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A look back – The history of the A1 Adria League

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In May of 2017, the Vip Adria League was announced. Since then we’ve crowned many champions, and seen many changes, whether it was name, format, games, or basically everything else. Five years later, as we are in the middle of the qualifiers for the tenth season of the League it’s time to take a look back.

Vip Adria League (2017.)

It all started in Spring 2017. with the announcement of the biggest regional esports league to date. Back then, there was only one season of the League throughout the year. Competitive integrity standards were set high with the open qualifiers and the group stage leading to the LAN finals. Three games were chosen to be a part of the League: League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and FIFA.

Reboot InfoGamer 2017 hosted the first ever Vip Adria League LAN finals in front of a live audience. Over the course of several days, fans had the opportunity to enjoy watching the best players and teams from all over the region competing for the prestigious title. Valiance&CO outplayed Squared Esports in the finals of the CS:GO. KilkTech reigned supreme in the League of Legends and another KilkTech player, Edinho, lifted the trophy in FIFA. It was a great year for KlikTech since they had representatives in all three games, and managed to win the title in two of them. It was hard to predict back then where it will all end up.

The new name (2018)

Year after the league got its new name. Vip Adria League became A1 Adria League in 2018. There were also some other significant changes. Hearthstone and Clash Royale were added to the mix to complement the CS:GO and League of Legends. Generally, the format stayed the same, and all four games had their spotlight during the LAN finals at Reboot InfoGamer 2018. Four years ago, adding a mobile game to the esports league was not as standard as it is today. Mobile gaming was growing really fast and with it the whole esports surrounding it. Still, it was pretty undeveloped if we’re comparing it with today’s standards.

Valiance&CO again proved to be by far the best regional CS:GO team, securing their second title and going on to compete on the biggest stages in the world. Along with the trophy came the invitation to the closed qualifier for the Bucharest Gaming Week. Unfortunately, regional representatives finished 3rd/4th, and Sprout went on to compete in Romania. ASUS ROG ELITE came from the biggest regional success in history after securing Top 4 placement in the European Masters 2018 Summer and claimed the trophy in League of Legends. Luka “vulee” Vulović became the best Hearthstone player in the region. Saša “SaSaa” Mišković won the first ever Clash Royale trophy in the history of the A1 Adria League.

The dual seasons

2019 was the first year in which we had two seasons of the A1 Adria League in one calendar year. Season 3 & Season 4. The concept was a bit different and the season were connected. Dota 2 was added to the League for the first time instead of League of Legends. CS:GO, Hearthstone,and Clash Royale remained a part of the League. Season 3 was played online, while Season 4 had full LAN finals at Reboot InfoGamer 2019. Only Nikola managed to win both seasons in Clash Royale. Not a single team or a player in other games managed to win both seasons. In the end, Level Up won in Dota 2. ex-BLUEJAYS were the best CS:GO team while Paljuha won the trophy in Hearthstone.

A1 Adria League Season 4

A1 Adria League Season 5 & 6

At the beginning of 2022 the COVID-19 pandemic started. Now it seems like it was a lifetime ago. FIFA 20 was introduced back to the League replacing Dota 2 and Brawl Stars jumped in instead of Hearthstone. The pandemic also meant we had to switch from LAN events to online events. The finals of the A1 Adria League were played during the Reboot Online Games Week ever since. In 2020 some interesting storylines took off. lvlUp proved to be the best CS:GO team in the region that year by winning both seasons. Crushers won Season 5 in Clash Royale, while Joza Esports won Season 6. Good Game dominated in Brawl Stars by securing second place in the spring season and then having both teams in the finals of Season 6. One of the biggest rivalries in the A1 Adria League kicked off that year with esad1memic winning the first FIFA trophy of the year and amke claiming the second one.

The return of the League of Legends

Since there was no more LAN finals at the end of the year for Season 7 and Season 8 the prize pool was redistributed so both seasons are worth the same. League of Legends came back to the League while Clash Royale took a break. While we had various winners in all the games: ONYX & PORTUGAL in CS:GO, Split Raiders & METAMOON in League of Legends, Noble Elite BLK & Flow in Brawl Stars, amke continued his streak and won both seasons in FIFA. Making it a three in a row for the first time in any game in the history of the League. Again, all the finals were played during the Reboot Online Games Week. The pandemic was still bringing havoc and it wasn’t possible to organize the LAN finals.

Where are we now?

