Battle Arena Elites will be heading to Manila as the Malaysian representatives for the PUBG Asia Pacific Predator League 2020 tournament, and we got some time with them for a champion’s interview! The squad quite handily overcame their competition over two days going by their score. See what they have to say!

Let’s get to know the team. We have:

• “Savior” Muhammad Hazwan (Support)
• “Lokies” Chin Vun Jung (Scouter)
• “BadMaN” Seanjev Tan Jian Rhen (Co-In Game Leader)
• “Neferhor” Jesse Watson (In Game Leader)
• “Mzero” Muhammad Mukhlis (Support)

They’ve been together for roughly 6 to 8 months now. They certainly seem to have clicked quite well, with their great performance. They attribute their success to their organization for being so supportive and providing them with whatever they need for their road to the championship.

Neferhor’s job as the leader is to manage their movement and position, but he also says they generally work together as a team and not have just one person decide how they play. Lokies would be the one to go ahead, providing the information for the next zone, telling them when to go in. The supports also provide information, and backup whenever necessary. Likewise for BadMan, where he helps Neferhor on the decision making.

Going up against 15 other teams, they don’t seem to think any of them are their biggest rivals per se, thinking themselves as their biggest obstacles.

“I don’t think we have any competitors. I think the only person[s] that [are] challenging us [are] ourselves.”

With their ticket punched in to Manila, they’d be facing another caliber of competition. They sound fairly confident in themselves, saying they’ve played the teams there a few times before, so they’re aware of who they’re going up against.

They’re not going to be disclosing any particular ways of training, but they’re just going to work at it harder, and evolve their playstyle. They think playstyles are different in different regions, so adaptation will be needed. Besides PUBG, they play games like Overwatch, Diablo 2 and CS:GO together, but not competitively.

Parent support often comes up in things like these. It can be difficult, considering the generation gap, but as they bring in results, and show how serious they are, then their parents begin to understand the potential behind esports.

For you budding competitive players out there, they advise you to watch how pros play to start out. See if you can learn something from it, understand the game, join more tournaments and see how you improve from there. Play seriously even in regular matchmaking games and get your name out there. Who knows who might notice you to pick up for an organization?

“For a new player who wants to be a professional gamer, their best bet is that they play more seriously even in the normal matchmaking games. Enjoy more tournaments, get to know other players, get your name out there, and someone may pick you up.”

There’s naturally a gap between the more casual gamers and those going pro especially in regards to training and work ethic. Focus on your mistakes, is another nugget of advice. Focus on how to outplay your opponent with your smarts, not mechanical skill, as you won’t be starting out as the best “aimer”. Figure out what and why your opponent is doing something first!

To close out, they once again give a shout out to their organization, to enable them to play as a team. They thank for you fans support, as well as their family, and of course, each other in the team. We’ll be seeing more of them in Manila soon enough. Good luck, Battle Arena Elite!