Player Roles: In Game Leading

Today we will be taking a look at what an In Game Leader is, who's the best and how to learn about them! 

What is the role of an In Game Leader?

The role of the IGL is to create a structure around the team in order to win the round. For example, the In Game Leader’s job is to decideeither to buy or save, go bombsite a or b, or even to take a break and take a timeout. Outside of the in game environment, there job is to create or brainstorm different strategy in order to get ahead of the meta game. Professional teams are often aided with a coach which is there to job is to either Anti-Strat there up and coming opponents or help the IGL create the strategy to.

What else is involved in In Game Leading?

There’s different aspects of ‘Leading’ within counter strike. For example, tracking the opponent’s economy is a key aspect in calling. If you decided to do a fast rush into a site against pistols, things could go wrong, in this scenario you want to decide to do for a longest aim battles possible. Josh ‘Steel’ Nissan, an ex-professional Counter Strike leader has created a video on economy and how it works, the breakdown of it, and when and what you should buy in each scenario:

https://goo.gl/oNgwlP

Along with all of this, a key aspect of leading a Counter Strike team is micromanaging your team. This consists of making sure each of your players are doing the correct thing in order for the strat to work. Players often considered a ‘loose cannon’ can either be the biggest issue in your team or the star player depending on how the IGL manages him or if the team is set up around him. A perfect example of this was the EX Titan team featuring KennyS and the current Natus Vincere team with Guardian. Again Steel created a video based on this current topic which there will be a link here:

https://goo.gl/NjQpqn

Picture of Josh 'Steel' Nissan at ESWC in 2014 provided by HLTV.ORG 

So, who is the IGL for CAZ?

In CAZ eSports.UK, Jakem is the current in game leader of the team and is supported by the coach Mini. Jakem's job recently has been hard due to them facing up against a number of different opponents within the ESEA Premier. To see who we are playing you can check out our 'Face Off' series on our website! 

With all this, who’s the best?

In my personal opinion, at the moment the best in game leader currently is Luminosity Gaming's 'Fallen'. My reasons behind this is because of his experience within 1.6 and Source along with his skills within the game being one of the best AWPers in the world and what he has done with such little resources. The next best is Pronax, the former Fnatic IGL has won a total of 3 Majors, along with a total of 195,000 dollars earned within CSGO! With his amazing ability to read the game on the fly makes him the best leader in a situation when you’re losing by 10 rounds. The 3rd best in game leader comes from America under the name 'SeanGares'. This is because of his strategic approach to the game and his approach to games via anti strating the opponent. Meanwhile his approach to the game allows teams to change up their approach and alter their strategy to counter the former Cloud9 team! Meanwhile popular personality 'Thoorin' has made a video on assembling in game leaders and the differences between them!

https://goo.gl/toDFf3

A Picture of Thoorin Casting! 

 To keep up to date with all things at CAZ, be sure to follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook!