Posts

A look back – The history of the A1 Adria League

/0 Comments/in , , /by

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.

Hearthstone LAN Finals

/0 Comments/in , , /by

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


A1 Adria League Season 4 LAN Finals Schedule

/0 Comments/in /by

Clash Royale – 15.11.2019.

Single-elimination bracket, all matches Bo5

11:00 ConeKorleone vs. tomoismaster
11:45 Nikola vs. BrunoBlaze
12:30 Third place match
13:30 Grand Finals

Hearthstone – 15.11.2019.

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

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive – 16.11.2019.

Single-elimination bracket, all matches Bo3.
Check it out on HLTV.org: https://www.hltv.org/events/4986/a1-adria-league-season-4-finals

10:00 BLUEJAYS vs. Vilay eSport
13:10 uNiQUE.Xportal vs. Jeste
16:30 Grand finals

Dota 2 – 17.11.2019.

Double-elimination bracket, Grand Finals Bo3.

10:00 LVLUP vs. The Last Jedis
11:30 Tim123 vs. Team Serbia
13:00 Upper bracket finals
14:30 Lower bracket finals
16:30 Grand finals (Bo3)

Sign up for Hearthstone open qualifiers for October

/0 Comments/in /by

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

/0 Comments/in , /by

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

/0 Comments/in , /by

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.

The best teams and players will battle for the largest prize yet – 24.000 Euros of prize money, glory and a qualifying spot to follow-up international esports tournaments

/0 Comments/in /by

SEASON 4 OF A1 ADRIA LEAGUE POWERED BY ESL WILL CULMINATE AT INFOGAMER REBOOT IN ZAGREB – THE LARGEST REGIONAL GAMING FAIR 

The best teams and individual competitors will battle for the largest prize yet – 24.000 Euros of prizemoney, glory and a chance to qualify for the ESL Pro.

Zagreb, August 08, 2019 – Starting now, A1 Adria League powered by ESL will welcome the best teams and individuals to its open qualifiers in CS:GO, DOTA 2, Clash Royale and Hearthstone. The winners of the qualifiers will be joining the winning CS:GO and DOTA 2 teams from season 3. 

In Season 3 of A1 Adria League, which was held entirely online, we have witnessed some great competition between the best gamers in the region.
SENER1, from team uNiQUE, after winning the CS:GO Tournament in  Season 3 shared with us: “It means the world to me and my team that we have chances to prove ourselves even more. It is a great opportunity for us.”

UNIQUESENER1


Team uNIQUE not only won Season 3 and thus securing themselves a place in Season 4 of A1 Adria League, but also won the chance to compete in the ESL Pre-Climber cup, which is a stepping stone towards the ESL PRO League, the highest tier of CS:GO competition globally. 

In Season 4 the stakes are even higher – larger prizepool, live finals at the most prestigious gaming fair in the region – InfoGamer Reboot and a follow-up story for the winners.

Qualifiers on all 4 games are open for participation and fully online, meaning anyone who has the necessary age for the game can participate and feel the magical thrill of esports.
The first qualifiers start on August 17, 2019 and more information can be found here (CS:GO, Dota 2)

We, at A1 Adria League powered by ESL are very happy to have witnessed the fast growth of the local esports scene. When we started less than 3 years ago we have defined that the goal of A1 Adria League is to foster the growth of the local esports scene by offering a proving grounds for the local competitors and an entertaining show for the esports fans.

Today, we see ex-participants in A1 Adria League competing at the largest esports forums globally. A1 Adria League season 1 and 2 CS:GO winners – Valiance&CO, now called CR4ZY are playing at the StarLadder & i-League Berlin CS:GO Major in just a few weeks and now Sacre, the League of Legends MVP of season 1 is playing for team SK Gaming in the most prestigious League of Legends competition – LEC.

Valiance&CO (now CR4ZY) S2 A1 Adria League

For Season 4 of A1 Adria League, some of the best esports experts and talents will be hosting the live show from a studio in Belgrade. More than 260 hours of unique, live esports content will be available to the fans.

Overview of Season 4 of A1 Adria League Powered by ESL

Games: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Dota 2, Clash Royale, Hearthstone
Qualifier dates:
CS:GO 17.8. – 25.8.
Dota 2 17.8. – 24.8.
Clash Royale 7.9. – 28.9. / 5.10. – 26.10.
Hearthstone 7.9. – 28.9. / 5.10. – 26.10.

Prize money distribution:
Per PC game (CS:GO/Dota2)
1. 5000€
2. 3000€
3. 1500€
4. 500€

Per mobile game(CR/HS)
Weekly qualifier (20€ each)
Monthly qualifier (150€ each)
1. 800€
2. 400€
3. 200€
4. 100€

Date and location of finals:

Reboot InfoGamer, Zagreb, Croatia

Clash Royale – 15.11.2019

Hearthstone – 15.11.2019

CS:GO – 16.11.2019

Dota2 – 17.11.2019

Website: a1adrialeague.com

Social media:

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

/0 Comments/in , /by

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

/0 Comments/in , /by

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