How does gaming on smartphones move the boundaries of esports

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Esports was at the beginning limited only to personal computers. With the development of technology, it became possible to compete on consoles, and later on smartphones too. It is exactly the smartphones that in recent years have been moving the boundaries of esports.

Regardless of which research you take into account, gaming on smartphones and tablets, popularly called mobile gaming, is a segment that should grow the fastest. Faster than gaming on personal computers and gaming consoles. Everyone who owns a smartphone is a potential “gamer”. A lot of people today play on their phones and unintentionally make the gamer’s statistics. They play games while traveling or while taking a break from daily activities. Among so many players there are those who compete in mobile games. 

This type of gamer exists in our region too and A1 Adria League is showing that for seasons including at least one mobile game in its tournament. Earlier it was the popular game Clash Royale, and in the eighth season, which was held last year, all the lights of mobile gaming were on Brawl Stars. 

Last summer it was the best domestic Brawl Stars players such as Lavvek, Adry, Andrey, and DzonDzon who represented the region in the Clash of Leagues tournament in Salzburg, in which the best players from five Central European Leagues and regional A1 Adria League participate. 

clash of leagues mobile esports

Discussions about whether esports on mobile devices are real esports are long over. Smartphones and tablets are today technically so developed that they can support more demanding games too. Big developers and video game publishers have in mind the potential that mobile gaming has. Riot Games studio which made the ultra-popular League of Legends and VALORANT, also published a mobile version of the most popular MOBA game: League of Legends: Wild Rift. Call of Duty mobile has been available for a while now for everyone who prefers shooting on mobile platforms. 

How can mobile esports help women enter esports?

With the growth of esports, the age boundaries of entering the world of competitive gaming are being moved. Regardless of the game, a lot of them are adapted to the youngest players, who very intuitively, using touchscreen controls can experience competitive gaming. 20 or more years ago to achieve this you needed to have some technical knowledge as well as a very expensive, and sometimes, unavailable device. 

Of course, some of them will in the future play on gaming consoles and personal computers, but will at that point already have experienced something that wasn’t available to the Millenials, not to mention older generations. Of course, mobile esports isn’t only meant for younger players.

Female players still make up a very small percentage of active participants in esports. The most popular tournament for girls is the Women Star League Invitational in-game Mobile Legends: Bang Bang if we look at data on an active number of audience and the number of watched hours.

One of the ways in which we could include more females in the world of esports is exactly mobile esports. You wouldn’t need any special equipment for it, and the community isn’t as defined and exclusive as those when gaming on PCs or consoles. 

Woman Star League

However, for mobile esports or any kind of mobile gaming, it’s important to have a smartphone. That’s how the best regional Brawl Stars players in the grand finale of Clash of Leagues in LEVEL Up Arena in Salzburg competed on Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 5G devices which at least gave them an even chance with the best players of other countries. 

When we talk about MOBA or similar games, which are more demanding to both players and devices, it’s important to have a fast response speed so you can run the game without any problems. This was exactly what Xiaomi provided to our guys. What kind of device is needed for the serious competition will depend on the game, and of course on the player. Even the smallest advantage in performance in crucial moments can be decisive.

Mobile gaming and mobile esports are already a part of the gaming industry or better esports industry. It will surely grow in the future, as we are even now raising new generations of gamers, professional or not. 

Hearthstone LAN Finals

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The same as last year we will have the best 4 of our HS players compete for the title!

Let us introduce the player that will be duking it out on the main stage.

1. Reqvam – the home soil favourite, he managed to defeat everyone in the online playoffs so all eyes will be upon him and everyone is going to be gunning to counter him and thinking of ways how to defeat him.

2. Dimi – well known throughout the region almost always manages to qualify for LAN and has been consistent these past few years, in the online playoffs, he only lost to Reqvam (Twice) once in the upper winner finals and once in the grand finals, if he manages to find a way to overcome him on the main stage the trophy won’t be far away.

3. Uberkaiser – at this point a famous face in the HS Adria community a streamer and a frequent HS competitor he won a few national tournaments but will he have the same success on foreign soil, we await to find out!

4. Paljuha – another regular streamer and glory-seeking player he will have the advantage of the home crowd as well, he knows what he needs to do and we can’t wait to see him try it on the main stage.

