Saving NA CS, The Story of Bad News Bears

Is it possible to save NA CS? Back in 2021, one team asked that question and changed the course of the NA scene as a whole. With Bad News Bears now disbanding, it's important to not forget their legacy, from humble beginnings to the #SAVENACS movement, Bad News Bears’ journey as an orgless team has had an eternal impact on the scene. In order to keep their legacy alive, it is important that it is documented properly. This is the story of Bad News Bears and their crusade to save North American Counter-Strike.

Part One

Just like many incredible things born in the United States, Bad News Bears come from humble beginnings. The first roster bearing the name came from the old RESOLUTE lineup who previously called themselves Test Takers. The squad included Tyson “TenZ” Ngo and Mitch "mitch" Semago who are now notable players in VALORANT. Although this version of Bad News Bears wasn’t the one that gained fame, it was the first time Peter "ptr" Gurney would use the name and they would go on to gain a second-place finish in Season 30 of ESEA MDL.

After a somewhat successful run as a team, with Jeff "RZU" Ngo leaving and re-joining more times than anybody could count, Bad News Bears were picked up by Riot Squad in the middle of 2019. The name would then lay dormant until 2020 when it would resurge for three months. The most notable part of the BNB return at this time was their participation in FLASHPOINT under the banner of FunPlus Phoenix. Although the league was not successful, it was the first moment that we saw the Bad News Bears' name associated with something that many people thought would help the scene, and it would not be the last.

Michael "Grim" Wince would go on to leave the roster in less than a month and this era of Bad News Bears is often forgotten or grouped together with the original core. Even though this is not the Bad News Bears that would gain international fandom, it is important to mention them when discussing their history as it shows ptr trying to do something different with an NA roster.

It was not until early 2021 that they would properly return, just as teams were leaving and org support vanished. Bad News Bears were out to do something different, and that was staying together. NA CS had seemed on an upswing with Chaos, Swole Patrol, and plenty of other rosters seeming to have a lot of potential, but that all came crumbling down for various reasons. Players went off to VALORANT, COVID hit the scene hard and Chaos disbanded, leaving an open MDL roster spot in their wake. This is when Bad News Bears returned with something to prove.

Part Two

This iteration was the start of the Bad News Bears we all know and love. It would come back calling themselves Part Two. The roster consisted of original members ptr and Jonathan "Jonji" Carey, whilst adding Nick "alter" Jackson, Michael "Swisher" Schmid, Gabe "Spongey" Griener, Matthew "mCe" Elmore and later Nathan "madcow" Retterath, who would become the team's coach in place of mCe. The roster came together with the intention of one day getting themselves an organization to represent, but little did they know what Bad News Bears would become and the impact it would have on not only their careers but the scene as a whole.

It was at the DreamHack Open January 2021 North America Open Qualifier that this version of Bad News Bears made their event debut. It didn’t take long for their names to be on every NA fan's lips as they did not mess around, sweeping everybody aside with dominant performances. This was their very first official qualifier together and they would finish 1st-2nd. Despite not being able to replicate their success in the closed qualifier, they were back in business.

As mentioned before mCe would retire from Counter-Strike, and although we know now that madcow would go on to have an essential role in building Bad News Bears, at the time losing mCe was a huge loss. He was a connection to the old Chaos roster, and as BNB started to gain traction, it was proof that he was a huge part of the only teams in the NA scene giving people hope. His loss was felt all over the scene and the impact he had should never be forgotten. Without mCe and ptr starting Bad News Bears Part Two there would be no article to write.

With a new coach at the helm, Bad News Bears would continue to thrive, entering every Cash Cup possible and surviving off the winnings they earned. Their Cash Cup dominance was only beginning but the mini-events were still a huge part of the reason they were able to continue playing together. The boys would go on to win the Mythic Spring Series 2021 Cup 1 with some showings of beautiful Counter-Strike. The start was good, but things would only go up from here.

The Cash Cup Kings

It was time for a change and that came when alter stepped away from the roster and the rebuilding king would join the squad. This is where the Bad News Bears we all know and love would reach their fruition. The peak of Bad News Bears was near.

Alan "Shakezullah" Hardeman got off to a great start, the side started their Cash Cup dominance. Going up against the last remaining orgs and players that hadn't left CS:GO, the squad was competing whilst not having any financial support. Though everything seemed against them, they continued to win. It was this durability in the face of adversity that made Bad New Bears so likable, they completely encompassed the overall context of what was happening in North American Counter-Strike. Their endurance when it seemed set in stone that they would fail won over the hearts of NA fans everywhere, and overnight they started to become a household name.

