/articles/NS_Blog_Break_Into_Esports/sl_kiev.jpg)
(StarLadder StarSeries)
Again, there are many of these tournaments, a lot of news about them, and all that is needed - is to at least have a team with some achievements and contact the organizers of the tournament in time. Also, of course, do not miss the league based tournaments (such as StarLadder amateur/pro/semi-pro or ESL), usually, these leagues are made up of divisions. First, you have to play in the weakest, but then again, if you complied with the first two points, then in the very near future you will rise in the highest division, and this is a BIG eSports, so to speak. - You will definitely need a guy who will continuously look for all these events in the network, and register you there. Usually, such people are proudly called "managers", but to be honest, absolutely any member of the team that is really interested in breaking into this accursed eSports can do this work.
- Once you have achieved significant success in various tournaments, most likely you will be contacted by some organization and be offered a partnership. If it does not happen, then you yourself should contact an organization and request its assistance.
![[image loading]](/staff/dfs/articles/NS_Blog_Break_Into_Esports/ti2_seattle.jpg)
(The International II)
Congratulations, you've made your way into eSports! It is possible to do without the sixth item, but to get to some large organizations, such as Virtus.pro, Na `Vi, or any other of the well-known teams - it means to officially get into the circle of the strongest. Well, hopefully, I explained the main points on the way to the big eSports clearly enough. Now, less words and more action! And remember - it all depends on you! I wish you good luck!
