ESEA for a lower level player in CS:GO? [closed]

I think your best bet would be to go onto reddit and have a look at teams advertising for new players on there, or post on there yourself looking for a team.

Before joining a league get a few scrims from IRC, it is a more informal way of getting games against other teams.

Or just use match making with your new found 5 stack.

Once you've found yourself a team that you enjoy playing with and are willing to help you improve then that's the time to join ladders.

Especially when it comes to ladders you need to pay to use.

This site Pcw Finder has an embedded IRC client and will connect you straight to a scrim channel, unfortunately being an European player I wouldn't know which channels are good for picking up North American teams, although I guess it depends on time of day!

It is hit and miss as some high skill players will respond to low/mid.

With scrims it usually requires you to have your own passworded server but you can search for off games. i.e. de_dust2 low off

Would mean a game on de_dust2 low skill using their server.

If you are afraid of paying for something you might not enjoy you should try CEVO (finding the client isn't the easiest thing but it does exist).

It is free but doesn't provide as much as ESEA does (you might encounter afks or griefers).

Players are really trying to make things work as a team and it will give you an idea if you have the level to play with this kind of players (aimwise).

Most of them are actually very nice and will try to teach you a couple of things about teamplay and leading.

I've gone ahead and signed up for ESEA for one month. I've played a few matches (and will continue for the duration of my membership month.)

Here's what I've found. The sportsmanship in either official MM or ESEA is about the same -- mostly good with some bad seeds. However, those that are unsportsmanlike manifest their discontent differently across the two systems.

So, the ultimate answer to my questions are the following:

My question is as a low level player, is using this service worth my time and money at this point?

Although subjective, I'd say that while quality of matches are higher there are an equal number of unsportsmanlike behavior in each and therefore makes little difference (for my perspective).

Is there a balancing system (whether like match making or not)? And am I likely to find games as a Solo player (I'm hoping to find a team to join while playing).

There does seem to be a balancing system however, the skill is much higher in ESEA.

I had no issue finding PUGs as a solo player, however I think it's fair to say I was alienated (by my team, every match) due to my skill level which made it that much more difficult to contribute.