It’s important to note at this point that the players and madcow were not the only people responsible for making Bad News Bears a recognized brand, it was the social media team and graphics that would bring them to the forefront of the community. Their online presence, particularly their newspaper announcement theme, backed by being a bright hope in the darkness of the NA scene would lead to their fanbase continuing to grow at an incredible rate.

International Fandom

It was June 23rd, 2021, and all seemed calm in the scene, the calm before the storm. Bad News Bears decided to wake everyone up with a bang. This is when the SAVENACS merch drop was released. It was a merch drop that would drive an entire continental Counter-Strike scene towards one goal. Saving North American Counter-Strike. They worked with Boston-based Big-Chillin to create a merch drop with the name savenaCS. The merch came as Bad News Bears were hitting their stride locally, Shakezullah was the captain and the ship was sailing in the right direction.

The merch drop came right before the team was set to play their first international event, IEM Cologne. It was genius from the team behind Bad News Bears and here's why. The fandom was growing, not just at home but also across the blue waters. The fanbase was now international and so were the tournaments they were playing. With the merch drop coming right before Cologne, the hope was that fans from across the globe would jump at the chance to buy the BNB hats, hoodies, and stickers. The move worked, as in just over two hours the entire stock was sold out.

As Cologne neared, another fantastic opportunity for Bad News Bears, alongside the merchandise sales, came around. They were able to secure a Leetify sponsorship for IEM Cologne and ESL Pro League. The sponsorship secured financial support in attending the events, something that would have been extremely difficult to source on their own as an orgless roster. This was not only huge for Bad News Bears but also sent a message to other American rosters that the state of the scene would not hold them back and that if they worked hard that opportunities would arise.

The hype was at an all-time high before the Cologne Play-in, but the delusion wasn't. Although Bad News Bears were looking good the difference in skill between EU and NA teams was apparent. So when Bad News Bears were unable to get a win, it wasn't a team ender. Regardless Cologne stood as the first big loss for Bad News Bears with a loss to MOUZ in a best-of-one and another to LDLC in a best-of-three.

This might not seem overly important in the story of Bad News Bears but it's a little part of their history that is fun to mention. Towards the end of this part their history, a legend of North American Counter-Strike, came out of his retirement came out of retirement to play a cash cup with the squad as a stand-in for Jonji. The iconic Cash Cup was captured on the Bad News Bears youtube which showed the voice comms with Tarik "tarik" Celik on the team.

A Great AWPer

After such a great run of form with Shakezullah at the helm, North American fans were hit with some scene-altering news, the retirement of a legend. ptr was the founder of Bad News Bears, and up until this moment, it wouldn't have been a stretch to call him the personification of the brand. He founded it back in 2019, and up until this point had been the driving factor behind its very existence. It's crucial not to understate his importance as a leader but also as a name in the scene. With Bad News Bears creating their place in the future of the NA scene, ptr gave the team its connection to the past. He was a key part of history but as of August 3rd, 2021 he would no longer be a part of the roster.

With their legend of an AWPer gone, they would need a big name to fill the shoes that he would leave behind. Bad News Bears did just that as they found the perfect replacement in junior on loan from FURIA. Arguably the NA AWPer with the most hype around him at that time, it was an unbelievably huge move for an unpaid orgless team to make. This move did not come without sacrifice for the team either, as the players were paying FURIA to have him on the team out of their earnings. It was a showing of confidence in their new teammate by using the money that could have gone into their pockets just to have him on the squad.

With the young AWPer on their side, they continued to make progress in the scene, improving day by day until they would travel out of the country to attend Pro League. A non-financially supported roster-making Pro League was not a regular occurrence, and it was just one of the many things that Bad News Bears did to change the way that we look at Counter-Strike in the NA scene. Now, even globally, we see teams like Bad News Eagles that are able to make the major without org support. Bad News Eagles have even now done what Bad News Bears would go on to do in 2022, which is making the choice to forgo organizational support and create their own unique player-owned brand.

Back to Pro League, their attendance was impressive but for the players, it wasn't enough, they wanted to show they belonged there. Unfortunately, Pro League went the same way as Cologne, with them bottoming out of their group without a single map won. It wasn't a great feeling for the players to suffer such huge losses on the international stage, especially with the addition of junior but for now, all they could do was head back home.

