Inder45: “I think that [our regional players] will be under a lot of pressure because of the prizes they can win”
After the FIFA interview with Maid “Kora_Sensei” Korić, I decided to continue this series of interviews with one of the best regional Brawl Stars players Teo “inder45” Božikov, who is also our commentator for the upcoming A1 Adria League season. Inder is usually in the playing roster of Brawl Stars competitions, so this commentating role is a new experience for him, but as we saw last week, he fits it perfectly. He talked to me about the Brawl Stars competitive scene as a whole, his career in the game, and of course, the details about the approaching fifth season of A1 Adria League.
After featuring Hearthstone in the previous two seasons, A1 Adria League decided to switch the mobile titles a bit and add Brawl Stars to the roster. What made Brawl Stars the perfect candidate for the next two seasons of A1AL?
I think the biggest reason for picking Brawl Stars over Hearthstone was it’s popularity. I would say that in the Balkan region at the moment, Brawl Stars is the most popular mobile game, or at least that’s what I would say if you are looking at YouTubers that create Brawl Stars content. Another good reason would be that Brawl Stars is a 3vs3 game where playing as a team is really important. The matches usually last about 2 minutes and are full of chaos and intense plays which makes it much more interesting to watch than Hearthstone, which is more slow paced game where thinking takes time, while in Brawl Stars you need to think really fast and have great reflexes.
You have played Brawl Stars competitively before. You will take part in the upcoming seasons of A1 Adria League, but in a different role, as a commentator. How different is commentating to actually playing the game and do you miss competing?
It is really different, the biggest difference (besides the obvious) is that I can see the mistakes players make during their match and I’m focused on everything that is happening on the map while as a competitive player that was much harder to do, because games are really intense and you don’t have much time to think and because of that you will probably make a mistake or two that could cost you the match. Yeah I’m definitely sad that I won’t be competing in this season because my team is one of the favorites to win the whole league, but I still wish them good luck and I hope they win.
The company behind Brawl Stars, Supercell, is constantly organizing weekly and monthly cups with various rewards to help the growth of the game’s competitive scene. While worldwide the scene is better than ever, in the Adriatic region we are still in the process of developing a competitive circuit for Brawl Stars. We hope that A1 Adria League will help the players in their paths to a competitive career and we certainly hope on seeing some of you competing at the highest level in the future.
Supercell gives a lot of attention to Brawl Stars when it comes to the esports aspect of the game. Our regional players have had limited chances to take part in a competitive Brawl Stars environment, so what does it mean for them to be able to play Brawl Stars for real prizes?
Yeah, Supercell really loves Brawl Stars and wants to make it their No.1 competitive game. As for our regional players I think they will be under a lot of pressure because of the prizes they can win, but that is good, a bit of adrenaline while you play is something I really like while playing competitive matches.
FIFA has the FBC that immensely helped the growth of competitive FIFA in the Adriatic region. Are there similar communities for Brawl Stars? Are there groups developing and trying to help the growth of the game over here?
Might sound a bit egoistic but I actually created a big league whose purpose was to “wake up” teams in our region and tell them that we can make Brawl Stars an esport in our region as well. I think that helped a lot to form a few teams that are now one of the best in our region, but of course I’m not the only one, there are also others who created their tournaments and helped Brawl Stars develop as an esport over here.
How will the fifth season of A1 Adria League be played out when it comes to Brawl Stars? What format will be used in the qualifiers and in the stages afterward?
I actually really like the format in A1 Adria League. There will be seven online qualifiers in which the teams need to get as much points as they can, and after seven weeks the top 8 teams with the most points will advance to the Online Playoffs where they will compete for really big prizes. As for the in-game format, in the qualifiers it is BO5 in game modes while every game mode is BO1, each team has 1 ban that is global which means that no team can play the banned brawler for the rest of the match.
Anything you want to add and say to the players, followers, and the organization behind this tournament?
For the players I would say that you should just keep practicing, and that nothing will come over night, classic I know, but it is true, especially in Brawl Stars, keep focusing on your game and don’t get down if you lose. Re-watch the match you lost, find mistakes and try to focus on them so you won’t make the same mistake twice. For followers I hope you will enjoy the streams and support us in making our game a real esports, and for the organisation all the best whishes since I hope we will get to know each other a bit better as I’m new to all this.
Thank you for the kind words Inder. We are lucky to have you as a part of the staff this year and we will definitely have time to get to know each other during the season. Brawl Stars is continuing this week, so don’t forget to tune in at our Twitch channel and watch the best regional squads battle it out on their way to the playoffs.
Are you the next regional esports superstar?
During the last year, we witnessed two action-packed seasons of A1 Adria League filled with high-tier competition and incredible esports stories that unfolded at the Reboot Infogamer finals. QLASH Gaming’s Nikola was crowned the undisputed, back-to-back Clash Royale champion after winning both the 3rd and 4th season, while in the CS:GO part, ex-BLUEJAYS managed to dethrone Team uNIQUE in front of a fully-packed A1 5G arena at the Infogamer finals. reqvam was crowned champion in the third season of Hearthstone but also lost the title to Paljuha in November – and ultimately we saw Tim 123 and Level Up splitting the prey in the Dota2 tournament.
