Rising stars: The USA’s powerhouse Esports squads you need to know

Esports has quickly grown into a multibillion-dollar industry. The number of people who watch electronic sports is growing every day, allowing for new kinds of business and the rise of professional esports teams and athletes.

This video game sports innovation has sparked numerous passions by arousing the attention of millions of individuals who consider esports as the natural evolution of traditional gaming.

Every day, new esports teams are formed, but not all of them are successful. Some of the most important American esports teams are as follows:

Evil Geniuses

This squad, often known as EG, is a Washington-based esports group that has been active since 1999. CS: GO, Call of Duty, Fortnite Battle Royale, League of Legends, Rocket League, and Dota 2 are among the key games in which they compete.

Evil Geniuses have always stood out for being a steady team with little roster changes throughout time. They have competed in around 900 tournaments both domestically and abroad, earning over $ 25 million in prize money and establishing themselves as one of the greatest esports teams in the country.

Chaos Esports Club

This esports organisation, originally known as Digital Chaos, has one of the best Dota 2 teams in the world. It later changed its name to Chaos Esports Club and began playing other games such as CS: GO, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, and Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds.

Prior to the epidemic, they competed in over 90 events, winning up to $5 million in prize money. They are temporarily becoming a content-oriented organisation due to some minor financial challenges related to the current global health scenario.

Team Envy

Envy Gaming established team Envy in 2007 under the moniker Team EnvyUs, with headquarters in Texas. This gaming group enjoys games such as FIFA, Magic: The Gathering, PUBG, Rocket League, and Super Smash Bros.

This squad used to play other games like CS: GO, Overwatch, and League of Legends Championship, however they dropped out for a variety of reasons, including a lack of participation in some seasons. 

They had won more than $7 million in prizes after participating in almost 400 events.

Team SoloMid FTX

Andy “Reginald” Dinh started this professional esports group in 2009. TSM, or Team SoloMid, is another name for the team. League of Legends, Valorant, Apex Legends, Fortnite, Super Smash Bros., and Hearthstone are their primary games.

In fact, this squad has won seven splits of North America’s League Of Legends Championship Series. The squad has also competed in over 681 tournaments, winning over $7 million in prizes.

Cloud 9

Cloud 9 is a professional League of Legends team based in California that was created in 2013. They eventually expanded to other esports such as Fortnite, Rainbow Six Siege, Overwatch, World of Warcraft, and so on. They’ve also won three international championships: the ELEAGUE major: Boston 2019, the Rocket League Championship Series Season 6 World Championship, and the Overwatch League Grand Finals in 2018.

With a value of $350 million in 2020, Forbes ranks this team as one of the world’s most valuable esports firms. This is hardly surprising given that this esports team has participated in over 804 tournaments and won over $10 million in prize money.

Optic Gaming

This team is a Texas-based American professional esports company. It has been in operation since 2006 and shares ownership of the “OpTic Chicago” brand with NRG Esports. They engage in esports activities such as PubG, CS: GO, Dota 2, Call of Duty, League of Legends, and Gears of War.

OpTic is widely regarded as one of the best Call of Duty teams of all time. It is one of the top ten Counter-Strike teams in the world. Since its inception, they have competed in approximately 300 tournaments and won nearly $8 million in prize money.

Renegades

Renegades is a professional esports organisation based in the United States. It has Call of Duty, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Fortnite, Overwatch, Super Smash Bros., Rocket League, iRacing, and Valorant teams. The organisation had a League of Legends squad that qualified for the 2016 North American League of Legends Championship Series (LCS), but it was sold to squad EnVyUs when the owners were barred from owning NA LCS teams.

Jonas Jerebko, a professional basketball player, purchased the Renegades franchise in September 2016.

Sentinels (esports)

Sentinels is a Los Angeles, California-based American esports organisation. Phoenix1 was created as a League of Legends squad and competed in the North American League of Legends Championship Series (NA LCS). Phoenix1 was renamed Sentinels in June 2018. Currently, the organisation has teams in Valorant, Apex Legends, and Halo.

FlyQuest

FlyQuest is an American professional esports company that was created on January 6, 2017. The Viola family, who own the Florida Panthers, owns it.

FlyQuest was created upon the acquisition of the League of Legends squad of Cloud9 Challenger, the Cloud9 organisation’s sister team. Cloud9 Challenger qualified for the North American League Championship Series alongside the main Cloud9 lineup in August 2016. Because LCS rules prohibit an entity from owning more than one club in the same league, the team was sold to Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Wesley Edens and Fortress Investment Group and rebranded as FlyQuest, with the team lineup remaining identical.

COGnitive Gaming

COGnitive Gaming was an esports professional team headquartered in the United States. Smite, League of Legends, Super Smash Bros. Melee, and Heroes of the Storm all had teams. The first Smite World Championship was won by COGnitive Prime.

Jason “Mew2King” Zimmerman and Justin “Wizzrobe” Hallett are COGnitive-sponsored Super Smash Bros. Melee players. COGnitive also signed Guilty Gear Xrd’s David “Dacidbro” Broweleit.

The League of Legends Challenger Series North America, the second highest level of LoL play after the League of Legends Championship Series North America, was attended by COG’s League team.

On December 24, 2015, Glaurung and Hospital quit the HotS team. 

COGnitive announced on December 12 that it will cease operations on December 31, 2016, shortly after Super Smash Bros. Melee player Justin “Wizzrobe” Hallett confirmed to ESPN via Daniel “Tafokints” Lee that he will not be extending his contract with the team.