AXIE SEA LEAGUE — The First-Ever Axie Esports International Tournament hosted by BLYTZ ESPORTS
One of the biggest takeaways in Axie Infinity this year is the launch of Axie Esports 2021. With a total of 31 Esports events occurring all over the globe with 5560 AXS (Worth around USD$370,000 at the time) spread across all events, the Axie community was turned upside down with multiple competitions and tournaments which sprouted competitive gaming in the gaming community. One such event placed itself in the limelight out of nowhere and created history in Axie Infinity was a guild named Blytz Esports.
Being the first-ever National League to be introduced in Axie Infinity, Blytz Esports, originating from Singapore, partnered up with VN Esports to host a one and only double-elimination tournament between 4 players each from both Blytz Esports and VN Esports spanning across 2 days from September 18 to 19 with a prize pool of over USD$6,000. Moreover, an interesting concept was also established in this Axie SEA League was to have all participating players earn a portion of the prize pool, with the first place winner earning the most. Such a concept was commented by one of the organizers as “A way where everybody wins” which contributes to the fact that all players participating dedicating their time and effort to win the tournament. Another interesting concept was the implementation of a dual video cam combination showing both players and commentators in the tournament which offered entertaining reactions.
Commentated and hosted by Blytz Esports, the tournament kicked off with all players from each side battling one another with their respective axies and each battle left the audience with shock and wanting more as both Blytz Esports and VN Esports showed their unique axie lineups. With both days lasting 4–5 hours, one can only hold Blytz Esports with praise for organizing and commentating the event with such enthusiasm and dedication, even for a guild that is 1–2 months old with little to no experience in hosting an Esports tournament in this scale. Some areas of improvement would be to better organize the sequence of the stream of the tournament as transitions are relative slow and at some occasions the commentators would remain muted for minutes before the team realizes they are muted.
A good phrase of the players battling it off in the tournament would be “shock and awe” as both sides in each battle has at least come up on top in one match through unexpected variables such as critical hits or a whole change in axie lineup.
Finalist
Kevin | VN Esports Vs Tien | VN Esports
Witnessing one of the greatest comebacks ever done in Axie Esports was the Finals battle between two VN Esports members, Kevin and Tien, as both of them battled it out in the Semi-Finals of the winners bracket in the first day for which Kevin lost out in a 3–1 with Tien securing spot in the finals. However, it was not over for Kevin for as the second day in the losers bracket he won out and deserved a second chance in a BO5 scenario with Tien with which Kevin won 3–0. The battle was definitely a mentally taxing one with both sides showing complete focus in each round without giving any leeway to either side.
Congratulations to the winners of the Axie SEA League! It was an entertaining roller coaster of underrated content with lots of twists and turns and that really sold the audience to stay and continue watching the stream and cheer on the players. One can only hope Blytz Esports will make a return in the Esports scene with a much improved and matured team as their potential in being the next Esports content creator has not been reached. Also in inclusion of being the first National League for Axie infinity, a great milestone has been set in the history books and one can only hope to see more national leagues all over the globe for Axie Infinity. Hope to see more soon!