Season 9 finished several months ago. Again, during the Reboot Online Games Week. This year seven different games were introduced to the League. CS:GO, FIFA, and Brawl Stars remained in their format, while four remaining games were played in qualifiers and playoffs format. BLUEJAYS claimed another CS:GO trophy. Salada de Frutas dominated in Clash Royale and went on to win second place at the Clash of Leagues in Salzburg. Amke made it four in a row in FIFA. DZANGLERI won the League of Legends tournament, Entropiq was the best PUBG Battlegrounds team. Balkan Stars beat Diamant Esports to claim the first ever A1 Adria League trophy in VALORANT.

Qualifiers for the tenth season of the A1 Adria League are being played right now. There is still a chance for everyone to secure their spot on the group stage. How will Season 10 of the A1 Adria League end, and how? You’ll just have to wait a bit more and find out. Meanwhile, check the qualifiers for all the games on the official page. If you want to check the full history of the A1 Adria League you can do that by visiting the History page.

GOOD IS NOT ENOUGH; beat the best in the 8th season of A1 Adria League!

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The summer break is slowly coming to an end which means that it is time to announce the new season of the A1 Adria League. Players from all over the region have had plenty of time to improve their skills, work on teamplay, fix their previous mistakes, and prepare for the beginning of Season 8. The game roster remains the same – CS:GO, League of Legends, Brawl Stars, and FIFA will be available to the regional esport athletes in the following months, whether to participate in the league or just follow the action. A1 Adria League is slowly becoming a pillar of the regional Brawl Stars scene, while FIFA is bigger than ever. CS:GO keeps impressing us time and time again and will be featured for the eighth time this season, while League of Legends’ re-introduction to the A1 Adria League made us remember older memories and eagerly expect the upcoming two seasons.

Dimitrije “DiMKE” Veljković has become the undisputed regional CS:GO champion for the fourth time in a row. Split Raiders were on another level and dominated the competition in League of Legends. Tarik “amke2001” Novo was crowned the back-to-back FIFA champion, and last, but most certainly not least, one of the Noble Elite teams, BLK, outplayed the Brawl Stars teams.

Brawl Stars

With small differences compared to the previous season, Brawl Stars is back once again. We keep stating how Brawl Stars is growing in the region day by day, and that has never been more true than right now. There are enormous amounts of teams playing and competing to reach the next competitive level. A1 Adria League is here to help the players in their journey, as seen recently with the Clash of Leagues where we sent two regional teams to the prestigious tournament.

Two more qualifiers will be added to the qualifying stage of the eighth season. With the total number now being six, teams will have more chances to earn points and qualify for the SWISS stage. Once again, we are featuring a BO5/BO3 SWISS stage which will guarantee that only the very best teams make it through to the double-elimination playoffs.

The 16 best teams of every cup will earn points which will be split in the following manner:

First place – 100 points
Second place – 70 points
Third and fourth place – 50 points
Fifth to eight place – 20 points
Ninth to sixteenth place – 10 points

You can play Brawl Stars and be a part of the A1 Adria League by signing up on the following LINK!

Brawl Stars Prize pool

FIFA

Just like Season 5, this season’s FIFA league will take place during the usual transitional period for the franchise. Regional FIFA players will play a similar format as Supercell’s Brawl Stars. This has been an exciting year for the regional scene which has had plenty of tournaments so far, and we are sure that the players have prepared well for the eighth A1 Adria League season.

The five open qualifiers will boast a BO2 single elimination bracket with the semifinal and final matches being BO3. After the qualifiers come to an end, the SWISS league participants will transition to FIFA22. The new FIFA22 will be the home of the A1 Adria League during the SWISS stage (BO3) and the playoffs of the league (double-elimination BO3).

Depending on their results, the top 16 players will receive points after every qualifier comes to an end:

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

You can play FIFA and be a part of the A1 Adria League by signing up on the following LINK!

FIFA Prize pool

Who will become the first FIFA22 A1 Adria League champion?

CS:GO

CS:GO is back yet again! The domination of Dimitrije “DiMKE” Veljković’s teams continued into 2021 and culminated with their victory in the seventh season. But after the season came to an end, a number of teams, most notably 4glory, Marten Gaming, AIRLYA (ex-Good Game), and anlaki have been playing and winning on the regional scene. An interesting season is certainly before us and the time to sign up and be a part of it is NOW!

Besides the two invited teams, six squads will participate in the eight CS:GO season of the A1 Adria League. The top eight teams of the open qualifier will play in the closed qualifier which will give out three spots in the League. The same format will repeat once again, for the second pair of qualifiers. Six qualified and two invited teams will then play a BO3 SWISS stage and fight for four spots in the single-elimination BO3 playoffs.

