Pro gamer sponsorship

[Novus]

If you were a pro gamer (not programmer) in a slump about to be picked up by a new major corporation for a sponsorship (with the stipulation that you have to use their gear)  for the next esports (what a stupid name) season. Which company (major corporation - meaning you can walk into a generic retail store and buy their products) would you pick to sponsor you so that you don't suck? What keyboard would you begrudgingly use?

Oh right and what game do you play as an imaginary pro gamer because that affects keyboard choice.

[Freebird]

Probably steel series or razer from a peripheral point of view, maybe Asus or MSI for hardware.

Back when I played halo I was sponsored by infused they had various sponsors for the organisation, we didn't have our own.
Then in very high level pro player situations I suppose a lot tend to have their own sponsorship and endorsement deals.
I remember walshy was sponsored by red bull that would be a pretty awesome sponsor as they seemed to get him awesome gear just branded with red bull.

[Fragil1ty]

Probably steel series or razer from a peripheral point of view, maybe Asus or MSI for hardware.

Back when I played halo I was sponsored by infused they had various sponsors for the organisation, we didn't have our own.
Then in very high level pro player situations I suppose a lot tend to have their own sponsorship and endorsement deals.
I remember walshy was sponsored by red bull that would be a pretty awesome sponsor as they seemed to get him awesome gear just branded with red bull.

It's a hard question really, but to be honest? I guess the only company that I could see me using if I had to use all of their peripherals, then it would probably be Feenix. They have a good solid group of peripherals that I could use, good mouse, good keyboard, headphones and so on.


I would rather go with a combination (of what I have now and that's Noppoo + Feenix), but Feenix are the only company that I'd feel comfortable gaming on.


I don't like Razer all that much, got one of their keyboards and don't really like using it, but that's because I'm not a huge fan of TKL boards, 75% boards ftw y0

[Signature]

If you were a pro gamer (not programmer) in a slump about to be picked up by a new major corporation for a sponsorship (with the stipulation that you have to use their gear)  for the next esports (what a stupid name) season. Which company (major corporation - meaning you can walk into a generic retail store and buy their products) would you pick to sponsor you so that you don't suck? What keyboard would you begrudgingly use?

Oh right and what game do you play as an imaginary pro gamer because that affects keyboard choice.

Mionix or qpad easy! Funq maybe.. Swedish power!

[Lastpilot]

Probably Leopold or Ducky. I would have to be sponsored in Asia though.

[typo]

steelseries. I figure if the software crashed and I lost it is their problem lol. I don't even use any steelseries now but I think if I was actually good that would work out.

[allocerveau]

Some 2nd/3rd tier manufacturer in terms of popularity, because diversity is always good. Leopold, Noppoo, that kind of thing.

[osi]

Give me anything. Ownage is hardware independent. Sure, there could be personal preferences that may give you a slight edge but the most important part is the ninja behind the keys.

[Freebird]

It is hard to choose someone where you could actually go and buy the gear in a retail store. I would happily take someone like Ducky, but I have never seen any of their products in a high street store.

I am personally not a fan of Razer either, I was sucked into the whole gamer gear thing initially, but everything I have ever had from them has had an issue with the exception of a mouse mat, which in all fairness is hard to bigger up lol.

Asians definitely do have the best sponsors, like the Korean SC and LoL players get some tasty stuff. i.e. the OMG stuff looks awesome!

[C5Allroad]

Corsair is an OK company. So is steelseries. Corsairs drivers are garbage though.

[Defect]

Filco or Ducky imo.
Leopold not bad just because they have so many products (realforce is leopold)

[ShakeR]

Probably steel series or razer from a peripheral point of view, maybe Asus or MSI for hardware.

Back when I played halo I was sponsored by infused they had various sponsors for the organisation, we didn't have our own.
Then in very high level pro player situations I suppose a lot tend to have their own sponsorship and endorsement deals.
I remember walshy was sponsored by red bull that would be a pretty awesome sponsor as they seemed to get him awesome gear just branded with red bull.

Hey Free, what team did you play for?  I went to a tournament in TN back in the day for Halo 1.  The pinnacle of my Halo career was getting a Killing Spree against Final Boss (ogre twins, walshy, and killer N at the time).  We lost the game of course, but it was still awesome.

Halo CE = the glory days of Halo imo

Also, to avoid derailing the thread.  I would have to go with Ducky (shocker right?).  Bias aside, Ducky is the most colorful / innovative of the brands, so you would get the coolest custom stuff with them vs the others.  Just look at what they did for OMG.

[FoxWolf1]

How big a company are we talking about here (and big where in the world?)?