You will be able to follow the action as always on our channels, however, don’t miss your chance for real live-action and join us at Reboot Infogamer  Zagreb

Single-elimination bracket, all matches Bo3

15:00 reqvam vs. paljuha
16:00 Dimi vs. uberkaiser
17:00 Third place match
18:00 Grand Finals


Season 4 LAN Finals

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For the third year in a row, the LAN finals of A1 Adria League will be part of Reboot InfoGamer – one of the biggest gaming fairs in Europe!

The best gamers from all over the region will occupy the A1 Adria League hall across the three days (15th – 17th of November). They will be competing at the state of the art stage one the best players in the region deserves. Everything will be happening in front of a live audience!

Clash Royale & Hearthstone

We will kick things off with Clash Royale and Hearthstone finals on the 15th of November. In each game, four best players will be competing in double-elimination format for the glory and the majority of the 1500 Euros prize pool.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Day after, on Saturday 16th of November four CS:GO teams that proved to be the best in the online part of the League will get a chance to be crowned the champions of A1 Adria League Season 4. A single-elimination format does not allow mistakes. The prize pool for CS:GO is 10.000 Euros!

Last year Valiance&CO and Locastc Esports put out a real show in the semis. It remains to be seen which teams will be causing the most hype in Season 4!

Dota 2

The last day of the LAN finals and Reboot InfoGamer is reserved for Dota 2. For the first time ever in the history of the League will be having LAN finals for MOBA that defined the genre. The format is the same as for CS:GO and so is the prize pool.

General Info

Reboot InfoGamer 2019 will be held at Zagrebački velesajam from the 12th of the 17th of November. New games, esports, new hardware, giveaways, influencers and much more awaits you in new edition of the biggest gaming fair in this part of Europe.

A1 Adria League LAN finals will have their own hall with additional activities for visitors as well as some news we are not allowed to publish yet. Keep in mind that in order to visit the A1AL LAN finals you will have to buy a ticket for the fair. All information can be found on the official pages of Reboot InfoGamer.

For all those who won’t be able to join us all matches will be live streamed on official A1 Adria League channels.

If you want to be up to date with everything that is happening in the League make sure to check out a1adrialeague.com.

Sign up for Hearthstone open qualifiers for October

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The new round of Open Qualifiers for A1 Adria League Season 4 is starting as we seek four more players to join the Online Playoffs and battle for LAN finals in Zagreb!

You will have four Open Qualifiers to earn points and prize money. The rest of the format is pretty simple:

mobilestructure

Four of the best players in Season 4 will get a chance to compete in front of the live audience at LAN finals on one of the biggest gaming fairs in Europe – Reboot InfoGamer 2019!

Every weekly Open Qualifier includes prize pool for the first spot of 20€. Prize pool for the Monthly Finals is 150€ while the main prize will be 1500€ prize pool at the LAN finals.

So, what are you waiting for? This is your chance to prove that you are the best Hearthstone player in the region!

Introducing the new format for Hearthstone – The Shielded Conquest

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As many of you already know, in the middle of the Hearthstone qualifiers for the A1 Adria League Season 4 Blizzard changed the format of all of their official competitions from Specialist to Shielded Conquest.

In agreement with Blizzard, we will also make the same change. Starting with the Open Qualifiers in October we will be using Shielded Conquest. Hopefully until the end of Season 4. It’s important that players compete in the same format throughout the whole competition but the main reason still cannot be announced publicly. For that one, you’ll have to be patient just a little bit more.

The Shielded Conquest – How does it work?

  • It’s a best of three series
  • The two battling players bring four decks, each from a unique class.
  • The match starts with a Shield Phase where both players will choose one of their own decks to “protect” that cannot be banned.
  • Each player will then ban one of their opponents’ decks, removing it from the pool.
  • Each player then selects which of their eligible decks they would like to play first, then begin their first game of the match.
  • After the first game has concluded, the winning deck is removed from the pool before both players pick which of their remaining decks they would like to play next.
  • If after the second game one player is 2-0, then the match is over!
  • If the score is 1-1, then the winning deck from the second game is removed from the pool and both players will choose their third and final deck to decide the series.

One of the biggest problems with the old Conquest format was that the player had to win with all of his decks but this way, you’ll only have to win with two of them!

