CS:GO 'ALEX' And The Rise Of British Esports Stars

British esports star Alex “ALEX” McMeekin had a breakout year in 2019 as he led Team Vitality to victory in several big CS:GO tournaments. The highlight came at the FACEIT ECS Season 7 Finals in June, where they beat FURIA 2-0 to seize gold in front of a passionate crowd in London. It was a great moment for British esports fans, as it finally allowed them to celebrate the success of a homegrown star.

The UK has certainly had an impact on the burgeoning world of esports, as Fnatic is based in London and it also yielded Team Dignitas, but British competitive gaming stars are few and far between. The highest-earning Brit in this arena is Wolfiez, who famously clinched a silver medal in the duos section of the Fortnite World Cup in New York this summer despite playing with a controller. The 15-year-old from Essex became famous overnight for his exploits and he earned more than $1 million.

Another Fortnite player called Mongraal is second on the list of the highest-earning Brits, followed by FIFA legend TekKz. ALEX comes in at 15th on the list, behind a bunch of gamers that made their money by playing Fortnite, Call of Duty and basically defunct titles like SMITE and Heroes of the Storm, but he arguably has the greatest potential of any British esports star.

An Upward Curve

ALEX earned just $3,000 in 2015, $10,000 in 2016, $17,500 in 2017 and just under $26,000 last year. He would also earn a nominal salary, but that is not enough to sustain a full-time career as a pro gamer. Yet his persistence paid off and he has earned more than $130,000 in 2019 thanks to Vitality’s success at various tournaments.

They beat highly rated Team Liquid to win cs_summit 4 in Los Angeles and lifted another trophy in Charleroi, while they took silver at ESL One Cologne and DreamHack Masters in Malmo and went to the quarter-finals of the Berlin Major. Vitality is now eighth in the HLTV rankings and they have FaZe, 100Thieves and Evil Geniuses in their sights, while they are now among the favorites in the esports betting odds on big CS:GO tournaments, so a burst into the top five looks like a realistic target in 2020.

A Big Break

ALEX’s career really took off when he moved to Vitality from Team LDLC in December 2018. The ambitious French team plucked him from relative obscurity and installed him as a key component in a star-studded line-up. He was known in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) circles as an aggressive rifler with an ability to conjure up a decisive moment of magic out of nowhere, but he was crying out for a big team to give him a chance.

Vitality had enjoyed some success in Call of Duty, PUBG, and League of Legends, but the franchise only expanded into CS:GO in October 2018. Yet it made an eye-catching entrance onto the scene after hiring a group of fantastic individuals, comprising NBK, apEX, Happy, RpK and the wunderkind ZywOo, who is now widely regarded as the best player in the world.

However, results were underwhelming and Vitality decided to jettison Happy out of the team and bring in ALEX to replace him. The idea was for the Brit to revitalizing the team’s CT sides along with the T-side mid-rounds, and Vitality’s form has improved considerably since his arrival. ALEX previously led Team LDLC, but NBK remained Vitality’s shot caller, allowing ALEX to focus on his own game.

Leading the French

This year, ALEX and NBK shared leadership duties until NBK was dropped in favor of shox following a disappointing showing at the Berlin Starladder Major. Now NBK has left for Team OG, leaving ALEX as undoubtedly the main man at a team bursting with promise.

It is hard to overstate just how talented ZywOo. Until this year, NaVi superstar s1mple was the best player in the world by a comfortable margin, but ZywOo has arguably exceeded the Ukrainian. He is primarily an AWPer, but he can pull off stunning headshots with pistols, rifles, and SMGs, and his stats throughout 2019 have been insane.

If ALEX can manage to harness ZywOo’s talents correctly then Vitality could be the team to mount a genuine challenge to Astralis’ hegemony over the CS:GO scene in 2020. It is interesting to see a Brit installed as the leader of an exciting French team, and it may ask British esports fans to wonder why a domestic franchise cannot offer him the correct platform for global success.

Lagging Behind

CS:GO is one of the top three most popular esports in the world. Only Dota 2 has given out more prize money over the years, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CSGO) has more pro players than any other game. Yet ALEX is the only Brit that is making a career out of playing it. Rory “dephh” Jackson and Owen “smooya” Butterfield have played in a few tournaments, but ALEX is the only one flying the Union Jack on a consistent basis.

There are no famous British players in the other big esports like League of Legends, Dota 2 and StarCraft II either. The competitive gaming scene has enjoyed huge growth in the past five years and it now boasts more than 450 viewers across the globe, but it is seemingly passing the UK by. China, Korea, Scandinavia, and North America are the global hot spots in terms of talent and taking the scene seriously, while Britain is lagging well behind.

For a small island, it has always punched above its weight within traditional sports and indeed entertainment forms like film, music, and TV, while London is a leader in the tech industry. It is therefore surprising to see that the UK cannot hold a torch to countries like Sweden, Denmark and South Korea when it comes to esports.

Reasons to be Cheerful

However, that could all change in the years ahead. The British Esports Association has been established to promote competitive gaming in the UK, increase its level of awareness, improve standards and inspire future talent. The British Esports Championships have been launched to give school and college teams a tournament to work towards.

ESL One returned to Birmingham in 2019 and London often hosts big tournaments. The LEC now has a UK team called excel Esports. London Spitfire has done well in the Overwatch League, and Brits continue to succeed at FIFA. Aspiring esports stars from the UK have a genuine star in ALEX to look up to and his exploits in 2020 and beyond should provide inspiration to aspiring esports stars of the future.

***DISCLAIMER***

This article is a Guest Post written by James Metcalfe from Unikrn.com