If it doesn't have to be particularly big in the West, then I'd go with Team Scorpion (an Enzatec brand) so that I could keep my current mouse. Their keyboards use MX Blacks and are either made by or in association with PLU but I am fine with that.

Has it got to be bigger than that? I know CM Storm sponsors some gamers...

Dunno what I'd do if it had to be bigger than that, though.

[Freebird]

Probably steel series or razer from a peripheral point of view, maybe Asus or MSI for hardware.

Back when I played halo I was sponsored by infused they had various sponsors for the organisation, we didn't have our own.
Then in very high level pro player situations I suppose a lot tend to have their own sponsorship and endorsement deals.
I remember walshy was sponsored by red bull that would be a pretty awesome sponsor as they seemed to get him awesome gear just branded with red bull.

Hey Free, what team did you play for?  I went to a tournament in TN back in the day for Halo 1.  The pinnacle of my Halo career was getting a Killing Spree against Final Boss (ogre twins, walshy, and killer N at the time).  We lost the game of course, but it was still awesome.

Halo CE = the glory days of Halo imo

Also, to avoid derailing the thread.  I would have to go with Ducky (shocker right?).  Bias aside, Ducky is the most colorful / innovative of the brands, so you would get the coolest custom stuff with them vs the others.  Just look at what they did for OMG.

I was in the EU halo scene which was directly linked to MLG as we always used their settings for all tournaments and such. I played for Infused, which is an EU organisation. I missed out on Halo CE and came into the scene probably for the last year of H2, I played a lot of H2 with some of the top American pros like strongside and elamitewarrior (I seemed to be friends with a lot of locals to Louisville KY), I was an FFA kid then. My best LAN placements were in H3 where my team was top 4 EU. I never made it over to an MLG event which is something I always wanted to do, sadly they kept making Halo worse with each new game since the original and I had enough by the time Reach came around. MLG then dropped Halo for when H4 arrived as it was so poo. I think they have hinted that they might bring back Halo tournament support for H2 anniversary later this year (if it happens of course).

Sorry for the thread interruption as you were gentlemen.

[Lain1911]

Vortex @:^)

[Hak Foo]

Kensington for the lulz.

[Novus]

Leopold, filco and ducky are disqualified as I don't believe they actually sponsor players or teams

[Defect]

Leopold, filco and ducky are disqualified as I don't believe they actually sponsor players or teams

Pretty much anything other than Razer then.  Prolly CM, they seem to be going in the right direction.

[Zombly]

I'd probably go with CM, as they'd probably also sponsor a lot of cash money

[Morwrath]

Leopold, filco and ducky are disqualified as I don't believe they actually sponsor players or teams

Think I remember OMG being sponsored by Ducky at last worlds in LoL.

[Puddsy]

Ducky does sponsor a few LoL teams. As does QPAD. Realforce/Leopold sponsored IG for a time.

I'm gonna keep using whatever peripherals I like no matter who sponsors me. I guess Steeleries is my best choice then.

[Lain1911]

Leopold, filco and ducky are disqualified as I don't believe they actually sponsor players or teams

Pretty much anything other than Razer then.  Prolly CM, they seem to be going in the right direction.

Polt: Knight of Terran!

[Kagusaki Wolf]

I would have to choose Razer.  Razer Naga is a must for Guild Wars 2 and thats what I mainly play.  I also got the Razer Blackshark headset since it's the cheapest aviator style headset I can find (I love the style lol)  as for keyboard, I'm using a SIIG Suntouch K101 with white alps.  I might try out the new Razor Blackwidows with the green switches though

[foxer]

You don't actually have to use the peripherals I believe. I remember Jiji saying so on stream a long time ago and that he only used the Razer keyboard in Korea because his gf forgot to pack it for him. o_o

[Awful]

WASD has sponsored someone recently (I believe) because you can buy the gamer's models on their site. I would chose them, specifically for a custom code keyboard with lighter springs on the modifier keys and maybe a white shell and custom pbts (since we're talking completely hypothetically)

However, I depend on my Logitech g600 and g930 and without those two I couldn't play anything! So, if not for just keyboard Logitech.

[OnTheBrink]

Probably steel series or razer from a peripheral point of view, maybe Asus or MSI for hardware.

Back when I played halo I was sponsored by infused they had various sponsors for the organisation, we didn't have our own.
Then in very high level pro player situations I suppose a lot tend to have their own sponsorship and endorsement deals.
I remember walshy was sponsored by red bull that would be a pretty awesome sponsor as they seemed to get him awesome gear just branded with red bull.

It's a hard question really, but to be honest? I guess the only company that I could see me using if I had to use all of their peripherals, then it would probably be Feenix. They have a good solid group of peripherals that I could use, good mouse, good keyboard, headphones and so on.


