Harmony is the LoL Weekly Champion; A1SeC RL playoffs this week

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The A1 Adria League Weekly tournaments are now happening at full speed, and we are happy to have watched some great matchups over the weekend in both the League of Legends qualifiers and playoffs, and in Rocket League, where students competed for the chance to participate in the playoffs later this week. Not only that, but we are back again today with the first qualifiers for PUBG, so there is absolutely no time to waste. 

In the A1 Student eChallenge, we saw a couple of changes to the competitive structure. Due to a number of teams participating in the first qualifier (6), we decided to go with a two-group format, with the winners of the groups advancing to the grand finals. In Group A, FER won the finals against Algebra and secured a playoff spot, and in Group B things were made a bit easier by TVZ forfeiting the qualifier, leaving only two teams competing for a spot, which ended up going to FERIT. 

The second qualifier had two total slots to hand out, which went to EFZG and TVZ. The grand finals of the A1SeC in Rocket League are scheduled for this Thursday, May 8th. 

LoL playoff dominance from Harmony

In League of Legends, we had two rounds of qualifiers over the weekend, followed by two further rounds of playoffs to decide who is the winner of the Weekly Tournament series. After the first round of qualifiers, two teams from each round advanced to the playoffs. From the first round, Vibrations123 were joined by Vertis & Friends after both teams dominated their rounds. Interestingly, Cevapi i Kobasice, a team that later made moves in the second qualifier, got knocked out in the first one.

The second qualifier was much better for the meat-friendly roster, and Cevapi i Kobasice won their side of the bracket. On the other side, Secret Club Esports beat Don’t ban Zyra in a great final, and wrapped up the qualiifers. In the playoffs, Harmony was the best team by far, and stomped their way through to the first place. Cevapi i kobasice put up a great fight in the finals, but were no match for Harmony. Third place went to The Secret Club Esports, and Vertis & Friends finished fourth. 

The action in the A1 Adria League continues throughout this week and weekend, with PUBG Weekly starting today, followed by the Rocket League finals in the A1SeC and PUBG playoffs over the weekend. Don’t miss it! 

LoL and RL: what makes for a good tournament game? 

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Not all competitive games are esports, but all esports are competitive games. But what makes a great competitive game?

This weekend, the A1 Adria League continues with the A1 Student eChallenge in Rocket League and the weekly tournament in League of Legends. Both games are fan favorites for a reason — while League of Legends is the world’s most popular esports game, Rocket League is a pick-up-and-play hero and a great success story.  So, why not talk about why they’re both interesting and what sets them apart?

Two approaches to the same formula

The two games we’re talking about here couldn’t be more different: while Rocket League is car football, League of Legends is a MOBA. Rocket League can be played solo or in teams of two or three players, and League of Legends is typically played with five players per team (unless you’re trying out one of the alternate game modes such as ARAM).  Both games grip the viewers and are interesting to watch, but for different reasons: Rocket League is easier to understand from the start (score goals, win games), League of Legends requires much more knowledge to understand — and that’s part of its appeal.

While League of Legends features abstract characters with different special abilities, along with defined team roles like jungler, support, or ADC, Rocket League allows you to put a hat on a car, which is otherwise almost identical to any other car on the field. League of Legends is built around structure — set roles, a shifting meta, and a deep competitive scene, and Rocket League is much more similar to real sports such as football.

In Rocket League, reacting in the moment is critical, and its gameplay is much faster from the first second, leading to quicker matches and better pacing. On the other hand, playing League of Legends can last quite a while — in fact, the longest professional match in League history lasted over 94 minutes. Jin Air Green Wings and SK Telecom T1 played the marathon game during the the LCK Spring Split on January 20, 2018

What makes a game good for esports? Mostly the same things that make real sports watchable: clear objectives, steady pace, and enough tension to keep people interested. Rocket League works because it’s basically football with cars — easy to follow, fun to watch. On the flip side, some games struggle because it’s not immediately clear what’s going on. Take World of Tanks: it’s a strategic game with plenty of depth for players, but from a viewer’s perspective, it often looks like tanks hiding behind buildings. That disconnect makes it harder to follow or enjoy if you’re not already invested. If you need a tutorial to understand who’s winning, that’s a tougher sell for casual spectators.

