"I would say that an admin that can handle stress, is a good admin. Someone who has the ability to think and make good decisions under pressure. That's what I think is the most important part of being a good admin. I mean, in another way: most of it is about experience. Admins who's been working for a long time know how everything works and can be prepared for the problems before they actually happen. The biggest mistake an admin can make is to make decisions too fast and not think one step further when it comes to planning and implementation", Mod tells Fragbite.

Mod is talking with the coach Wilton "zews" Prado

"Ok.. so I can't really say too much about it because of the lack of insight on the situation but from what I've heard and seen it feels like the organisers didn't have full control of things. The admins were just there doing their job. But when it comes to the admin who made the YouTube-video, I think he did everything wrong. The video was made to save his own skin and not "explain the situation" as he chose to call it.



You're working as a team and then you need to be prepared to take some hard hits sometimes. It's common that things happen that you as an admin can't control but since you're the centre of the tournament you will get accused for it. To make a video like that can hit him back in the opposite way and people can start losing trust in him."

"I think he did everything wrong"

- Mod about the admin that uploaded a explanation about the Northen Arena-situation.

"First of all, if I would've been there, I would've discussed which admin would be responsible for what and how everything should be handled. This is extremely important so people can feel comfortable in their roles and know what to do. And I think it's really important to welcome all feedback from social media too, such as Twitter, Reddit and Facebook to try and make the best out of the situation. I think that they succeeded with that part pretty OK the second day of the event", Mod says.

"I mean, it's all about the situation as I said. But an admin will of course always be involved. But there will always be different from event to event. If you have a lot of admins you need to look back and check where the problem originated. Was the head admin clear enough regarding rules and how the other admins should handle situations and problems? Did the organiser hire the right person for the job? And do they have any restrictions or guidelines regarding how things should be handled?



When it comes to situations such as the one at Northern Arena, you need to sit down and analyse the whole situation with everyone involved. I don't really like the idea of an admin uploading a video on YouTube and denying his responsibility when he's been involved in the tournament as much as the others.



As an admin you should never go out in social media like that IF it's not a very special situation. It's up to the organisers to make a statement if they feel like it", says Mod.

Mod in action — collecting cellphones during DreamHack Stockholm 2015. Here with sgares when he played in Cloud9.

"I think that people need to understand that 99% of all admins are self-taught. Of course it's something that needs to be improved and I've been thinking about starting up a hub for admins all over the world where you can share your thoughts and best tips and tricks with each other.



Everyone needs to start somewhere and a LAN-event like this is a perfect start. People often use the argument; "but, there's a lot of money in the prize pool and things are still going wrong!" - but I mean, if you're ever gonna attract good teams, you need to have that amount of money in the prize pool. I think that pop-up tournaments are a bit too eager sometimes and think that you just have to hire some admins and then go. A solid plan from the beginning is so important, he says.

"Everyone needs to start somewhere and a LAN-event like this is a perfect start"

"One tournament is never like the next one. It's a new challenge everytime. And going from only having it as a hobby to actually work full time with it, is what makes me continue. The esport industry is full of so many awesome people in every aspect. From players to organisations to tournament organisers, he finishes.



A massive amount of confetti is raining onto a stage, creating a fog as the rectangular flakes in gold and silver fall in the thousands. Photographers are busy in the front of the stage, wrestling with fans adorned in the jersey's of their favorites teams. he tournament is finally over and the winning team hosts the trophy far up in the air. The amount of viewers is sky high, and they all seem to be thinking the same thing; "Damn, what a great tournament!".But a tournament isn't just about 16 teams playing CS:GO with a huge prize pool on a stage where everything's recorded live. It's also about hundreds of hours of hard work and planning. It's also synonymous with computers crashing, unresponsive servers and players breaking the rules which often leads to delays. And this is the part where the admin plays the main role.How are you supposed to act, think and behave to be a good admin in that case? We asked Marcus Mod who've been working with one of the worlds biggest tournament organisers such as DreamHack and FaceIT. He thinks that it's all about experience.A few days ago, there was a noticeable case of administrative failure at the Northern Arena-event in Toronto, Canada. One of the players during the game between Cloud9 and Immortals was seen not wearing his noice cancelling headset during two rounds which lead to the match being paused. The admin went backstage with the coach from the affected team and a player from the opposite team to discuss the situation. The admin got a load of criticism after the event and decided to upload a video on YouTube, to share his side of the story. When we ask Mod about his point of view as an admin, he points out that it's hard to say much about it since he wasn't there but he thinks that it could've been handled in a better way.If he would've been in the same situation, Mod thinks that he would've discussed the thing with all the other admins at the tournament to make sure that situations like this would never emerge.But how do you handle a dissapointed community with strong opinions? The admins are always involved in one way or another and it all depends on the situation, according to Mod. He's also very clear to point out that it's the organisers responsibility to handle things in social media - not the admins.The admin role is something that has become grown more important in recent times given the rapid ascent of esports in the past years and they're often self-taught, something that Mod think is important to keep in mind. Although, he also thinks that it's important to understand the importance of having a well formed plan and not be too stressed about finding admins for the tournament.But what drives and makes Mod and all the other admins all around the world, to carry on?