Coming back after another disappointing display on an international stage, the player's heads were down and some fans were getting upset at the lack of international competitiveness from the squad. It was even around this time that fans took out their frustrations on Jonji for a joke about VALORANT. This wasn't all fans, however, with some still proud that the roster was even achieving feats such as attending Pro League. With a fan-base divided and their roster back in America, Bad News Bears needed to remind NA why they were the team to root for. This is where Fragadelphia 15 came in.

The dominance displayed at Fragadelphia 15 reminded NA fans of why they loved Bad News Bears so much. There were so many moments that would live in fans' memories. Whether it was their run in the playoffs where they only lost one map until the finals, them sending Party Astronauts to the lower bracket without flinching, or avoiding the reserve sweep in the final to win the whole event. This locally run tournament that represented the grassroots NA scene was a turning point for domestic success and appeal but it was also their apex. The great result would be the defining moment of Bad News Bears' rise to the top.

The Start of Major Change

Less than a month after Fragadelphia, as other NA projects such as Extra Salt were starting to gain traction, Bad News Bears underwent a massive change. After a series of disappointing results, Jonji decided to leave the team and then retire to try his hand at VALORANT. Around a month later, in an effort to fill the gap left behind, the team brought in Brendan "Bwills" Williams.

The Fragadelphia win may have lived long in the memory of some fans, but for the players, the disappointing results after the event kept piling up and up. With Jonji leaving, a change had been made but it wasn't enough; the roster that was saving NA CS was gone. It would not take long, just a month after Bwills joined, for Bwills and junior to leave. This would be the end of the 2021 Bad News Bears who had been the Cash Cup Kings, the NA scenes representatives overseas, and the Fragadelphia champions. That era was over and now it was time for the final chapter.

The Last Chapter

In January of 2022, Bad News Bears were building a new team, they had just parted ways with Paytyn "junior" Johnson who, during his time as a stand-in, had some great performances on the squad, but now they were looking to build a long-term team. That’s where Christopher "Swahn" Swahn, Saad "Pluto" Siraj, and Khizar "Momo" Rehman came in. The trio was a part of the team's aim to develop a roster that would stay together and improve over time into one of the best home-grown squads in North America.

The team started off with some disappointing results, coming 5-8th in Fragadelphia 16 and having not reached their potential in ESL Challenger League Season 40. It wasn’t a great start but this was a roster recently put together and behind the scenes, interesting things were happening. Things were looking up with a lucky run in the open qualifier for the PGL Antwerp RMR and dominating performances in relegation to keep themselves in the top flight.

But, yet again, the squad didn’t look their strongest as they bottomed out in the Romania-based RMR. Despite this, Bad News Bears weren’t disheartened, as Pluto stated in an interview, this was all a part of their rebuild and they were achieving goals, such as attending an RMR, that weren’t meant to be happening until far into the future. As they competed in Romania, behind-the-scenes happenings came to fruition as the brand now became its own organization (as mentioned earlier) and the squad, for the first time in its history, was being salaried to play. Now things could only improve and to top it all off, they would go to Europe for a much-needed bootcamp.

It was that month and a half in Europe that would make or break the squad, they went away with high spirits, good communication, and a drive to become better. Every day would be a grind, as they dedicated themselves to the game they loved and hoped to return home with the correct mindset and the results to go along with it. On their travels they played in Esports Tour 2022 Series 1 and Pinnacle Cup IV, their results were not all that was hoped but it was all a learning experience and they would be ready on their return. But in that month and a half, things didn’t seem to improve as losses to ECLOT, AVANGAR, and BLUEJAYS were devastating, not only due to the defeat but because it felt like they were not improving and the issues they highlighted didn’t go away. They couldn’t find it in them to make any noise in the European tournaments they played. After a month and a half, they returned, ready to face their very first challenge at home.

Back in NA, as a fan favorite on their side of the sea and coming off of a bootcamp in the heartland of Counter-Strike, Bad News Bears were ready to prove to the world that they deserved those fans and that the good results were coming. All eyes were on them as they faced off against a tired MIBR who was battling with a coach as a stand-in at IEM Dallas. In a poetic game, Bad News Bears won and despite the disappointment from overseas, there was a flitter of hope that they would improve now, back home.