Watch the weekend matches and judge for yourself

Whether you enjoy the chaos of a Rocket League overtime or the drawn-out strategy of League of Legends is up to you, but if you’re curious how these styles play out in action, this weekend’s A1 Adria League tournaments offer a good reason to tune in.

Cyber_Fico wins the EA FC Weekly! 

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The EA FC action has continued over the weekend in the A1 Adria League, with the main tournament in EA FC 25 taking place, and a new champion taking the big win. In addition to the “big” EA FC event, we also saw the culmination of the A1 Student eChallenge in EA FC, with players coming very close to the skills we’re used to seing on the main EA FC tournaments. 

On Thursday, we saw the best four student players compete in the A1 SeC, as an ideal warmup for the big games coming our way during the weekend. Srza and Kontisha played the first semi final, with Srza going through after penalties, and Tome beat Bati in the second matchup of the day. In the big finals, Tome dominated and won with a difference of four goals, for a final score of 5 to 1. This is the second title for Tome, and he will enjoy his €100. 

During the weekend, we had two group stages and a final in the main EA FC competition over three days, with enough matches to really separate the best from the not-quite-there ones. 

In Group A, novo and Cyber_Fico were tied with 10 points after the regular stage, with novo winning the group stage on goal difference. Fika ended in third with 9 points, and plgnn_maksa finished fourth with 5 points. In the B group, MISKO_FIFA had a great run with 13 points, followed by BATI with 10, BACKO_SRB with 9 and MARAC with 3 points. 

The stage was set for the finals on Sunday, where Novo played against Bati and MISKO took on Cyber_Fico in the opening round. Novo beat Bati 2:0 easily, and MISKO dropped Cyber_Fico to the lower bracket after yet another dramatic penalty shootout. The second round of the upper bracket saw novo knocked out to the lower bracket by Misko with a perfect 2:0 score, and Cyber_Fico won against Bati in the lower bracket as well.

After three matches, Cyber_Fico managed to win on penalties against novo, and reached the grand final, beating the six-time A1AL champion. It seems like this only made Fico stronger, because he managed to reset the bracket to 2:2, win a decider match, and grab the number one spot in the Weekly EA FC competition. This means that Cyber_Fico is €400 richer and will be the one to beat later this year at the LAN final, if his luck and skills endure.

This wraps up the action in EA FC Mobile and EA FC. We’ll have another round of EA FC Mobile Weeklies coming later this spring, and the eFootball Weekly is coming our way. We’re saying goodbye to football and looking towards League of Legends and Rocket League, the main games we’re watching in the following days.

First Weekly is over – Gale wins the EA FC Mobile Weekly 1!

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The weekend behind us was huge, with three separate events taking place in the League. We saw the culmination of the EA FC Mobile playoffs where Gale took the first trophy of the Weekly tournaments, but also watched the first matches of the A1 Student eChallenge in EA FC and the regular EA FC qualifiers. It was an action-packed Easter weekend with many winners, but unfortunately an even larger number of those not so lucky.

EA FC Mobile Playoffs

Our first playoffs of the Weekly tournament series happened across the weekend in EA FC Mobile. Last weekend, we saw the qualifying rounds where players gathered points and were positioned in two groups: A and B. Group A saw Nikolas, TaleTopG, Cola and Shaq advance to the group playoffs after an exciting group stage. TaleTopG, the best-placed player in the qualifiers, managed to qualify for the playoffs, together with Nikolas. Interestingly, the three top players from Group A all had 12 points, so the goal difference was the decider. Since only two players advance, Shaq was left out due to his goal difference being +1, compared to Tale’s +8 and Nikolas’ +4 differences. This is the first-ever time that Shaq missed out on the playoffs. 

In Group B, Gale won the group stage with a total of 10 points, and was joined by Somzi, last year’s A1 Adria League EA FC Mobile winner. Somzi managed to edge out Lazar purely on goal difference, and earned his place in the big finals played on Easter Sunday. 

On Sunday, we saw Gale’s dream run continue as he dropped Nikolas to the lower bracket in the first round before beating TaleTopG in the next round. In the lower bracket, Somzi won against Nikolas but lost to Tale, setting up a big rematch in the finals. Gale once again proved his class and won again in the grand final, securing the title of the A1 Adria League EA FC Mobile Weekly champion. 

