Chaos Esports Club Can No Longer Compete
Chaos Esports Club were one of the fastest-growing teams in competitive Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO). That was until COVID-19 caused concern for the organisation, along with funding upsets. They had multiple first-place finishes this year including ESEA Season 34, WINNERS League, Funspark 2020, and IEM Beijing. All of these events helped the org grow on a financial scale, allowing their roster to focus on day to day scrims. Chaos EC went from losing qualifier slots to beating teams such as FURIA, Team oNe, Triumph, Mythic, and the New England Whalers. After two years of nonstop training, Chaos EC saw it all, from IEM champs to benching an entire roster.
2020 ACHIEVEMENTS
Besides their finish at WESG 2019, Chaos EC only started to grow in 2020. Their winning streak began in July after they placed first in the ESEA Season 34 Premier Division against Mythic. For nearly two months Chaos EC destroyed teams in the Mountain Dew League. They won all three games in the grand finals and earned themselves twenty thousand dollars - not a bad way to start off the year as a fairly new team in North America.
They then pulverised Triumph in back to back events starting at WINNERS League Season 4. Chaos EC was one of sixteen invited teams that took home the grand prize of two thousand dollars. After two months of competition, they only lost a single game in the playoffs before beating Triumph as if they were in pubs. This outstanding performance became apparent at the Mythic Invite League and Summer Cup between July and August.
Triumph and PVO tried to get in the way of Chaos EC, but it wasn’t possible. The North American lineup was built like no other team in the scene. They took home two Mythic League titles adding thirteen grand to their private funding. Despite all of these events taking place online, Chaos EC still managed to thrive away from the spotlight.
Their performance at Funspark ULTI was an incredible sight after they beat out Cloud9 in the lower bracket finals to secure a first-place finish. They beat the New England Whalers 16-4 in the semifinals which was downright embarrassing for the opposing team. Ze Pug Godz didn’t even stand a chance in the finals after losing to the team they had just beaten in the upper bracket finals.
THE FINAL STAGE OF SUCCESS
These past three months were definitely the best time to be a fan of Chaos EC. The rookies moved onto play at an A-Tier level including IEM Beijing and DreamHack Masters Winter. Chaos EC earned nearly seventy thousand dollars by the end of the two events, which was a record-breaker finish for the team. They had beaten both Triumph and Team oNe which were top-level orgs at the time and made for some great matchups.
After all of this fame and glory, Chaos EC still faced financial troubles back home. While their tournament results were huge, it wasn’t enough to keep the org pumping out salaries. The team took to Twitter where they explained the main issues behind dropping their CS:GO lineup.
DEPARTURE RESPONSE
Chaos EC managed to keep their roster-update short and simple without cutting through the main details. While the company was growing, so was a worldwide pandemic. Due to online events, sponsors began to hold back on funding because of a decrease in marketing values. Chaos EC is currently in need of content creators rather than a competitive roster for CS:GO.
While the decision to drop the team wasn’t ideal, it was the only possible way for the company to maintain funding and continue to grow. A team that can’t earn money from sponsors is pretty much dead weight. Their player stats become unnecessary assets resulting in a full-on disband. The team itself was a powerhouse in CS:GO and helped bring in tons of supporters.
NEW FACES THROUGHOUT THE YEAR
Chaos EC clearly put a lot of time and money into their everyday appearance on social media. Their merchandise wasn’t just a team logo slapped on some cheap shirts, but instead provided a sense of fashion and personality. Their CS:GO roster saw the final chapter of Joshua "steel" Nissan before his departure to VALORANT back in August of this year. They gave the Valve banned pro a chance to redeem himself as a top tier player in North America. Edgar "MarKE" Maldonado became a suitable roster change and helped Chaos EC earn some final victories as an underdog lineup.
The current ex-Chaos EC lineup is nasty; they’re extremely talented and full of potential. All that matters now is what team is willing to fund a brand new team of free agents in the midst of a pandemic? A lot of North American orgs are falling off throughout the pandemic, and it’s harming the future of esports. Whichever team that decides to fund ex-Chaos EC could help revive the community at last.
Images via Chaos Esports Club