Gaming has always been a huge industry. However, recently, it has reached new heights. There are more gamers, games, and gaming events than ever before. The rising popularity of competitive gaming has resulted in Esports becoming a major part of the greater sporting community.
Today, it isn't just young gaming enthusiasts who enjoy competitive gaming and Esports. People from all age brackets and backgrounds are getting more interested in Esports. However, unlike other sports, Esports requires some of the most complex and technologically advanced pieces of equipment to play.
One of these pieces is the gaming mouse pad. Today, we will discuss the type of mouse pads used for Esports. This will help you better understand which mouse pad is the choice of top competitive professional gamers and their reasons.
What Type of Mouse Pads Are Used for Esports
Generally, two main types of gaming mouse pads are used for competitive gaming and Esports, and their surface textures define them.
Hard Plastic
These have a smooth, hard surface made of plastic or aluminum. They are typically used for fast-paced games where speed is prioritized over accuracy. So, they work well for MOBA and RTS games. Most gamers who prefer to use these for competitive gaming and Esports usually play at higher mouse sensitivities or DPI settings.
This is because hard plastic gaming mouse pads usually come in smaller sizes to maintain portability, meaning there isn't much room for movement. The professional gaming ones usually have features like edgeless design to eliminate mouse cord resistance and abrasions.
They have a thin design to keep things light and comfortable, and there is a rubber base to ensure the mouse pad does not glide off the surface as gamers make fast movements of the mouse. However, hard plastic mouse pads are rarely used by competitive gamers in Esports.
The more common and popular choice is a soft fabric gaming mouse pad.
Soft Fabric
These gaming mouse pads have a soft fabric surface texture, designed to provide more accuracy over speed. Still, high-end soft fabric gaming mouse pads provide a glide and stopping power that's quite remarkable.
Competitive gamers can use these gaming mouse pads in Esports events for FPS games where accuracy is a top priority.
The preference for accuracy also means that gamers play at lower DPI settings, which means they need more room to move their gaming mice. Hence, most soft fabric gaming mouse pads come in large and extended sizes.
The soft nature of these gaming mouse pads also means that they are flexible and more portable. This can be beneficial for Esports gamers because they can easily fold extended gaming mouse pads and travel from event to event with their favorite gaming mouse pad.
Such high-quality gaming mouse pads come with stitched edges that ensure minimal mouse cord resistance and abrasions. There are also some edgeless designs available in the market. Also, they aren't as long-lasting because the fabric edges tend to fray over time.
These soft fabric gaming mouse pads are usually thicker than their hard plastic counterparts for two reasons. Firstly, they offer comfort for your wrist. Secondly, the thick rubber base can fill the contours of the desk surface to ensure that you get a smooth pad surface to move your gaming mouse.
Other Features
It isn't uncommon for professional gamers to use gaming mouse pads with some added features in Esports events. For example, some competitive gamers opt for a custom design on their gaming mouse pads, which typically consists of their team name or gaming alias.
Other features like RGB lighting, USB pass through, and wireless charging are also common for gaming mouse pads. However, professional gamers may avoid too many complex features and not opt for things beyond RGB lighting.
This is because they want purpose-based gaming mouse pads designed specifically to improve their gaming performance and nothing more. Gaming mouse pads like our Thasis are a good example as they have no gimmicky extra features, and the gaming peripheral company has designed them to improve gaming performance.
Conclusion
Competitive and professional gamers don't always use the most expensive, popular, or the latest gaming mouse pads. A gaming mouse pad is a personal preference, and it all depends on which one suits their preferences and gaming style better.
They usually go through multiple gaming mouse pads before deciding which one is best suited for their gaming style. Hence, you will find some variety in the gaming mouse pads used for Esports.
However, there are always some popular choices common among different gamers. If you are looking for a high-quality gaming mouse pad, you need to go through a few to decide which one suits your gaming style the most.
We recommend starting with an optimal one like our Thasis mouse pad to better understand your preferences.