We hope the new change will light up your will for competition even more! We have only four spots left open in the Online Playoffs so make sure to qualify for them during October.

First Open Qualifier for October will be played on Saturday the 5th!

Hearthstone Monthly Finals for September

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The first round of Open Qualifiers is finished! We now know the names of the Top 8 players that will be competing in the September Monthly Finals! Stakes are high because those players that manage to secure Top 4 will advance to the Online Playoffs!

Hearthstone Monthly Finals will be played on 30th of September @ 19:00! You can follow all of the action on our official channels:
YOUTUBE, FACEBOOK, TWITCH

Here are the players!

Monthly Finals will be played in double-elimination format which means that when a player loses two matches he is out of the tournament. All additional information can be found on the official page of the cup.

The prize pool for Monthly Finals is 150 Euros:
1. 75€ + Qualified for Online Playoffs
2. 50€ + Qualified for Online Playoffs
3. 25€ + Qualified for Online Playoffs
4. Qualified for Online Playoffs

Your host for the evening will be Stefan “Djuka93” Đukić, renowned player and streamer in our region.

reqvam: “I think winning a regional tournament carries special value.”

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Hearthstone players had probably the toughest schedule out of all competitors in the A1 Adria League this season. Six open qualifiers with over 40 signed up players for each one. Qualifiers played every couple of days and only the 8 of the best players with the highest amount of points advancing to the playoffs.

One player separated himself above the rest during the qualifiers – Franjo “reqvam” Blažević won two of the six qualifiers and placed in Top 4 in two others. He kept the good form going into the playoffs and won the whole thing in the end. He stayed true to his Mage deck all the way, and it didn’t disappoint him. We talked to reqvam after his big win.


1. What were your expectations heading into the A1 Adria League Season 3?

reqvam: “My expectations were high, to begin with. I entered the season with the goal of achieving a top 8 finish in points – I believed I could be consistent throughout the Qualifiers and achieve good overall results. The two wins were the icing on the cake and a great reward for solid play throughout the season.”

2. Why did you pick Conjurer Mage deck? Was that decision based on what are the other players bringing or just your preference?

reqvam: “The main reason for picking this Mage deck was plain and simple – I think it’s the best deck for the format. The deck just doesn’t have weaknesses that are exploitable enough to make it worthwhile for opponents to play “counters” decks such as OTK Paladin or Aggro Overload Shaman. On top of that, looking at the field in the Qualifiers (25% Warrior, 15-20% Rogue) the deck was simply the correct choice (a favored Warrior matchup, and a 50-50 Rogue matchup where I could also rely on outplay potential).”

“As far as the Playoffs were concerned, I took a look at the decks that other players played in previous qualifiers, and made the logical choice of playing Mage. Naturally, the fact that this Mage deck is the only deck I enjoy playing at the moment was an added benefit. But, of course, had I thought there was a better choice than Mage, I would not have hesitated in picking another class.”

3. What did you think of your competition? Were you hoping to avoid some of the decks because of the bad match-up or maybe even players?

reqvam: “The competition was good, there were a lot of good players in this year’s Playoffs. The ones I would single out are definitely LemyBiB and uberkaiser. I expected the three of us to be vying for the top 3 spots and it turned out just like that.”

“LemyBiB and I crossed paths in this season a total of 5 times, and the games were very close every time, so I wasn’t surprised at all to be facing him in the Finals. I would say he was the toughest opponent to beat. As far as dodging bad matchups is concerned, I wasn’t too worried about any decks because I didn’t find it likely to run into decks like OTK Paladin or Aggro Overload Shaman. Even then, I would say the matchups are at worst a 45% for Mage, and I was willing to take those odds.”

4. What does winning the A1 Adria League S3 mean to you?

reqvam: “Winning Season 3 of the A1 Adria League certainly means a great deal to me. I think winning a regional tournament carries special value, and when you add on the fact that it’s the biggest tournament I’ve won so far, that makes it all the sweeter.”

5. What’s next for you? Where can we see you competing in the near future?

reqvam: “The next bigger tournaments I will be participating in are Season 4 of the A1 Adria League and after that, I will be competing in Masters Tour Bucharest in October for which I qualified at the start of this month!”

6. So we’ll see you in the next season of A1 Adria League as well?

reqvam: “Of course! Hopefully, I’ll be able to defend the title!”

