# Nouns Esports Q1 Update - Proposal 466

## Team Roster Updates

**Dota 2**
- Our team is neck and neck with Shopify Rebellion in the North America region. We started strong by defeating them but have struggled to maintain that edge. With Shopify's success internationally, they're now getting direct invites to major events, leaving the North American qualifier spot wide open for us to secure. And secure it we have, with the team having taken part in Betboom Dacha Dubai and Elite League, with PGL's Wallachia major on the horizon.
- The climax of the Dota year is soon approaching, with the Esports World Cup looming. With their aim to beat Valve at their own game of hosting audacious tournaments, its $50 million Dota prize pool sets a new benchmark in esports. We aim to be on that stage in Riyadh in July!

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**Counter Strike 2**
- We've had a challenging start this year but are optimistic about our path to the next Major in Shanghai. "Despite failing to qualify in the recent RMR, the limited number of slots (5) in the Americas region was a significant hurdle.
- With South American teams performing well at the Major, they have secured an additional 2 slots, bringing the count up to 7 for the Americas in the next Major qualifier.
- Earlier this year, we welcomed [Adren](https://twitter.com/adreN_Hoag) as our new coach, known for his successful tenure at Team Liquid." Semphis, our previous coach, is transitioning to a content-focused role.
- Following a successful Prop House round, our all-female Counter-Strike team, Nouns FE, continues to improve their performance in the female circuit. The entire team has [recently joined Farcaster.](https://warpcast.com/sasquatch/0x15a8d5eb)
- We're also [planning to run a CS tournament](https://twitter.com/nounsesports/status/1775622732274716848) that raises money for a mental health charity (NAMI) in May, in memory of one of our former players, cyn1c, who recently passed away.
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**Smash Bros. Melee**
- Continuing our support for the Smash scene has been fruitful, gaining positive reception and forming strong connections with key community figures.
- We've signed [Cody Schwab](https://twitter.com/iBDWSSBM), the top-ranked Smash Melee player, following his Genesis X victory. His addition has significantly boosted our visibility and impact in the scene. Cody recently won Battle of BC 6 in Vancouver in front of over 20,000 concurrent viewers.


- Nouns Esports has identified an outsized opportunity to host events featuring top Smash players. By partnering with Tipped Off, a major tournament out of Atlanta, we believe we can create high-quality, immersive on-chain experiences for Smash fans.
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**Pokémon UNITE**
- Our UNITE team has yet to have a standout performance thus far this year. A big moment for the team in the 2024 season is their upcoming appearance at the Aeos Cup LAN in London. This event could be a turning point for the team.
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**Street Fighter**
- Initially unplanned, our success in Smash inspired us to expand into another fighting game.
- We've partnered with [Smug](https://twitter.com/SmugDaBeast), a charismatic and popular figure in the community, to represent us at major events, increasing our awareness and trust in the fighting game community. Check out this [Youtube video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgrbzze8Lao&t) announcing the partnership.
- Similarly to our Smash programming, travel grants facilitated through community voting, such as on Prop House, will be a major focus of this collaboration. We will also be working with Smug to host our first online tournament series.


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**Prop House**


- Prop House has successfully onboarded players and fans into our ecosystem, offering funding and voting opportunities. Prop House has been particularly effective in the fighting game community, where sponsor support is scarce but community backing is strong.
- Our current process is a bit clunky, and we are still finding difficulty in exciting gaming communities about minting Nounish NFTs. Our onboarding strategy is to have those within our community who are interested in participating in our governance sign up on nouns.gg/signup. After they provide us with their wallet address, we send them a token that allows them to vote on our subsequent Prop House Rounds.


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## **Revenue Opportunities:**

**Partnerships**
- In January we onboarded Pat Yiu as our head of partnerships. Currently scheduled for April 15th, we're excited to unveil our first commercial partner.
- Our relationship with Adidas is advancing, with integration into the /// locker room program following their appointment of a dedicated esports lead.
- We have a number of other leads that we are continuing to pursue and develop. We are confident that we will be able to continue doing deals to help sustain Nouns Esports operations.

**Merchandise and Nounish Products**
- Our [Shopify store](https://shop.nouns.gg/) is live, offering merchandise that's garnering attention at events and sparking interest in our brand.
- After launching our Shop, we [worked with Gogh to bring it onframe](https://warpcast.com/esports/0xc9e47998) and into the Farcaster ecosystem.

**Nouns Esports Pass**

- The goal of the pass is to turn our fans into active participants that help shape future of Nouns Esports by voting on key organizational decisions, and reward them based on their levels of engagement. To bring this vision to life, we needed to figure out how to design a user experience that onboards new onchain users in a way that is familiar, interoperable, and abstracts away the complexities of the blockchain.
- Over the last few months we have been experimenting with different solutions to this problem and ultimately landed on a one that utilizes a combination of embedded wallets with [Privy](https://www.privy.io/) and smart wallets with [Pimlico](https://www.pimlico.io/).
- We are currently in the process of building a frontend that will allow anyone to apply to become a pass member, vote on key organizational decisions, and engage with the rest of the Nouns Esports community all through nouns.gg.
- Looking forward, we see the value of integrating Farcaster as an identity and social layer on top of the pass which will allow us to create new experiences for the esports community.

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## **Upcoming Events**

**Dota**
PGL Wallachia: May 10-19
Esports World Cup Qualifier: Date TBD(Soon)

**FGC**
EVO Japan: April 27-29
Combo Breaker: May 24-26
CEO: June 28-30
EVO Las Vegas: July 19-21

**Smash**
Pat's House 4: April 27-28
Get On My Level X: May 17-19
Tipped Off 15: June 15-16
Super Smash Con: August 10-13

**CS**
Esports World Cup Qualifier: April 18-19
David's Cup: May 11-12
ESL Challenger League Playoffs: June 10-16

**Unite**
Pokémon UNITE Championship Series 2024 - Aeos Cup: April 5-7

## Thanks for reading! GGWP ⌐◨-◨