A scrim (from the English word scrimmage — "a practice skirmish") is an arranged match between two teams held outside official tournaments. The teams agree in advance on the time, format, and maps, then play as if it were a real match, only without a tournament bracket, spectators, and usually without money on the line.
The main goal of a scrim is practice under conditions as close to real competition as possible. Unlike games on a regular ranked server, where the opponents are random and player motivation varies, a scrim allows a team to play against a specific opponent of comparable skill and rehearse prepared strategies — for example, complex rounds with a particular player setup or ability combinations.
How a Scrim Works
The process usually looks like this:
- a team manager or captain finds an opponent through contacts, special chats, or scrim-finding platforms;
- the sides agree on a date, time, and set of maps or game mode;
- the match is played on a private server, often with a demo recording, so mistakes can be reviewed afterward;
- after the game, the teams may exchange comments on contentious moments — this is part of the training process.
Scrims differ from bootcamps in that a bootcamp is an intensive team gathering held on location over several days or weeks, while a scrim is a one-time or regular practice game that can also take place remotely, without the team living together.
Why Scrims Are Needed
For teams of any level, scrims are a way to check how well practiced setups hold up against a live opponent rather than bots or random players. Coaches use scrims to assess the roster's psychological resilience: how players react to pressure, mistakes, and changes in the pace of play. Scrims are also helpful before major tournaments — a team may deliberately look for opponents with a similar playstyle in order to rehearse specific scenarios.
The word comes from English military and sporting vocabulary, where scrimmage originally denoted a practice skirmish in American football and later took hold in esports as a term for any arranged practice game between teams.