I would rather go with a combination (of what I have now and that's Noppoo + Feenix), but Feenix are the only company that I'd feel comfortable gaming on.


I don't like Razer all that much, got one of their keyboards and don't really like using it, but that's because I'm not a huge fan of TKL boards, 75% boards ftw y0

Napoo + Feenix? Someone is a Reckful fan eh?

[missalaire]

You don't actually have to use the peripherals I believe. I remember Jiji saying so on stream a long time ago and that he only used the Razer keyboard in Korea because his gf forgot to pack it for him. o_o

I'm pretty sure you do if you're sponsored by a brand to use a specific product, they'd have a contract for it. It would make no sense to be sponsored by a brand and not have to actually use their peripherals lol. Part of the reason for the sponsorship of pro teams/players is that it helps show off and advertise their product.

[sacratoy]

Logitech, Steelseries, or Cooler Master.

These companies seem to support their team's well, and I like each of their peripherals. (Logitech mice, Steelseries headsets, CM keyboards)

As painful as it would be, I'd use a 6Gv2 if I was being paid to do so.

[TheSoulhunter]

Probably Razer as I use a Deathadder + Orbweaver for gaming anyway...

[Pacifist]

Probably Razer as I use a Deathadder + Orbweaver for gaming anyway...

I don't really see pros using orbweavers to game, why is that?

[cmadrid]

I think I would go with Intel.. do they count as a major corporation?

[foxer]

You don't actually have to use the peripherals I believe. I remember Jiji saying so on stream a long time ago and that he only used the Razer keyboard in Korea because his gf forgot to pack it for him. o_o

I'm pretty sure you do if you're sponsored by a brand to use a specific product, they'd have a contract for it. It would make no sense to be sponsored by a brand and not have to actually use their peripherals lol. Part of the reason for the sponsorship of pro teams/players is that it helps show off and advertise their product.

Hmm, perhaps it's changed from how it used to be. What you said does make sense but I've always assumed that what Jiji said was still the way

[TheSoulhunter]

Probably Razer as I use a Deathadder + Orbweaver for gaming anyway...

I don't really see pros using orbweavers to game, why is that?

I have no idea, but for FPS (where you don't need a quadrillion buttons) it's imo much better than a keyboard.
Perhaps it's a "It's hard to break habits" and/or "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" thing?

[missalaire]

Probably Razer as I use a Deathadder + Orbweaver for gaming anyway...

I don't really see pros using orbweavers to game, why is that?

I have no idea, but for FPS (where you don't need a quadrillion buttons) it's imo much better than a keyboard.
Perhaps it's a "It's hard to break habits" and/or "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" thing?

Orbweavers (and gaming keypads in general) are great for MMORPGs too.

[domoaligato]

IBuyPower or SteelSeries btw what fps does you play with a orbweaver?

[TheSoulhunter]

IBuyPower or SteelSeries btw what fps does you play with a orbweaver?

At the moment mainly BF3, BF4 and some Q3 or UT03...

[JaccoW]

DFI. Oh wait...

[Quardah]

I play Counter-Strike GO at high competitive level. If i had to choose sponsors i would go with Steelseries and Zowie since they both have been on the Counter-Strike scene since 1.6 and even before.

Anything other than Razer. I don't want to wear those stupid black and green "razor swag" socially-akward-home-sheltered-virgin-wannabegeek appearel and i certainly don't want my face on their stupid website citing thing i never said like :

"New razor switches are way better than ****ty cherry MX switches and are totally not a ripoff aka pro gamers only plz join the razer cult my team won some random tourney using razer stuff therefor razer is god amongs hardware manufacturer totally not a steal GO WITH THE UNFAIR ADVANTAGE DON'T FORGET USING A DEATHADDER ADDS 50% CHANCES OF AWP QUICKSCOPE HEADSHOT WALLED DOUBLEKILLS and don't forget using a blackwidow stealth ultimate-epic-purple edition reduce all defuse time by 4 seconds and automaticly gives you free defuse kit.

Long live the unfair advantage Razer cult join now if you are not affraid of the dark and can totally spend 100$ on a 4$ made in china american made black mouse"

- Tordah "J-P" [Widowmaker] Dorion {QuickScope420}, Leader of [QC]420-1337-team-invincigods-of-rape-TeaBagUrDeadFace-[UM@DSON??] team

[Freebird]

I play Counter-Strike GO at high competitive level. If i had to choose sponsors i would go with Steelseries and Zowie since they both have been on the Counter-Strike scene since 1.6 and even before.

Who do you play for out of interest? I have put considerable time into CS:GO, only been playing since December but been to a UK LAN not long ago. I wish I played CS all those years ago instead of being a console kid .

