GotFrag eSports

Welcome to GotFrag's Women's eSports Coverage. This section is designed to promote and spread awareness of the happenings within the women's angle of the game; written by females who are actively involved in the Counter-Strike community. Although still small, the last few seasons have shown the female population of Counter-Strike growing in numbers and strength with little publicized information to build an association of united players. GotFrag hopes to bring a greater sense of community to a group of players which has not always felt they belong by bringing them into the larger scope of the world around them. GotFrag's Women's eSports Coverage includes community news, interviews, reviews and articles related to Counter-Strike femme's world wide.

GotFrag and WomaNation Female All-Star Game

While the buzz surrounding GotFrag�s announcement of a female All-Star Game continues, GotFrag is here to present some background on the who, what, and when surrounding the top American and Canadian gamers recognized as the cream of the crop. Only here will you be able to receive the necessary updates and information regarding the first ever such event. This week�s All Star Game coverage will entail full feature coverage, including player biography, possible map strategies, commentary and predictions.

West Team

Ashley �ashley� Mowery [Captain]
Past Teams: Girls Got Game, Team Stomping Ground Girls, Can�t Touch This
Current Team: High Tech Performance and Girls Got Game

Alice �ali� Lew
Past Teams: Suck It, Sirasoni, Net Games
Current Team: Girls Got Game

Cherie Ann �cherie� Vargas
Past Teams: Feminine Effects, Divinity
Current Team: WaSabi

Laura �Seraph� Sunley
Past Teams: Go Go Girls, voltage, Surreal Skill
Current Team: Escape Reality and BurntPink

Izabel �iza� Joanisse
Past Teams: Ladiez With Attitude, Karma Police, Everground
Current Team: Divas

The Western conference consists of three Californians (Ali, Cherie, IzabeL), a Washington State player (Ashley), as well as, one central based Texan (Seraph). With only one player a little further away from the Midwestern location of match grounds, latency based issues will not affect this team much. The female Counter-Strike community has seen a new team, Canadian Divas, form earlier this week; comprising of three of the ten players on the all star game roster. Izabel will be competing against her team mates Missharvey, and SagaL. This will give each team an insight into a small piece of each other�s structural set up�s. This conference is definitely facing some tough combat: One key feature is for members of this team to remain calm and collected during rounds. If one player becomes agitated or plays too aggressive, she will disrupt the entire formation of this passively styled team. The West team�s strongest combination of players points to Ashley and Ali�s experiences together on Girls Got Game. These two are apart of America�s infamous 5th placing Electronic Sports World Cup�s international female Masters Cup last summer in France. Ashley will be able to easy fluctuate between rifle and sniper to accommodate all positions on each of the three maps. Word to the wise: On de_nuke, do not try to rush ramp room as Terrorist unprepared if this girl is on guard (Got Headshot?). Although Ali does not currently reside on a competitive Counter-Strike clan, she can fall back on top tier scrim club, Seal Team, to give her the much needed practice while Girls Got Game enjoys a vacation away from competition.

Both these players compete in higher levels then the some of the other players on the east and west team. Independently, look for the level of maturity in both their playing strategies. The strongest call would be to separate these two players between site A and B, similar to operating a buddy system. Using teamwork is the number one way for the Western Conference to overrule the East. If chosen to call strategies for this series, Seraph�s experiences playing with Texas based LAN teams like voltage, surreal skill and Escape Reality will be able to lead her team to a smooth victory. The GX3 duo has been known to tap into the volt of good friends Rival to conjure up strats. In combination, Seraph�s knowledge of cunning spam spots and stacks, as well as some calculated plays from the rest of this team, they should be able foil the plans of many a Terrorist, impressing HLTV spectators and the enemy down. Lastly, watch Cherie�s aptitude for taking back conquered bombsites: A vital quality on this West Coast team. One more notable advantage on this player is her calm and collected manner. This is the player you can count on to take advantage of her enemies mix up�s and mistakes to clutch out rounds.

All in all, the Western Conference team has a great blend of experience (ranging from beginner to professional), skill and knowledge of the game at hand. Not only do they have the necessary elements to win this tournament, they also have the determination it will take to secure first place. These females have already grouped together and begun to perfect the team play by practice scrimming and organizing their tactics and set up�s. Having played with or against most of the East team, they have been able to compare and contrast notes on the opposition.

East Team

Cassie "Aphrodite" Newcomb [captain]
Past Teams: Akira Girls, Lethal Pimps, Gambino
Current Team: Anonymous5

Eman "sagaL" Abdi
Past Teams: Leselle
Current Team: Divas and BurntPink

Jane "janE" Wie
Past Teams: Ladiez with Attitude, Leselle
Current Team: Elle Gaming

Julie "Nyla" Tran
Past Teams: c9: Enemy Down, All Stars
Current Team: Out of Order

Stephanie "Miss" Harvey
Past Teams: Ladies with Attitude, Geek Sports
Current Team: Divas

The East Team is comprised of two Canadian players (Miss, Sagal), two Virginia based (Aphrodite and Jane) and the stand alone central starter from Louisiana (Nyla). This line-up will have two players hindered by their connections to a Texas based server, with Miss living in Quebec, and Jane�s unstable VA connection. This make up of this team will benefit as all players are familiar with each others gaming backgrounds. Not only are SagaL and Miss currently on the same team, but they have both played in online leagues with Jane. When combined with the histories of awesome players like Aphrodite and Nyla, spectators will have themselves a phenomenal line up for this first ever all star game. My only reservation with this team lies within the organizational preferences of these players. As Counter-Terrorists I see little conflict with the Eastern Conference controlling Westerly rushes, pushes and strategic attacks. However, will anyone be able to take the reigns of leadership and call plays on the offence? The majority of these players come across as quiet, timid players, usually from teams where they were lead by others members. Unless there is one player willing to dominate the waves of communication, this team may suffer the �there is no I in team� syndrome on strategy based maps like de_train. Albeit, when you have players with an excess of experience like Aphrodite and Nyla one could expect to see insightful calls, predicting the other team�s maneuvers and creative plays.

While there is no member of this team which should be discredited for lack of ability, the East needs to get the ball rolling with some trial runs and practice scrims. This combination is comprised of mostly rifle based players: Aphrodite, Jane and Nyla will be able to cover short range and rushes well with their high level of skill. A great example of what these females can do will present itself on de_nuke. Watch for the toggling, the no walls and the aim hacks to run rampant. Miss and SagaL will most likely fluctuate between sniping on maps like de_dust2 and de_cpl_mill. Both these players have been known to play the mid-pass on de_dust2, therefore, do not underestimate the east pairing these females to control a strong defensive on the secondary site.

The East team can definitely be said to have a stacked line up for this game. However, contrary to the talk floating about the community, they will not be able to stomp through the West team unless they group together and co ordinate their squadron. It will take more than simply fancy headshots and some prefire to outplay the Western troupe. Both East and West teams have players that can go head to head on crucial rounds for wins (Cherie, Jane). Yet, for the East to come out victorious they need to bring every element of their game into this contest: skill, smarts and strategy.

Counter-Strike: GotFrag Women's eSports Coverage

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