Kicked off in January 2022, ‘Esportz Premier Series, India’s Yearlong Esports Championship’ recently concluded its grand finale in Mumbai. It is the flagship IP of Esportz.IN, a esports, gaming, and media wing of Gig Work. The second edition had five gaming titles including VALORANT, Rocket League, Street Fighter V, Free Fire MAX, and Clash Royale. From open for all qualifiers, 98 of the top esports athletes advanced to the Grand Finale, which was held over four days from 3 to 6 January 2023. It’s the first esports LAN of 2023 and also the first one following the declaration that esports has been recognised by the Indian Government as “multi-sports”.
The event was supported by India’s first patented built-in massager backpack brand – EUME as the ‘Powered by’ sponsor, the beverage company Monster Energy as the ‘Official Energy Drink’ partner, Computer hardware manufacturer Cooler Master as the ‘Gaming’ partner, Peripherals manufacturer Rapoo as the ‘Peripheral’ partner, and Gaming hardware manufacturer ZOTAC Gaming as the ‘GPU’ partner.
Over the course of two days at the Grand Finale LAN of India’s Yearlong Epsorts Championship, attendees engaged throughout while enjoying action-packed matches by their favourite esports athletes on the Grand Stage, demonstrating the popularity of esports as spectator sports. In order to provide attendees and contestants with the best gaming experience possible, the event was managed by industry-leading event production and studios, including lighting, setup, design, audio, and equipment specialists. Every finalist made a spectacular entrance to the Grand Stage with a huge split-screen LED opening in the stage’s centre.
Additionally, visitors had access to the venue’s numerous gaming experience zones equipped with cutting-edge gaming consoles, PCs, virtual reality sets, and even racing simulators. Through multiple Meet & Greets across two days the fans got to know some of the most well-known figures in gaming and esports, including Xyaa, HyraFlick, Meow16K, SharkShee, Jimmy Gaming, Willy Gaming, Insane, Syrus, GyroGod, Ronak, Sasuke, Ignite, Shonty, RDX Rocky, Harsh, OG Sway, GodL Kamaljeet, MintyGal, GodL Langoti, Hydra Emperor, Hydra BTS, and others.
The Grand Finale also saw attendance from S8UL Sid Joshi, Kani Gaming, Dr. Rushindhra Sinha, Mohit Isanrey, Rite2Ace, S8UL Ankkita C, SK Rossi, OG Hades, SK Rossi, HellRanger, KappA, Assassins ARMY, and many others.
Capital Group director Santosh Smith said: “Throughout the yearlong cycle, we at esportz.in strived to cater the finest experience to the Indian Esports and Gaming Community, both online and offline. Esportz Premier Series Grand Finale was set as the inaugural LAN of 2023 and the first esports event since esports has been recognised by the Indian Government. We aimed to showcase the potential of esports as spectator sports throughout the year and the Grand Finale, and we want to thank the publishers, sponsors, players, fans, gamers, creators, and influencers for their support in making it a successful one while demonstrating the same.”
The first two days were held online, and the winners were Orangutan Elite for Free Fire MAX, Pineapple Cake for Rocket League, Jeferson Andrey Ortiz Rayo for Clash Royale, and Bhagwant ‘B3’ Singh Bagh for Street Fighter V, while the VALORANT was held on a LAN. Six teams from across India congregated in Mumbai: ROG Academy, Gods Reign, Revenant Esports (RNT), Lethal Esports (LE), Reckoning Esports (RGE), and Oh Bey (Enigma Gaming) to compete for the Yearlong Championship trophy.
VALORANT GRAND FINALE:
Revenant Esports are the Grand Champions of Esportz Premier Series VALORANT
- ROG Academy, one of the youngest new teams, faced up against one of the audience favourites Gods Reign featuring Simar “Psy” Sethi and company in the opening round. The result, a surprise 2-0 victory for ROG Academy, highlighted the core of the Esportz Premier Series as a platform for amateurs, professionals, and beginners alike—a place where anybody can go pro in esports.
- With players from Velocity Gaming and Enigma Gaming joining forces, Oh Bey was one of the event’s star-studded rosters and was regarded as one of the dream teams of Indian VALORANT to ever exist: Excali, HellFF, DeathMaker, Antidote, RVK, and HellFF, with LordBathura as their Coach. Although, with no proven history of this powerhouse line-up together on paper but carrying such firepower, they performed as anticipated and sent Reckoning Esports home 2-0 in the Quarter Finals. However, in their following round, they suffered a 2-1 loss against tournament favourites Revenant Esports, which secured RNT a Grand Finale berth.
- Lethal Esports had a clean run with 2-0 in Quarter Finals against ROG Academy and locked their slot as well to face Revenant Esports in the BO5 Grand Finale.
- With BO5 on the hand and RNT appearing to have the odds in their favour, Lethal Esports players stepped up big time individually, bringing the first Map of Pearl itself to overtime and securing in favour.
- RNT immediately responded, winning the following two maps, Icebox and Haven, to take a 2-1 lead in the Series.
- While it appeared like RNT had the advantage in the moment and may win the series, Lethal immediately stepped up with Kheltuzad of LE sensing the situation and making moves. Giving everyone a decider Map 5 of Breeze.
- JoshS and Paradox of RNT both brought their A games on the final map, and although it was a close match, RNT managed to defeat Lethal Esports 13-10. Ultimately, the RNT roster comprising of Whimp, Blackhawk, Paradox, Ching, and Josh won the Esportz Premier Series Grand Finale with a 3-2 victory series victory.
The Finals’ boisterous LAN crowd cheers for Lethal Esports and Revenant Esports turned out to be the most encouraging part of the finale. Fans continued to support their favourite teams and players as the maps advanced to the pivotal stage in the Best of Five championship, feeling a spectrum of nerve-racking as well as exhilarating emotions.
The gaming entertainment elements of the Grand Finale were completed by two Influencer showdowns featuring some of the most well-known creators. The victors of the Esportz Premier Series Grand Finale for Free Fire MAX, Orangutan Elite fielding Jonty, OldMonk, Pahadi Gaming, Mr.Jay, and Duker, also received the Yearlong Championship trophy on the Grand Stage.