It is a shame the UK doesn't really have any really good teams, fm!eSports are probably our best offering and didn't do so hot at Copenhagen games lol.

[exitfire401]

I play Counter-Strike GO at high competitive level. If i had to choose sponsors i would go with Steelseries and Zowie since they both have been on the Counter-Strike scene since 1.6 and even before.

Who do you play for out of interest? I have put considerable time into CS:GO, only been playing since December but been to a UK LAN not long ago. I wish I played CS all those years ago instead of being a console kid .

It is a shame the UK doesn't really have any really good teams, fm!eSports are probably our best offering and didn't do so hot at Copenhagen games lol.

You're completely forgetting about Dignitas? Haha. (Don't know if any of the team is from the UK< but the organization is at leased based out of the UK) Been a fan since the battlefield 1942 days.

[Quardah]

I play Counter-Strike GO at high competitive level. If i had to choose sponsors i would go with Steelseries and Zowie since they both have been on the Counter-Strike scene since 1.6 and even before.

Who do you play for out of interest? I have put considerable time into CS:GO, only been playing since December but been to a UK LAN not long ago. I wish I played CS all those years ago instead of being a console kid .

It is a shame the UK doesn't really have any really good teams, fm!eSports are probably our best offering and didn't do so hot at Copenhagen games lol.

No, i mean high competitive aka high ranks in matchmaking. I am not part of any very reknown formations.

[domoaligato]

do not forget that we have geekhack steam groups and a quite a few of us play cs:go also.
<-- ENFORCER on Steam

[exitfire401]

do not forget that we have geekhack steam groups and a quite a few of us play cs:go also.
<-- ENFORCER on Steam

Adding you now.

[Freebird]

I play Counter-Strike GO at high competitive level. If i had to choose sponsors i would go with Steelseries and Zowie since they both have been on the Counter-Strike scene since 1.6 and even before.

Who do you play for out of interest? I have put considerable time into CS:GO, only been playing since December but been to a UK LAN not long ago. I wish I played CS all those years ago instead of being a console kid .

It is a shame the UK doesn't really have any really good teams, fm!eSports are probably our best offering and didn't do so hot at Copenhagen games lol.

No, i mean high competitive aka high ranks in matchmaking. I am not part of any very reknown formations.

Oh I see, shame there is so many cheaters up at LE+, that is where I'm currently at.

do not forget that we have geekhack steam groups and a quite a few of us play cs:go also.
<-- ENFORCER on Steam

Awesome, I had a quick search and joined which looks like the right group 

[davkol]

Pro gaming isn't something anyone can do at decent level for more than few years, maybe about a decade in some cases. Therefore, whoever would offer the best deal/money, of course...

[domoaligato]

Pro gaming isn't something anyone can do at decent level for more than few years, maybe about a decade in some cases. Therefore, whoever would offer the best deal/money, of course...

then you shouldn't be a pro gamer. none of them offer good wages. most pro gamers make minimum wages but get to travel for free. it is a lot like the military. see the world for free and take it for what it is.

this is why you have a quite a few pro gamers that gave up being pro to stream on twitch.tv they make more money on twitch then they ever did being a pro gamer.

[user 18]

CM if it's a peripherals company, or Asus if it's a hardware company.

I don't think I will ever find a mouse as much as I love the Kensington mouse I'm using now though. It cost less than $5, and its product name is "mouse-in-a-box"

Fully aware that it's largely terrible, but I love it to death anyway.

[domoaligato]

CM if it's a peripherals company, or Asus if it's a hardware company.

I don't think I will ever find a mouse as much as I love the Kensington mouse I'm using now though. It cost less than $5, and its product name is "mouse-in-a-box"

Fully aware that it's largely terrible, but I love it to death anyway.

It is all personal preference.

I had a friend that swore by playing fps games with a trackball and he was damn good at it. I still owned him a lot but he enjoyed it. and that is all that matters.

[davkol]

Pro gaming isn't something anyone can do at decent level for more than few years, maybe about a decade in some cases. Therefore, whoever would offer the best deal/money, of course...

then you shouldn't be a pro gamer. none of them offer good wages. most pro gamers make minimum wages but get to travel for free. it is a lot like the military. see the world for free and take it for what it is.

this is why you have a quite a few pro gamers that gave up being pro to stream on twitch.tv they make more money on twitch then they ever did being a pro gamer.

...or y'know do something else 8+ hours a day. I'm honestly curious, what will happen to all those people in the long term... and what impact will it have on the society, especially if esports do get big.

[Awful]

If I HAD to have Razer as a sponsor, I would just sell whatever they hooked me up with so I could buy nice gear haha. I've owned 3 Nagas, 2 blackwidows, and 2 carcharias headsets ALL died within 1 year. To me, that's ridiculous.