EA FC Qualifiers and A1AL SeC

At the same time as the EA FC Mobile playoffs were unravelling, we watched the first and second rounds of qualifiers for the EA FC Weekly, where some of the greatest regional players tried to secure a spot in the next round. There were more than 170 players participating in the two open qualifiers, but at the end of the day, only the best eight regional EA FC players advanced. In the first round, 101 players competed, but Novo, Marac, PLGNN_MAKSA and Bati were the best ones in the end. Interestingly, Novo beat three players from CLA, a notable regional organisation, on his way to the next stage. Bati, a player who used to play in the Student eChallenge, made the next step and proved he can show up on the big stage as well.

In the second qualifier, one of the best regional players, Cyber_fico, secured a big win, helping CLA secure at least one spot in the next stage. He will be joined by misko_fifa, fika and BackoSRB, making Serbia the most successful nation in the qualifiers with four players in the next round. 

The playoffs for EA FC will happen over the weekend between April 25th and 27th. 

The A1 Student eChallenge in EA FC also impressed over the weekend. The current champion, Tome Trnjanac, will be joined by Borna Batisweiler, the third-placed player from last year, Luka Kontek, and Dražen Srzetić. The Student eChallenge playoffs will take place on Thursday, April 24th.

With the league slowly picking up the pace, we’re looking at many more play days before the Weekly events wrap up in mid-June. If you haven’t done so already, apply for the upcoming events in League of Legends, CS2, Rocket League, PUBG or the second round of EA FC Mobile! 

How to compete in the A1 Student eChallenge

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In the last few articles, we’ve talked a lot about the prize pools, the format and other details of the A1 Adria League Weekly tournaments, aimed to bridge the gap between the 14th and the 15th season as a big change for 2025.

When it comes to the A1 Student eChallenge or A1SeC, not much has changed, and we’re sticking with two seasons of the tournament in 2025. A1 Hrvatska is once again partnering with universities across Croatia to provide students with a way to represent their college in their favourite game. 

Apply now!

What are the games (and the prizes)

The first A1 SeC of the year (spring) will have an overall prize pool of €3,150, distributed across four games: Counter-Strike 2, Rocket League, EA FC and League of Legends. 

The CS2 tournament will have a €1,125 prize pool with €500 going to the winners, same as the League of Legends tournament. EA FC will have a total prize pool of €225, and Rocket League will have a prize pool of €300. The main idea is to have the winners go home with €100 per person for the first A1 SeC of the season. 

Who is eligible to compete? 

Any and all students are eligible to compete, but there are rules in place for team-based sports:

 

  • All universities from Croatia are eligible to compete
  • Students need to be from Croatia (exchange students are not eligible for competing)
  • Multiple teams from one institution can apply
  • For CS2, four players must be from the same institution, with one player allowed outside the institution (4+1)

When are the competitions taking place?

EA FC

Qualifiers: 19.04.2025., and 20.04.2025. 

Finals: 24.04.2025.

The qualifiers will be hosted in a single-elimination format, best-of-1 with a best-of-3 decider match. The best 2 players from both qualifiers advance to the finals. 

Rocket League

Qualifiers: 03.05.2025., and 04.05.2025.

Finals: 08.05.2025.

The best two players from each qualifier advance. The finals are best-of-5 with an advantage for the upper bracket team.

League of Legends

Qualifiers: 17.05.2025. and 18.05.2025. 

Finals: 22.05.2025.

Top two teams from each qualifiers advance to the finals for a BO3 single elimination round with a third place decider match.

CS2

Qualifiers: 23.05.2025. and 30.05.2025.

Finals: 05.06.2025.

The same format applies as with League of Legends. Two teams advance from each qualifier, with a BO3 final and a decider match taking place on the final day. 

How to apply

To apply for the competitions, all interested students can fill out the details in the submission form, and the captains and EA FC players will then be added to the official Discord server for further information. 

 

How much can you earn by playing in A1 Adria League Weekly?

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We know –  everyone reading this does not think about money when playing competitive esports and A1 Adria League, and your primary motivation is to win just for the sake of winning, right? Still, there’s more going on than simply having us shake your hand and say you are great. Every year, we’re trying hard to improve the prize money so teams and players are better rewarded for their efforts in the League.

