By the time the game against London did come around I watched the same side that had looked ramshackle against Singapore simply put in a master class of coordinated offense and defense that London had no answer for. It would be fair to say that it wasn’t London’s strongest performance, the side currently struggling to gel amid personality clashes, but they clearly could not live with Carolina. Of course the person I had been quick to write off was at the heart of the victory, devour having a great game and looking an entirely different player to the one that had moments of Buster Keaton style comedy in the previous game. It was to be no different when Berlin came a knocking either, the CSS side ultimately being the reason for success in my opinion by shutting out the offensive side with some great defensive setups and quality multiple fragging. It had truly opened my eyes to what the US sides do well.

Firstly, while elements of what I had said previous have a crumb of truth to them, there is a bit more to it than that. Certainly aim seems to be the number one priority in the skill set of US players, but that is not so illogical considering that it is an FPS after all… But what they do like to do is use those rogue spawns to their advantage and push even when operating as the defensive side to throw their opponents off guard and maybe get some early and unexpected kills that tips the balance in their favour. They won’t smoke to hide their movements, or flash their opponents to ease their mission; they will typically elect to “go in dry” and just let the element of surprise do the work for them. This is a trend that is crossing the water too, the reliance on disabling an opponent waning. It is quite exhilarating to watch and shows a real boldness and confidence that only a handful of European players seem to possess. European teams like to take five players and make them operate as one; the US sides seem to take a series of ones that just so happen to make up a five. They communicate with each other, but don’t over complicate things, just seek and destroy and repeat until victorious.

There is also the ability to step up a level that the Europeans, especially UK based teams, don’t seem to have. When it mattered the big name players typically delivered and I can’t think of a notable example at these World Finals where a US based player played his side into trouble or experienced the collapse when it came to the crunch. They operate at a consistent level, but when a big game comes a knocking they need no telling from their managers that they have to step it up a gear. They are more than capable of psyching themselves up and delivering the goods as opposed to paying hollow sounding lip service to what they should be doing. Certainly even though I have used devour as one of my examples, even in the game I said he seemed ordinary he achieved a healthy score and made some superb shots. The fact that he could go up a level I’d not seen many players operate at simply seemed to validate in my eyes that the US just had that extra level of experience and, even though it is a bit of a taboo to say it, hunger. In this respect devour seemed an appropriate name as no one was more fired up when the big names came rolling into town.

No one except maybe Mark Dolven himself, who was more than happy to tell me “I told you so” after they dumped out these teams I’ve mentioned. The European teams don’t seem to have that same kind of managerial presence, the suited figure of Dolven stalking behind his players now a sight we’re all familiar with. He lives every shot, cheers every kill, shouts, rants and raves like someone whose life depended on the outcome. How inspiring that must be for the players and this is not something unique to Dolven, even if he does take it to a level that not many of his counterparts do. This is the US style of management as far as I can tell, not just in e-sports but in all sports. If you can’t get passionate and vocal about the whole gig, how do you expect your players to have any intensity when it’s game time? As far as European management is concerned, to paraphrase Frank Herbert, the sleepers must awaken.

So what can I say, I take my hat off to the American teams for not only showing that – for now at least – the CGS is something they are in control of but also opening my eyes to a different, but brutally effective, style of play, the methods of which their foreign cousins could not adapt to. But the cat is now at the bag. The limitations of the internet have kept the two sets of factions apart, but the gap is getting smaller and one thing European teams do well is learning their lessons. I’d expect that when next these teams square off that the outcome will be different, but couldn’t predict just how different it would be. No, I think I’ll stay away from predictions for a while after being so savagely burnt and subsequently cruelly mocked this time around.