Where have they been?
After 5 months since Axie Sea League, Blytz Esports has grown exponentially with its success in September. New members joining and being officially recognized by Axie Infinity has made Blytz Esports very busy. It was clear that the first National Tournament for Axie Esports has positively impacted our newcomers to Axie Esports. With their success and newfound confidence, Blytz Esports has been waiting for another opportunity to bring themselves to new heights.
That opportunity came knocking with the announcement of Blytz Esports’ sequel launch, Axie Open League. Coming in two seasons, with the first being held on March 17–19th and the second in the coming June, Axie Open League is Blytz Esports’ first attempt at a global tournament. With a total of 256 players, players will face off one another in a series of BO3 matches for 5 rounds and BO5 matches for the remaining top 8. Continuing their motto of “All Winners, No losers”, Blytz Esports has implemented their theme into their sequel event by rewarding all players, who did not make it to the top 8, with consolation prizes of AXS.
New Year, Higher Ambitions
Axie Open League is Blytz Esports’ ambitions personified. Comprised of a large Single-Elimination Tournament bracket. 256 players from all over the globe, from all kinds of guilds ranging from YGG to Buoz.GG, battle it out for a prize pool of 40 AXS (currently valued at USD$2890). This is Blytz Esports’ first ever attempt on the global scene. Being a Tier 1 event, there were a lot of expectations and anticipation for Season 1 and it is clear Blytz Esports intends to meet every demand.
“Axie SEA League was so much fun. It was draining, of course, but when I heard of Axie Infinity’s new 2022 grant, I immediately relayed the information to the team. It was almost unanimous at how we were all for a much bigger better event.” replied Kyozzy, Head of Operations and Esports Logistics.
Season 1 kicked off with 256 players jumping in to fight amongst one another in one round, with winners making their way to the top 8 in 3 short consecutive days. Commented by Blytz Esports themselves with different streamers and players of the tournament streaming their content the event, the event was an interesting change compared to Axie SEA League with more players, more unique Axie teams, and a whole new set of casters for the event. It was clear that Blytz Esports have made new improvements and learned new techniques such as better transitions, new overlays, and better commentators and coordination for viewers. However, while there were many great improvements, there were many backend problems and complaints which cause many administrative issues on Blytz Esports’ end. Some complaints include timing delays, players’ brackets being confusing; and overcomplicated ways of the event.
A good summary of this event would be “trial by fire”. The event was great and entertaining for the viewers but there were many new issues behind the scenes, mainly at the end of the operations. Although, It does come off in a good way for Blytz Esports to experience what they are lacking before Season 2 as this is their first global event. All was not lost though as Blytz Esports did make a comeback later in days 2 and 3 as operations became easier with lesser players to manage.
It was still an amazing event watching famous Esports members such as YGG’s Esports players, Sequinox and BigGabbie, and one of Axie’s Top players, Kousei from Chosen Ones paving their paths to the top 8 in the Brackets.
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Finalists
Biggabbie | YGG vs BS | jun2x
Easily the most entertaining match ever displayed on Blytz Esports. The battle between Biggabbie and Jun2x left every player and viewer watching their match to the edge of their seats with both players inching closer to their win with insane axie plays and with every round, both players will change their teams to counter one another. Both players had different playstyles and countered each other with axie class differences and card actions complementing one another. With such skills and differing plays, it was clear that both players were evenly matched.
It all came down to the 4th round with Biggabbie in the lead with one more point to win. Both players drew closer and closer to eliminating axies down to a 1v1 between Biggabbie’s bird Axie and Jun2x’s Aquatic Axie with Jun2x gaining the advantage in speed and starting first in the final round. It looked hopeless for Biggabbie’s slower bird Axie when it happened. Jun2x’s Aquatic Axie launched all its action cards to Biggabbie and an overwhelming number of damage points logically could have caused Biggabbie’s loss, but amongst all odds, the bird dubbed by Blytz Esports’ members as “The miracle” survived the onslaught with only one health point remaining. That “miracle” completely changed the course of the game with Biggabbie’s bird Axie performing a counter-attack with devastating power resulting in Biggabbie’s well-deserved win.
Conclusion
A big congratulations to the top 8 players of Season 1 of Axie Open League and congratulations to Biggabbie for winning his first-ever tournament in Axie Esports. Surely this tournament has its shining and dark moments but it truly shows how much potential Blytz Esports has before realizing it. Excited to see what they are going to create for Season 2 and see how many more improvements are they going to work on by June. Truly what an era to live in.
Hope to see more in the coming months!
