When I originally started studying esports, I kept hearing the term Clutch and pretended to know it meant while secretly knowing nothing about it. So this video will serve as both an explanation of what Clutch is and an opportunity for me to spend some time learning what it means… In its most basic form, the Clutch is the point in an esports match or competition when players are under the most severe pressure and must maintain maximum attention, concentration, and calm to win.
In contrast to choking, where the team or player in the Clutch fails, and the team loses, the clutch team or player is usually able to succeed and lead their team to victory. Clutch is a term that did not originate in the realm of esports. It’s also utilized in a variety of conventional sports, particularly American sports such as ice hockey, football, and basketball. In baseball, the term was coined to describe a batter who batted in a high-pressure situation and delivered the runs needed to win a game. Baseball is similar to adult rounders for that outside of the United States.
You’re exhausted at work or school, can’t focus well, and don’t perform well on tests or work. That night, you sleep for 12 hours, wake up weary from oversleeping, go to work or school, and the same thing happens. You’re at the bottom of the bell curve in either case. The sweet spot – the quantity of sleep that allows you to perform at your best and achieve the best results – lies in the centre. It’s the same premise as Clutch, except instead of sleep, pressure is used, and performance is replaced with, well, performance.
You’re down 1-4 on a CS: GO map, but you come back to win, just as Snax did at ESL One New York? You’ve got only the magic pixel remaining, and you need to win the FGC as Daigo did versus Justin Wong at Evo 2004? I’m talking about Digital Chaos vs. EG at The International 2016, where they turned a game of DOTA 2 on its head to take out one of the favourites and get to the final. That’s all there is to it.
So now we’re all aware. You can tell your friends “that comes from baseball, and you know” the next time you’re watching your favourite esport and they talk about the Clutch. After then, there may be an uneasy silence, but it’s simply them revelling in the fact that they’ve learned something new.