This year, the total prize pool will be over €40,000, where the Weekly cups will be €10,550, and an additional €3,150 will go to the best teams in the A1 Student eChallenge. The applications are open to anyone interested! 

The prize pool allocation depends on several factors, the most notable being whether the winner is a single player or a team. This is why team sports prizes, such as League of Legends, Brawl Stars, and PUBG, are larger than EA FC Mobile and EA FC prizes. Let’s dissect the prize pools further for each game according to the number of players participating. 

CS2

The most lucrative tournament to win this year is, as always, Counter-Strike. For the weekly cups, we’ve allocated a total of €3,000 in prize money, which translates to €300 per player in the winning team. The second-place team gets €1,000, and the third-place team will earn €500, or €100 per player. 

League of Legends and PUBG

For LoL and PUBG, we allocated €1,500 for each game, meaning that the winners get €800, second-placed teams get €500, and the third-place team gets €200. It should be noted that PUBG is played in squads of four players, with one substitution player allowed. 

Brawl Stars

Brawl Stars is played in teams of three players, and the prize pool for the Weekly cups stands at €1,350, with €600 going to the winners, €450 to the second-placed team and €300 to the third-placed team. 

EA FC Mobile

EA’s mobile football simulator has proven to be a popular choice in the A1 Adria League. It’s the only title that will have two separate Weekly tournaments, one at the start of the Weekly tournaments and one at the very end. Both Weeklies will have the same prize pools, with €800 distributed to the top three players of both events. The winners will each get €400, the second-placed players will receive €250 each, and the third-place players will get €150. 

EA FC and eFootball

For the two “main” football simulators, both globally and in the A1 Adria League, we’ve kept the prize pools the same as with EA FC Mobile. This means that the winner in both eFootball and EA FC gets €400, second place will earn you €250 and finishing third is rewarded with €150. 

A1 Student eChallenge

For our student competition for Spring, € 3,150 will be awarded to the best teams and players in four games: CS2, Rocket League, League of Legends, and EA FC. 

CS2: €1,125 (1st place €500, 2nd place €375, 3rd place €250)

Rocket League: €675 (1st place €300, 2nd place €225, 3rd place €150)

EA SPORTS FC: €225 (1st place €100 2nd place €75, 3rd place €50)

League of Legends: €1,125 (1st place €500, 2nd place €375, 3rd place €250)

Applications are open for the Weekly cups, so pick your game and get ready for exciting tournaments across all the games! 

A1 Adria League LAN finals set to thrill at Reboot InfoGamer in Zagreb

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Reboot InfoGamer powered by A1, the largest gaming event in the Adria region for more than a decade, is coming back to Zagrebacki Velesajam. And the LAN finale of the A1 Adria League is once again a part of the event. Champions of the 14th A1AL season will be crowned from 14th to 17th November in Brawl Stars, EAFC, FC Mobile, and of course CS2. Get ready for four days filled with panel discussions, exciting esports tournaments, various gaming activities, and many more. 

Best EAFC players attending the S14 LAN event

This season the competition has been stronger than ever in each and every game featured in the A1AL. One of the firsts to secure LAN and the top four were FC Mobile players. These players will attend the event and compete for the prize:

  • Somzi – the first to secure a semi-final spot with a dominant 3:0 victory.
  • Shaq – a two-time A1 Adria League champion, who triumphed over his opponents despite a challenging series against Jaha.
  • Nikolas – a globally recognized H2H player, who claimed his LAN spot after a fierce six-match duel against Havertz.
  • Lazar – who staged a remarkable comeback, winning three consecutive matches with an impressive 11 goals scored and only one conceded.