You can play CS:GO and be a part of the A1 Adria League by signing up on the following LINK!

CS:GO Prize pool

With four in a row, can DiMKE & co. make it five or will a new team step up to the challenge?

League of Legends

Probably the biggest format change in the new season will happen in League of Legend’s format. Instead of the Season 7 format which featured national qualifiers and playoffs before reaching the regional playoff stage, this season we will have a simpler format. Regional League of Legends teams will play a total of four qualifiers during which will start a bit later than the other qualifiers.

Two teams from every qualifier will advance directly to the regional playoffs. Here, a double-elimination BO3 bracket will reveal the two teams that will clash in the grand BO5 final of the League. Split Raiders won the comeback season last time, and now is your time to take their title away! Sign up and become the new A1 Adria League LoL champion.

You can play League of Legends and be a part of the A1 Adria League by signing up on the following LINK!

LOL Prize pool

While you are waiting for the beginning of the new season, you can spend your time watching Clash of Leagues – an international Brawl Stars tournament that has gone into its final stage with one team from A1 Adria League, Noble Elite. As always, you can follow the Clash of Leagues action on all our channels (YouTube, Twitch, Trovo, Facebook), and those are the same channels that you will be featured on if you decide to become a part of the A1 Adria League. Good luck, and see you in the online arenas!

The seventh A1 Adria League season wraps up!

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The end of the final CS:GO playday marked the end of yet another A1 Adria League season as well as the second Reboot Online Games Week.

Reboot Online Games Week once again offered over 150 hours of gaming-related content to fans all around the region. From My Story and Panel to the live streams and the A1 Adria League finals, we couldn’t really ask for more during the last week. Wednesday was dedicated to the Brawl Stars teams, FIFA’s players entered the stadiums on Thursday and Friday, and League of Legends completed its comeback on Saturday. Sunday was the climax of a two-month-long CS:GO journey, as well as the end of this, seventh, iteration of the League.

Brawl Stars

Our Brawlers clashed on Wednesday. Noble Elite BLK and Point Gaming (ex-Lil Surprise) entered the arena first as the first semifinal match started. BLK’s victory sent Point Gaming to the lower bracket and they were later joined by Mayoi, who couldn’t defeat Noble Elite Red. The elimination match saw Mayoi lose to the aforementioned opponents, while the upper-bracket finals ended with a Noble Elite BLK win. The losers of this match, Red, bounced back against Point Gaming and returned to the finals, only to be defeated once again by the organization’s BLK team.

The top four Brawl Stars teams:

1. rs Noble Elite BLK – 900€
2. hr Noble Elite Red – 600€
3. hr Point Gaming – 300€
4. rs Mayoi – 200€

FIFA21

Unlike the other three titles, FIFA’s finals were played out in the span of two days. During Thursday and Friday, we watched the four remaining players battle it out until the very end. Miloš “brstimir” Majdevac, Tarik “amke2001” Novo, Filip “FIFAFICO” Babić and Esad “NKOS_esad1memic” Memić played took part in the playoffs which featured a double-elimination bracket. In the end, amke2001 succeeded in defending his title and becoming the back-to-back regional FIFA champion.

The top four FIFA players:

1. amke2001 – 750€
2. rs brstimir – 500€
3. NKOS_esad1memic – 300€
4. hr FIFAFICO – 200€

League of Legends

They did it! Split Raiders were once again merciless and finished the League of Legends grand finals without losing a map (3-0). Before that match took place though, Harmony and Fiko Izdaja went at it in the lower bracket finals. There, Harmony outplayed their opponents and secured a rematch against Split Raiders. As mentioned above, Split Raiders dominated the final match and won the main prize of 1.600€!

The top four League of Legends teams:

1. hr Split Raiders – 1.600€
2. Harmony – 1.200€
3. hr Fiko Izdaja – 800€
4. rs Placeholder – 400€

CS:GO

One more CS:GO season is behind us! It seems that it has become a tradition to host an amazing season and in the end, crown the ONYX core as the returning champions. With yesterday’s triumph, Dimitrije “DiMKE” Veljković and Aleksa “Impulse” Stankić have been the A1 Adria League champions four times. Aleksa did it in seasons 2, 5, 6, and 7, while DiMKE did it in four consecutive seasons, starting from season 4. The runners-up for the season are PORTUGAL, Good Game came in third, and 4glory are fourth

The top four CS:GO teams:

1. rs ONYX – 2.000€
2. PORTUGAL – 1.500€
3. Good Game – 1.000€
4. rs 4glory – 500€

 

Good Game and PORTUGAL join ONYX in the playoffs!