We wish reqvam all the best in future competitions. He certainly proved to be one of the best Hearthstone players in the Adriatic region!

Top 8 Hearthstone players enter the playoffs, but only one will be crowned the Season 3 champion

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The competition was fierce the cups tough but we have finally arrived at the stage where only the best 8 in the region remain!

The playoff stage will be played as a double elimination bracket, with all of the games being played out in bo3 series with the same specialist format.

The Hearthstone champion of Season 3 will be determined on:

BRACKET


PLAYOFF HS SEASON 3: 15.07.2019. 17:00 CEST

And all of us will be able to watch the show and cheer for your favorite team here:
YOUTUBE, FACEBOOK, and TWITCH.

LET US INTRODUCE OUR TOP 8 CONTENDERS FOR HEARTHSTONE PLAYOFFS

The first contender on our list is Franjo “Reqvam” Blažević, he managed to win not one but two of the 6 open cups, while also playing both times vs. LemyBiB and overcoming him the grand finals. Those two wins solidified his place on the leaderboard as the favorite of this season. Will he manage to stay on top faced with the other 7 players, the only thing left to do is watch and find out!

Miloš “LemyBiB” Milovanović who managed to get to the 2nd place not once not twice but 3 times with his trusty rogue (oh the irony). Does he have a score to settle with the guys who denied him the first place, oh yes he has!

Milan “Emerys” Pavičić, he was the one to open the Tournament as a whole since he managed to win the first open cup and also managed to almost win the 5th open cup as well where he finished 2nd which firmly secured his spot in the top 8 playoffs.

Nino “CG MagicZYYZA” Žižanovic our 4th contender for the title, a familiar face he was casting the last season grand finals in Zagreb, and he is a commendable foe as well not someone you should underestimate, he won the 5th open cup.

Saša “SaleSarma” Vrcelj and his steadfast warrior managed to win the 4th open qualifier and get their spot in the top 8 in the region, well deserved, the audience will be stuffed while watching him play, pun intended!

Uberkaiser a well-known player and streamer in the region, won several national tournaments, a well-experienced player with a lot up his sleeve, he didn’t manage to win any open cups but that won’t stop him from gunning at the first place in the playoffs!

Aleksandar “Wolf” Dimitrijević some would call him the bravest of all of the contenders the only one with a Murloc shaman deck, proving everyone that Mglrmglmglmg, well you get the point.

And last but not least Boris “D0nkey” Babić our last member of the elite 8, he managed to win the 2nd open cup, with his mech hunter, watch out here comes the boom!

GOOD LUCK AND HAVE FUN EVERYONE AND HAVE THE LUCK OF THE DRAW!

“May the odds be ever in your favor!” – Hunger Games


Hearthstone Season 3 – Last but certainly not the least!

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You thought we would let you down, jokes on you! We had a small setback but the season just wouldn’t be complete without Hearthstone! We are overjoyed to announce the last addition to the season, Hearthstone is here!

Last year Luka “Vulee” Vulović managed to overcome all of his opponents and earn the Title of Champion. Will you be the next one, do you have what it takes to challenge everyone and come out on top? Sign Up and show everyone what you are made of!

Who is eligible to compete?
Everyone is welcome to sign up for the tournament as long as they are coming from the Adria region. And one more Important thing signing up for the Tournament is Completely Free, therefore, what are you waiting for?

How do you qualify for the league and where can I sign up?

The 3rd season will work a bit similar to the last season, which means that there will be 6 open qualifiers in June and July, players will be gathering points by competing in them and the Top 8 players of all the open cups will qualify for the Playoff stage. The Cups will be played on the ESL platform as last year. To clarify a bit here are the Cups.

            June                                                                                            July
     23.6.2019. – Q1                                                                          03.7.2019. – Q4
      26.6.2019. – Q2                                                                          07.7.2019. – Q5
      30.6.2019. – Q3                                                                          10.7.2019. – Q6



How will the point system work for the open qualifiers?

The point system will be the same as last years, for those who didn’t compete last year here is the breakdown of it.