Beside this football game, as you know we hosted EAFC24/25 as well. Many familiar names competed and the finale will be explosive as these four players battle it out:

  • Brstimir – finished at the top of the group stage with an unbeaten record, scoring 20 goals and conceding just six.
  • Hara – known as the “king of extra time,” secured his place with clutch performances and solid wins over top opponents.
  • Gruby – demonstrated consistency with high-scoring games, securing his spot with standout performances from players like Mbappe and Kvarachelia.
  • Teo – clinched his LAN spot with a thrilling comeback, showcasing resilience and skill, especially in his final match against Mišić

Best CS2, and BS teams going to Zagreb

The A1 Adria League CS2 competition is set for an exciting LAN finale, with Juggernauts, Zero Tenacity, ENTiTY (ex 0to100), and GOTxSIGNALNET emerging as the top four teams. As we know Z10 is the reigning champions and they are ready to defend the title. Soon we will see if this will be possible considering the high level of performance other qualified teams showed. Needless to say, a spectacle is awaiting anyone at LAN.

Furthermore, Brawl Stars finals are set, with Frutas, the title defender, leading the lineup after dominating Fantastic eSports in a thrilling group-stage clash. Fantastic eSports bounced back by defeating La Masia 3:0 to secure their LAN spot. Delulu joined the top four with a comeback win over Team Cherry but couldn’t attend the LAN, so FBI will take their place. Lastly, Gospodin Adry claimed the final LAN spot after overcoming Cherry in an intense match. These teams will face off in Zagreb for the championship title.

Redline emerged as the A1AL PUBG champions

After four days and 20 intense maps, Redline emerged as the A1 Adria League PUBG champions, dominating from the second day and steadily widening their lead. The fight for the remaining prize spots stayed fierce until the last match, where CrashZ secured second place with critical points over Idemo Batonga, who settled for third. No Pressure, led by top fragger Beami, claimed the final prize position after an impressive last-day performance. Meanwhile, early leaders Sniip and QWEZ fell short, unable to maintain their momentum through the closing rounds.

Final standings:

  1. Redline
  2. CrashZ
  3. Idemo Batonga
  4. No Pressure

Season 14 of A1AL is here with the biggest prize pool ever!

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If you thought you had to wait a long time for season 14 of A1AL, you were wrong. After just a month, and after crowning the best in the 13th season, we are continuing our journey and inviting you to compete again! The 14th season is bringing a lot of action, more games, and a whopping prize pool.

Compete with the best at the Reboot event in Zagreb!

Just like in the previous season, the A1 Adria League 14th season will feature CS2, EAFC, EAFC Mobile, and Brawl Stars. We will also host competitions in PUBG, LoL, Tekken, and a Student eChallenge tournament. But more on that later. The two biggest differences from the previous season are the enormous prize pool we offer the best competitors and the LAN event which will crown the winner. The best four teams from BS and CS2, and the best four players in EAFC and EAFC Mobile will compete in the grand finale at the Reboot InfoGamer event in Zagreb in November this year!

The competition will be fierce considering that we have thrice as big a prize pool as in the previous season. The best players in our games will share a whopping 26,900 euros! The CS2 competition now has a 14,000 euro prize pool as our biggest and most popular competition in the league.

Season 14 format explained

We won’t be changing much when it comes to format in season 14. CS2 players will have to go through three qualifiers to earn their place in the top eight. However, unlike the previous season, this time only six teams will make it through the cups, while the remaining two will be invited. After that, it’s a double elimination bracket in the SWISS stage. And as I said the best four go to Zagreb for a grand finale and a fierce fight.

EAFC and EAFC24 Mobile games will have the same format. Starting with four qualifiers cups where 16 players will advance to group stage. The group stage consists of four groups of four players. There the winner of each group goes to the finals to compete for a 3,500 prize pool.

Our Brawlers will also be able to enjoy four qualifiers, followed by a SWISS group stage. It will be a double elimination bracket consisting of Bo5 and Bo3 matches. So plenty of action and excitement awaits. That will culminate at the Reboot event where the best four teams will fight for the throne.

As I previously mentioned PUBG is back! The competition is scheduled for October and November starting with two qualifiers. After that, the playoff stage commences, and in the finals, we will watch a fierce fight where the best four teams will share the prize.

The first qualifiers are scheduled for the second week of September, so stay tuned for more information and how to sign up! Don’t forget to follow our social media accounts on Facebook, X, TikTok, and Instagram, and watch our streams on YouTube and Twitch.

 

FOI is the winner of the A1 Student eChallenge in CS2!