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After a technical win and one great victory by PORTUGAL, we now know two more teams that will play the CS:GO playoffs besides the current champions, ONYX.

Good Game and Midnight were supposed to play a BO3 on Mirage, Vertigo, and Dust2, respectively. While Good Game certainly had the role of favorites, their victory came because of a different reason. Namely, Ivan “R1teks” Tokai had electricity problems and wasn’t able to continue playing after the first three rounds of Mirage were played out. His team couldn’t find a suitable substitute on time so the victory went the way of Good Game.

4glory and PORTUGAL played two intense maps that saw the latter outplay the Serbian squad and qualify for this season’s playoffs stage. The first map, Dust 2, went to overtime since the teams finished the regular part of the match 15-15. In the only overtime played, PORTUGAL managed to win the four required rounds and consecutively, the whole map. Next up was Nuke, which once again was played until the very end, but this time, PORTUGAL squeezed past some important rounds and won the map 16-14.

Watch this CS: GO playday below:

Check out the current CS:GO standings HERE!

Cobalt Esports eliminate Onlinerss from the seventh season!

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In the only match of this CS:GO Round 4 playday, we watched Cobalt Esports take on Onlinerss and eliminate them after only two maps.

This match started on Inferno. It was an easy game for Cobalt Esports who outplayed the current CS:GO BIH League champions with a dominant 16:7 final result. Right after Inferno, Train was the map that the audience was looking at. It was a much more exciting map than Inferno as both teams had their moments and showed some great tactics on the now-removed Active Duty map. However, Marko “Maki” Mijatović and Cobalt once again reigned supreme and closed out the BO3 with a 16:12 victory. This loss meant elimination for Onlinerss, while Cobalt Esports will fight for their last chance at making the playoffs in the next round.

Watch this short CS:GO playday below:

Check out the current CS:GO standings HERE!

 

ONYX qualify for this season’s CS:GO playoffs!

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The end of the third round for CS:GO saw the reigning champions earn their spot in the playoffs in the derby versus 4glory.

Two matches marked the end of yet another CS:GO round in which we got our first qualified side. ONYX have been dealing with internal problems and recently did massive changes to their roster, but the squad managed to win their match against 4glory even with their old team. Vladyslav “⁠bondik⁠” Nechyporchuk and Dmitriy “⁠jR⁠” Chervak – two experienced veterans joined the team’s lineup today as a change to an international team was announced. As far as the match goes, it went  to three maps – 4glory got Inferno and ONYX responded with two wins on Train and Mirage, respectively.

Match two ended a bit quicker than the first one as only two maps were played out. Cobalt Esports and Good Game were a part of the 1-1 pool before the third round. While it wasn’t a decider match, this result managed to shape the incoming rounds in a different way. Namely, Good Game, who were considered favorites by most won the match after only two rounds and locked in their second victory in the seventh A1 Adria League season. Cobalt Esports, on the other side, now reside in the 1-2 pool together with Onlinerss and Midnight.

Watch the final matches of the third round here:

Check out the CS:GO standings HERE!

Fullshock are the first eliminated CS:GO team!

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The first playday of Round 3 is done for CS:GO, and after the two matches concluded, it is now known that Fullshock are the first team to leave this season of the A1 Adria League.

Firstly, Midnight and PORTUGAL played their parts of the 1-1 team pool. We expected a great BO3 series and the match certainly didn’t fail to disappoint. Train went to overtime, and in the end, Midnight triumphed on it. Then, PORTUGAL overcame the map disadvantage and came back to win the entire game. Mirage went 16-11 in their favor and finally, Andrej “Necrogenes1s” Mancheski’s team closed out the match on Inferno (16-9).

Match 2 started out exactly the same. Onlinerss and Fullshock were both on the brink of elimination and they couldn’t let map one slip from either’s fingers – Train, Onlinerss’ map pick, went to overtime and finished in favor of their opponents, the Croatian Fullshock squad. In the end, the BIH League Season 3 champions came back and eliminated Fullshock.

You can rewatch the beginning of the third SWISS round here:

The CS:GO rankings can be checked out HERE!

ONYX and 4glory are a win away from the playoffs!

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The final playday of the second CS:GO round ended with three matches and three new winners – ONYX, Midnight, and 4glory.

Due to ONYX rescheduling their match from the first Round 2 playday, this Sunday featured three CS:GO matches. PORTUGAL and ONYX started the CS:GO marathon on Train where the current champions were able to secure an easy 16:08 win. PORTUGAL’s map pick, Dust 2, was a different story, but with the same ending. Both teams showed some great Counter-Strike, and the map went to overtime. ONYX didn’t let the pressure get to them and were able to close out the map and the match in the first overtime.

