This year the CGS implemented an online preseason where franchises would go head to head in all their games over the World Wide Web. When this was first announced to the community, people were ecstatic to see their favorite players go at it before reaching the main stage. Also this was a time for GMs to evaluate their rosters and make trades before the trip to Los Angeles. To be honest I think the preseason is sort of just for show and somewhat a hassle for the players. There are two main reasons for this. The players won’t want to bust out their tricks online, but instead save them for the big stage when the CGS goes live. Another thing that won’t happen from online results is a changeup of players for the franchises. You can’t justify switching a person out after an online result that occurs once. Read on for some outlook on the online preseason.


The preseason was supposed to be a time for GMs to evaluate their franchises and make changes with players and maybe even swap taxi players. I don’t believe this will be the case too much as online isn’t a good judgment on how a player will perform. Internet connections cause so many inconsistencies that it is pointless to hold a loss against a player that harshly. Another thing is that some of the players that have lost so far (Blackmamba or KasumiChan for example) proved themselves in front of cameras last season while some of the new comers have yet to face the light (literally). The game changes when you get a camera along with lights flashing in your face. It would be sort of like benching a top CS player for one poor online performance when they consistently dominate at live tournaments. I don’t see this happening to the current players.

The GMs picked these players in the first place to put on a stage and play a live match because they figured they had the nerves to face a rowdy crowd and still take names. I believe the GMs have faith in their picks and the only circulation of players will be the taxi players if anything. I don’t even really see a reason to switch taxi players at this point. Who knows, but I don’t think we’re going to see any changes to the six franchises.


I can’t begin to tell you how many players must think this is a waste of time. It seems that half the DOA players aren’t even using their main characters, but I don’t blame them one bit. Why would they want to give away their secrets before the season starts and wins start to matter? I know if I were them, I wouldn’t give anything up, especially online when DOA becomes very inconsistent. I don’t think I’ve been able to play DOA online for more than 10 minutes before someone comes into a match and starts to lag the game ruining it for everyone. Ch0mpr has stated in his latest blog that he agrees with the same thing and believes that the online competition is a waste of time. For the fans, it is great to see their idols duke it out before as many new Counter-Strike teams have been formed since the last draft. Line-ups have been reworked from last season and Counter-Strike could prove to be interesting in season 2 so a taste of it is great for the fans.

I remember watching the compLexity and 3D match the other day and in the coL IRC channel, people were saying how boring the match was because it seemed like no one was really trying to use tactics or anything. Now I know coL doesn’t like to give their secrets away and I’m sure everyone else has new tricks for season 2 also. I believe most of the teams will take these match-ups sort of like a practice scrim where they will spend most of their time trying out new stuff and seeing how that goes instead of necessarily focusing on winning rounds. Sure people like Jason Lake want to win all the time, but I bet all the big time stuff will be saved for when it counts.


Everyone knows that the games from online to LAN are much different. DOA as I have said is much more playable on LAN than it is online which obviously would hinder online results. Forza 2 the game reacts different with collisions and someone’s actions could differ from LAN to online without the internet delay. A small lag spike and your braking and acceleration could not react as if there was virtually no delay. I read a post about a week ago when Optx scrimmed coL on Forza and Chavisan happened to win with GeeTeeOhh coming in third. Chavisan said it was a good race on his part but also added that it was just online and things could’ve been different if it was on LAN. This could be different in two ways, the connection and the stage.

The online preseason in my opinion isn’t a good measurement of how someone performs from being in the comfort of their own place compared to a stage with millions watching you’re every move from their homes. That in the back of any players’ mind could be nerve wrecking, but it’s those who can master their nerves that will do great. It is a mind game once the games are taken to LAN. In a way it is more than just playing the game but mastering you to be able to deal with the stress of performing in front of lights and cameras. This is something all the new players will learn as they make their way from this online preseason to the big event.