Another year of amazing Esports action
2020 will continue in a similar fashion! A1 Adria League returns with two new action-packed seasons of amazing esports action. In the 5th season, Adria gamers will get the opportunity to compete in four games – Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Clash Royale as returning titles will be joined by FIFA20 and Brawl Stars!
Just like in our previous adventures, we want A1 Adria League to be a proving ground for up-and-coming Esports talents in the region. Considering the threats of the COVID-19 crisis, the fifth season will be fully-played online, and we see it as a perfect opportunity to provide a spotlight for some new Esports communities to show their finest players and teams.
While both Hearthstone and DOTA2 were spectacular to watch and we saw regional players of the highest calibre competing, we decided to put it on hold for the upcoming two seasons. We want to thank everyone from the Hearthstone and DOTA2 world – staff, talent, players and fans that helped make the last two seasons great for everyone.
Brawl Stars in the fifth Season!
Brawl Stars has been taking the world of mobile Esports by storm! After witnessing some great efforts by Supercell on building competitive foundations with their Monthly Championship Challenge, we have decided to test the regional waters provide a platform for Adria Brawlers to showcase their skill.
The qualifiers for Brawl Stars will begin on the 7th of May and will be played every Thursday for the following seven weeks. The qualifiers will be played in a single-elimination format, while double-elimination will decide the best team in the playoffs. The team that has not been eliminated in an open qualifier will be declared the winner of that week’s qualifier.
Every qualifier brings points that are distributed in the following way:
- First place – 100 points
- Second place – 80 points
- Third place – 60 points
- Fourth place – 40 points
- Fifth to eight place – 25 points
The teams with most points in all the seven open qualifiers will earn a spot in the online playoffs where they will play the double-elimination format.
What are you waiting for? Charge your phones and tablets, enter the A1 Adria League arena and show us who is the best regional Brawler!
Clash Royale in the fifth Season!
The fifth season will feature only one open qualifier for Clash Royale, while the other competitors will get direct invites to the tournament. The best team from the single-elimination qualifier will advance to the Round-Robin Group Stage (each of the competitors play each other). The first four teams from the Group Stage will advance to the playoffs where we will be featuring the Gauntlet format. All of the playoffs teams will be able to make one roster change by contacting the A1 Adria League management. The roster change must not be a player that competed during the season, and the change needs to be submitted at least 48 hours before the start of the playoffs.
The back-to-back champion Nikola is once again considered the favourite for winning the next season – will he finally be dethroned, or will he remain the Astralis of A1 Adria League Clash Royale? It’s up to you, competitors.
FIFA20 in the fifth Season!
After three long years, FIFA is coming back to the big stage as we are ready to find out who will steal the throne from Edinho. The development of Adria community has been a joy to watch thus far and we are eager to find out who are the best regional competitors at this moment.
The FIFA20 League will begin with the Open qualifiers – an unlimited number of players will be able to participate in the seven single-elimination open qualifiers. The matches during the qualifiers will be played in BO1 mode until the best four teams are decided. The first four teams will play BO3 games and the best team will be decided.
Every qualifier brings points, and they are split in the following manner:
- First place – 100 points
- Second place – 70 points
- Third place – 50 points
- Fourth place – 40 points
- Fifth to eight place – 20 points
- Ninth to sixteenth place – 10 points
Eight players with the most points earned through the qualifiers will be competing in the second stage of the tournament – the SWISS League. Competitors will be paired against each other using a set of rules designed to ensure that each competitor plays versus an opponent with a similar running score, but not the same opponent more than once. The players that successfully secure three wins will advance to the single-elimination BO3 playoffs.
We are excited to see the best dribbles, free kicks and Tiki-Taka players that this region can offer. Who will repeat Edinho’s success from the first season this time?
CS:GO in the fifth Season!
A1 Adria League has been the home to superstars for three years now. Nexa, huNter, LETN1 and emi proved their worth with CR4ZY at StarLadder Major in Berlin, while juanflatroo and synnopsy from Team uNiQUE signed professional contracts with Team Secret. The Serbian powerhouse JUGGERNAUTS, our reigning champions are constantly showing good results on the European scene and had some great runs in Minor and FLASHPOINT qualifiers.
The Adriatic scene is constantly producing new talent, so we are eagerly waiting for the new season to find out who is the best regional Counter-Strike competitor.
The eight teams competing in the SWISS League will be determined through four Open qualifiers. An unlimited number of teams will be able to participate in the single-elimination qualifiers where a BO1 mode will be featured until the semi-finals, which will be played in a Best of 3 mode. The best two teams from each qualifier will secure a spot in the SWISS League.
In the second stage, teams will play a SWISS League which fill decide the best four teams that will be advancing do the playoffs. The league will be played in a BO1 format with the decider games being played as BO3 matches. Four teams that will get three wins in the SWISS League will play a double-elimination format in the playoffs, with all the games being played as Best of 3 matches.
YOUR GAME IS NOT ON THE LIST?
Don’t worry! We are actively keeping an eye on all Esports communities in the Adria region, and the recent campaign on Social Media showed us how passionate you are about titles like League of Legends, Rainbow Six: Siege, PES, and others – even Rokcet Legaue, as our Facebook follower Ivan Časar would say.
The fifth season is now introduced with two new titles that caught our eye in early-2020, so make sure you tune in for future A1 Adria League streams, follow our adventures on Social Media, and provide a voice for your game!