Right after the first match came to an end, Midnight and Onlinerss entered the server to fight for their first win. The first two maps were the same as in the previous match, with Onlinerss winning Train. Jasin “connex” Memedi carried his team Midnight through Dust 2 with an amazing performance with the AWP. The decider was Mirage which was ended after 29 rounds. Midnight were the team that came out as the winners in the very end and sent Onlinerss to the bottom of the scoreboard.

4glory and Good Game played a marathon on their own. 4glory won Good Game’s map pick, Mirage, with a 16:07 end result, but the match got heated in the next maps. The Macedonian squad fought very hard and finally won Train with a 16:13 score, sending the match to the decider, Nuke. Nuke went to all 30 rounds and was intense until the very last minute. The teams were constantly changing the lead, but in the end, Luka “c0llins” Živanović and 4glory were the team that won the 16th regulation round.

This second round CS:GO marathon can be (re)watched below:

Check the current CS:GO Standings HERE.

This week in A1AL: Second round is drawing to a close!

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Two FIFA and Brawl Stars and three CS:GO matches remain until the end of the second SWISS round. The teams are slowly gaining the lead in the group stage and are fighting for their spot in the playoffs.

Brawl Stars

As always, the opening game for our A1 Adria League week is Brawl Stars. First up is the duel between Lil Surprise and Mayoi – a match that will decide who joins Noble Elite BLK in the 2-0 pool. Mayoi managed to get here with a win against Omerta, while Lil Surprise beat a weakened 09 Gang in the first round.

When the first duel concludes, Noble Elite Red and QSKE will enter the arena to fight for their first win. As QSKE Gaming forfeited their last match, this will be the first time we are seeing them in this season of the A1 Adria League. Noble Elite Red are still recovering from their defeat versus Tora Gold which sent them to the 0-1 pool. After this match, one of the teams will join 09 Gang in the 0-2 pool, while the other one will hold their spot in the middle of the standings.

Brawl Stars Round 2-2

FIFA

Friday, FIFA day! The only Slovenian player in this season, Leon “Sardinho213” Sardi will face Armin “Arminho0307” Hasanbegović in the first match. Arminho barely lost his match in the previous round and will be looking to fix his mistake versus Sardinho. Sardinho, on the other hand, was demolished by amke2001 6-1 which really isn’t a great start of the season. Though we are still early on and there are plenty of chances for the Slovenian FIFA player to redeem himself, his first being on Friday versus Arminho.

Marko “Klaic” Klaić and Emir “Sulja” Suljović – a clash between the new players. Each of them won one of the qualifying cups despite facing great competition from the whole region, but their start wasn’t the best and they are now looking to get their first victory. Sulja fell to brstimir and klaic wasn’t able to defeat FIFAFICO. After Friday ends, one of them will be playing in the 0-2 pool, while the second one will join FIFAFICO, esad1memic and the Sardinho/Arminho winner with 1-1.

FIFA Round 2-2

CS:GO

ONYX weren’t able to compete on Sunday so the match was rescheduled for the next playday. That means that we will be watching three great CS:GO matches on Sunday, with ONYX opening up the fourth playday at 14 o’clock. Their opponents will be PORTUGAL.

When that match concludes, Midnight will take on Onliners in our second BO3 of the day. Both teams are new to the League and haven’t met each other yet, which means that the match will be even more interesting than usual. To end the day, 4glory will face Good Game – a match between two of the favorites for this season of A1 Adria League.

Cobalt Esports outplay Fullshock in the only Sunday duel!

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A short CS:GO playday on Sunday was concluded with Cobalt Esports‘ victory over their Croatian opponents, Fullshock. The match between PORTUGAL and ONYX that should have been played yesterday will be played next Sunday, along with the last two matches of the second SWISS round.

Cobalt Esports and Fullshock played only two maps in which the former was the dominant team that managed to secure their first SWISS win. The Best of 3 match started out on Inferno, Fullshock’s map pick. Even though Krunoslav “Salted” Katalinić & co. picked the map, Cobalt made them regret it and won Inferno 16-06. The game concluded on the second map, Dust 2. Contrary to Inferno, Fullshock showed some resistance and won a total of 12 rounds on the second map, but Cobalt’s stellar performance won them the second map and the whole match. This victory puts Cobalt in the 1-1 pool, while Fullshock are just a step away from elimination at 0-2.

The short Sunday CS:GO stream can be (re)watched below:

The second round CS:GO standings are available HERE.