As the CEVO Season 6 Finals kick-off at the MLG.tv Arena in Columbus, Ohio, Counter Logic Gaming Captain Pujan "fns" Mehta speaks on the troubles in the current state of North American Counter-Strike.

Mehta's CLG joins Team eLevate, Nihilum, and Luminosity as the four teams playing at the debut CS event inside MLG's Columbus venue. eLevate comes into this event as a wildcard with the addition of two last-minute stand-in's in the form of North American all-star free agents Tyler "Skadoodle" Latham and Spencer "Hiko" Martin. The Nihilum and Luminosity organizations get their first real taste of professional CS, while previously stalwarts Cloud9 and Team Liquid are absent. Anything can happen.

"As far as being favorites goes, I don't believe in that, especially in North America", Mehta tells theScore eSports. "I feel like any team can beat anybody at the moment, and that's definitely not a good thing. We're a very inconsistent team and that has constantly stopped us from making it out of groups in the big tournaments. North American teams haven't always been a problem for us at LANs, but like always, we'll do everything we can to prepare and do our best to earn the title of being ACTUAL favorites in NA.

We're hoping CEVO LAN will be a success for us so that we can show that we are in fact the best team in NA. It definitely doesn't mean we're the best if we win CEVO, but it will however give us the confidence we will need to win future events."

Following the exodus of North America's top performing players due to match-fixing, teams have had their chances to prove themselves against the best competition in the world. While CLG, Cloud9, and Liquid qualified for several major events, results thereafter have not come easy. The three have a combined 30% win-rate against the top European teams, and the gap may only be widening.

"The main issue is composure during big rounds. We seem to have the capacity to beat the best teams in the world, but always fall short vs teams that we know we can/should beat. Maybe it's because we underestimate them to some extent, or maybe it's because we give them too much respect. Regardless, it's a massive problem with no other solution than to start winning.

Players in NA simply make too many mistakes in big situations. People always think NA makes roster swaps and THAT's why we struggle. That's hardly the reason. Anyone who is struggling to win will make changes if there are better players out there. EU teams have done this constantly. It's how CS is. NA's main issue is the consistency the players lack individually. Players either make too many plays or too few plays and cost their respective teams big rounds.

NA players make more mistakes than EU players do. Experience will definitely fix this problem with time as teams will finally be able to gain an identity from different LAN's they attend. Players will have more confidence which will then help teams/players stay composed during the big games."

Leagues and tournaments have surely increased in North America with the substantial seasonal prize purses offered by ESEA and FaceIt, along with CEVO's partnership with MLG. Nonetheless, all of the Valve-sponsored $250,000 major events have been held within Europe by ESL and DreamHack, and European teams have a more consistent tournament and practice schedule to fill their block.

"As we've proven, along with C9 and the former IBuyPower lineups, we can definitely compete with EU teams in terms of skill. The lack of tournaments we attend is the reason we're behind, and now that more organizations and tournaments are popping up, we'll only be more successful among the best in the world. NA currently has 3-4 teams that can compete with the world's best on a good day. We have good line-ups that have decent support roles. If anything, I think NA lacks in-game leaders at the moment.

Usually, at least for us, it comes down to the amount of mid round mistakes we make. We're very organized and have really good chemistry, but like I said earlier, it always comes down to the big rounds. We simply aren't consistent enough to win those rounds due to lack of composure/experience. Take Fnatic for example. I've seen them constantly lose rounds because they run out of time. Of course that's an issue, but overall, they are composed enough to not make any unneccesary plays throughout the round, and BELIEVE that their game plan will work at the end of the day. NA teams constantly rush into strategies and basically worry too much. They put pressure on themselves! Unnecessary pressure."

Mehta's feelings regarding the lack of in-game leaders similarly echoes that of Martin, who recently told theScore eSports that a lack of support roles is one of the issues with up-and-coming players. Mehta also has a tough time disagreeing with Martin's statement that it'll take a year or more for the NA community to reach a major championship.

"I'd like to think that we can win a major title in Europe in less time than that, but realistically though, I'm not sure it'll be possible. It may be even longer though, yes. I feel like the progress will be too slow with the current lineups as they stand. It will honestly depend on how many major LAN's there will be for us to be able to gain the experience we need."

While Mehta looks towards a difficult future, his own personal journey from unknown to budding NA representative is not lost on the young Canadian player. Mehta now gets to compete against the idols he grew up watching, and that's nothing but a blast.

"We're quite happy with the growth of CS as a whole. I'm basically competing against players I looked up to just a year ago. That's an amazing feeling."