I don't think most people appreciate a good gaming mouse pad. They assume most mouse pads are the same and do not drastically chain the performance of your mouse.

They couldn't be any further than the truth. While not all mouse pads are good for everyone, there are different types depending on your mouse and play style.

Hard or Soft?

There are two main types, hard and soft. While I tend to prefer a hard mouse surface, they are expensive and more difficult to travel with.

High DPI Usage

The SteelSeries QcK is a software mouse pad designed for high precision with laser high DPI mice. Typical gaming mice have 1000 - 4000 DPI or more. A consistent durable surface is critical to performance, especially when sniping which involves precise movements with high resolution.

Size

I used to use a very large mouse pad, that extended under the keyboard and mouse, the idea was to reduce the noise of my mechanical keyboard, this didn't work out so well as it didn't really reduce the clatter at all. So I went to a normal size mouse pad. Most competitive gamers have their DPI lower, so they make longer movements on the mousepad. Doing this requires a larger mouse pad than using high DPI with quick short movements.

It takes a lot of practice to learn longer movements with lower DPI, something I have yet to master, but I don't play any games competitively.

The nice thing about this mouse pad is it works really well and is only $9.99 shipped from Amazon

_{All images are from Amazon product pages}