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Last week we had the opportunity to host the CS2 tournament as a part of the A1 Student eChallenge. Six universities and 36 students competed for the right to call themselves champions but only one was victorious. It was FOI that bested their opponents and won the tournament. Overall 260 rounds were played and 11 maps, out of which Dust2 and Mirage were the most played, while we haven’t seen Nuke once this tournament. Continue reading to find out all the details.

FOI in the TOP 4 in every game in the A1 Student eChallenge

As you remember, besides CS2, we hosted two other games as a part of this tournament, Rocket League and EAFC24. FOI was the most successful university in the whole eChallenge, ranking in the TOP 4 in all three games. They were fourth in Rocket League, third and second in EAFC24, and now first in CS2. FOI had to defeat FERIT to win it all. But let’s see how each team got to the finals and who their opponents were in the semis.

The first finalist was FOI. In the semi-finals, they defeated UNIPU from Pula with a 2-0 score, which came from the quarter-finals with a 2-0 victory over FER. Against UNIPU, FOI had an easy first map on Mirage (13:7), but they struggled on the second map Dust2 and defeated UNIPU only in the third overtime with a score of 22:19. The game was a real nailbiter and UNIPU put up a good fight. However in the end FOI prevailed.

The second finalist FERIT from Osijek didn’t have a tough opponent in the semis or they made it look like that. Against TVZ they won 2-0. Even though the second map Mirage was a little close, ending with 16-14, the first was Ancient where Ferit demolished their opponents with a swift 13:1 win.

A1 Student eChallenge FOI

In the grand finals, all three maps were played. Ancient was a FOI pick where they had a good start and a score of 10-4. After that FERIT made a comeback. Shumy’s 1v3 clutch took the game to overtime where in the end FERIT won 16-14. On FERIT’s pick Anubis, FOI dominated with Prozzor as the best player (13-8). The decider was Dust2 where it was close until the end. However, as we know FOI was a better team ending the final map with a 13-10 score and taking the title.

Ranking:

  • 1st place – FOI
  • 2nd place – FERIT
  • 3rd place – TVZ
  • 4th place – UNIPU
  • 5th place – FER
  • 6th place – Algebra

Here are your EAFC24 and Rocket League champions in A1 Student eChallenge!

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Two of three competitions that are part of our A1 Student eChallenge are over. Rocket League and EAFC24 got their champions already, while only the CS2 competition remains. While most of the tournament was played off-stream, our followers could enjoy a very tense final in Rocket League and EAFC24. Let’s take a look at how it went.

FER and MATHOS at the top

Let’s begin with Rocket League, where we had seven different Universities compete for the top prize. From the signed up schools we had FER, FERIT, FOI, UNIPU, FESB, Algebra, and PMFST which amounted to 24 players. The competition was fierce and the top 4 Universities were FER, Algebra, FOI, and FERIT.

In the grand final of A1 Student eChallenge, we saw a dominating victory from the side of FER who managed to win this BO7 series with a 4:1 score against Algebra.  The roster made of Dred, Zuki, Turba, and Dunge, showed their skill and deservedly won the title. However, in our fight for the third place, things were a lot more closer. After a long struggle and seven games, FERIT came out victorious against FOI with a 4:3 score.

  • 1st place: FER 
  • 2nd place: Algebra
  • 3rd place: FERIT
  • 4th place: FOI
  • 5th-7th place FESB, UNIPU, and PMFST

Moving on to EAFC24 where we also had seven Universities compete. In this competition, the signed-up Universities were FOI and FERIT with two representative players, UNIPU, TVZ, MATHOS, ASPIRA, and Algebra with one each. It took eight games for us to get our best four players in this competition. FOI did very well, and their players ranked 2nd and 3rd. Bati took the second place, while t0m3 one below. On stream, in the grand finale, Bati lost to MATHOS rep klaic710 with a 2:3 score. However, in the fight for third place t0m3 was more successful and won 3:0 against Remo.

1st place: MATHOS | klaic710

2nd place: FOI | Bati

3rd place: FOI | t0m3

4th place: TVZ | Remo

5th-8th place FERIT, UNIPU, FERIT, and ASPIRA

9th place: Algebra

Now only the CS2 competition is left and you can follow the finale on the 21st of June which is Friday. Don’t forget to follow our stream on YouTube, Twitch and Kick.