On each Open qualifiers Cup, you will be earning points depending on the round you managed to reach, so:

1st Place – 100 points and 20 Euros (Sounds good doesn’t it)
2nd Place – 75 Points
3rd Place – 60 Points
4th Place – 45 Points
5th-8th Place – 25 Points
9th-16th – 15 Points
17th-32th – 10 Points
33th – 64th – 5 Points
65th – 128th – 3 Points
129th – 256th – 1 Point

After all of the 6 Open Cups in June and July, the top 8 players with the most cumulative points will advance to the Playoff stage. The playoffs will be after the open Cups and the date will be determined soon. For those of you who are wondering yes if you won the 1st place on of the Open Cups, you are allowed to play the next one as well for the 100 points and for that sweet prize of 20 euros.

What will be the format of the Cups?

The format of the Season 3 will be “Specialist” which is the new mod that came out this year, where the player has to submit 3 decks of the same class. Which means that between the Primary deck (The deck which you must play your first game) only 5 cards can differ in your Secondary and Tertiary version of the deck. For more details about the format check the official Blizzard explanation for it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80JF8x6n3jc

You will also have to submit all of your 3 decks before every Cup, which you will be able to do by filling out this form: >>>Click Here<<<

All of the Open Qualifiers will be Single eliminations while the playoff stage for the top 8 players will be played as a Double elimination bracket.

What will be the prize pool of the 3rd Season?

In addition to the 20 euros you can win on every open Cup if you qualify for the Playoff stage you will get a chance to get on of the following prizes:

1. €500
2. €250
3. €150
4. €100

What will be streamed?

Only the playoff stage will be streamed, however, for all of you out there wondering you are permitted to stream your own POV while playing any of the open cups

If you are having troubles with signing up to the tournament, who can you contact?

For your convenience, our Admin Team is always vigilant and willing to help you out!
You can contact them here: Discord   or  ESL Platform

HS Interviews

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Time is slowly coming for the LAN finals of the A1 Adria League, but before we start talking about the finals themselves, let’s sit back and hear what the players have to say. Today we’re chatting with the LAN finalists of the Hearthstone tournament: Lavvek, PeraHs, Djuka93 and Vulee.

We’re extremely pleased that all of our players are happy with their playing this year, and every single one of them notes that they are satisfied with the way that they play. Of course, this comes as no surprise, considering they did get to the LAN after all. Still, PeraHS tells us that he is still a bit dissatisfied with a part of his game:

I still think I need to work on my patience more, and I have a constant feeling that I act and do things too fast.

Don’t we all, Pera, don’t we all.

Lavvek, on the other hand, tells us that he also needs to work a bit on his mental strength, citing his reactions after something bad happens in the game as a problem that he needs to fix before the LAN.

Things get a bit more interesting once you ask our finalists who they think the favorites for winning the LAN are. While Lavvek tells that he believes that Djuka and Pera are the ones to watch because they are veterans in the scene, every other player lists Lavvek as one of the biggest favorites. Vulee:

In my opinion, Lavvek is the best player in the region, so I think that he has the biggest chance of winning the LAN.

Djuka93 wasn’t acting modestly like Vule, telling us that he and Lavvek are his favorites for the LAN. A man knows his skills, we say.

Djuka also says that the thing he likes the most about the game of Hearthstone is the RNG, and that he has been playing since he stopped playing League of Legends a couple of years back. All the players have been playing for quite some time now, competing for a couple years in both regional tournaments, but also the bigger tournaments in Europe.

One of the things that our players disagree on is the amount of tournaments in the region. While Vulee tells us that there’s quite a bit of tournaments in the region lately, Lavvek thinks that there isn’t enough tournaments to go around. We wonder what’s the reasoning behind these opinions and will surely have a chat with the boys on the LAN to find out. The one thing that can surely be improved is the quality of the tournaments, adds PeraHS. He tells us that is the imperative if the region wants to catch up with the rest of the world anytime soon.

Our finalists are understandably quiet about their LAN tactics and preparations. PeraHS adopted a Spartan approach informing us that his tactics are a secret, while Djuka aims to be as calm as possible and risk it when the chances are even. Lavvek:

There are a few very important things. For me the most important of all is to stay calm when something bad happens. You need to be dedicated, calm and think about the game a lot.

We’ll surely be thinking about it a lot with the LAN fast approaching, and would like to wish the best of luck to our LAN finalists – let’s see who takes the grand prize! GG.