That hope didn’t last very long as they went on to lose their next league games to Strife, Carpe Diem, and, stream-team Mythic. On top of this, they failed to win a Cash Cup, previously their bread and butter, losing to Gaimin Gladiators in the single elimination bracket. Despite a win over Axolotls, the losses kept piling up and faith in the team started to wane, inside and outside. According to a source within the team, the whole squad was aware there would be roster changes after their final season loss to BHOP. I also heard from Shakezullah who stated:

I realized things were over toward the end, but mostly after the EU bootcamp. We didn't progress in the way that was needed and an opportunity that should have been amazing for our growth was essentially not capitalized on correctly... To put it bluntly, you can't go to a European bootcamp for six weeks, only to come back to a similar level you were before and play ECL Relegation. It's just not an acceptable result.

This all cultivated until Bad News Bears were ready to play Fragadelphia 17: Chicago. Well, ready might not be the right wording as they played with their coach madcow and stand-in Damian "droid" Boulware, and it is worth noting once again that the roster was aware that changes were coming at this point. Despite this fact, Bad News Bears were probably still favorites, or at least they should have been, considering that they had some great talent and had hopes of being one of the best teams in the scene.

But as fortune would have it, Fragadelphia 17: Chicago was not the inspiration that the squad needed but rather a final nail in the coffin that extinguished any hopes of keeping that roster together. The squad would lose to Davenport University in the semifinals, a team that would then go on to lose to Axolotls, which Bad News Bears had handily beaten in ESL Challenger League that season and would go on to smash again in relegation.

With relegation coming up it seems that just staying afloat would not be enough this time. With a trip to an RMR, a bootcamp in Europe, and now some funding, it seemed that nothing was going to be able to help this team improve short of changes. Relegation was a stomping ground, Bad News Bears carved their way through their opponents with ease. However, the team saw the event for what it truly was, a red herring. It was nice to see them keep their spot but this is a squad that should be aiming much higher and that sentiment was carried within the team, as they decided to part ways with Swahn and while madcow left the team. From there Bad News Bears ended, despite multiple rumors of roster changes happening which ultimately never came to fruition.

The end of Bad News Bears came because, in the end, they did not find the improvement that they were looking for. Bad News Bears did what many teams in North America don't do, they stuck together and tried to improve as a core but when it didn't work they made changes. So what happened is, this roster hit their ceiling and it was far lower than they had hoped, they were not able to reach the level of success that their previous roster achieved. However, this should not impact their legacy at all.

Legacy

So what is their legacy? The Bad News Bears legacy can never be undone, the poor results of the final six months do not dampen the impact that Bad News Bears has had on the NA scene. For the players who have played under the team's banner their future is bright. If you look at Vendetta, a roster consisting of both Pluto and Momo, you can see what Bad News Bears has done for them. The two are now in the ECL playoffs, something they were unable to achieve before.

But more importantly, the NA scene has felt the impact of Bad News Bears. They have made it achievable for teams to play without an organization behind them and still be successful and live playing the game they love. There is now hope that even as an orgless roster you could achieve a world-wide fanbase that would be dedicated to you regardless of whether you are on a high or a low. Overall they proved that there is hope for grassroots North American Counter-Strike.

Realistically there is no one sentence I can write that can summarize the legacy that Bad News Bears has, it is better to hear from two key people who made Bad News Bears what it was in 2021. To finish off this article, here are the perspectives of Shakezullah and madcow on the Bad News Bears' legacy.

Shakezullah: I think the legacy of Bad News Bears is very positive. It's essentially the org that created the entire SAVENACS movement and kept people interested. It created a unique grassroots brand that tons of people got behind and supported in times that were not the easiest for NA players. I think the people behind BNB should be proud, and I would like to thank the entire community for supporting us in the tournaments we played and during our merch drops. There was a ton of effort put into it behind the scenes, and overall I'm happy to have been a part of Bad News Bears.

madcow: Bad News Bears, in my eyes will always be the project that happened a few months too early. We got burned out. The stress of relying on Cash Cups to pay bills was more of a strain than we even thought it was at the time. Looking at the scene now, if we stuck around and continued to do our thing, there’s no doubt in my mind we’re snatching up tournament slots through qualifiers and potentially leaving our mark in the game with stickers. But with all of that being said, BNB just had a different atmosphere than any other team I’ve ever been on. In the early days, we never failed to have a great time together. Whether it was a practice day, an important match, or us playing “Hell Let Loose” together at 4am. We were always laughing and having a great time. I love each and every one of the guys we had on BNB, through all of its iterations. We were the first ever unsigned team to be invited to a premier event based on World Rankings. We will always have that honor.