Raunak “Crowley” Sen was 9 years outdated when he began gaming. Again within the early 2000s, his brother invited him to a gaming cafe close to his home for a gaming session to play Counter Strike 1.6. Greater than 15 years later, Crowley is now set to compete in his second worldwide LAN occasion for Pokémon UNITE, the Asia Champions League in Malaysia.
So how did the participant go from CS 1.6 to Dota 2 to now being among the best in Pokémon UNITE? Esports.web obtained an opportunity to speak with the participant and discover out.
Raunak “Crowley” Sen
From Counter-Strike to Dota after which esports, the journey to aggressive gaming
Within the early days of Crowley’s life as a gamer, he, unsurprisingly, performed CS 1.6. Esports was a brand new factor on the time all over the world and the shooter was probably the most fashionable video games all over the world – and in his gaming cafe.
Nevertheless, Crowley had another recreation he used to get pleasure from, and this was Warcraft III. The sport had acquired a brand new mod round this time, Dota, which piqued Crowley’s curiosity.
“It [Dota] was actually intriguing with the itemization and the whole lot. You had to make use of your brains to win the sport principally, whereas in CS at that degree, you simply wanted uncooked talent.”
Crowley loved the sport as an informal gamer for a couple of years – balancing gaming whereas finishing his education. As soon as Dota 2 obtained launched is when esports actually picked up for the sport. Whereas good on the MOBA recreation, he wasn’t positive if he wished to turn into an esports participant. Esports as an idea was simply selecting up all over the world, and in a creating nation like India, it didn’t have plenty of tournaments.
What actually obtained him into esports in the end, although, was peer stress.
“Everybody instructed me that I’m profitable already, why don’t I do it professionally? In order that’s the way it went down.”
Then, in late 2016, Nodwin Gaming introduced the ESL India Premiership – a yearly esports event that additionally included Dota 2. From then until 2020, Crowley received scores of tournaments representing organizations like Reckoning Esports, Staff Signify, and even World Esports.
Unlucky retirement, and opening to new horizons
Nevertheless, with the pandemic hitting, and the expansion of cell gaming in India, the way forward for Dota 2 esports wasn’t wanting good. Crowley noticed this coming and determined to retire from Dota, however selected to proceed pursuing his ardour in gaming and esports, albeit on a unique platform.
“Covid occurred and on the whole, there was nothing taking place in Dota for over a 12 months. The scene was useless in India additionally so it was a pure choice for me to maneuver on. I didn’t know which recreation to maneuver onto, however I might inform that cell video games are huge sooner or later, so I made a decision to do some cell gaming.”
Being a MOBA participant, there weren’t plenty of choices accessible for Crowley. The Indian authorities had banned the 2 hottest cell MOBA esports, Enviornment of Valor and Cellular Legends, for information privateness considerations.
On the time, Riot’s upcoming cell MOBA, Wild Rift, offered a glimmer of hope for Crowley. Being a MOBA, the educational curve wasn’t a lot for him. Moreover, Riot had demonstrated its capacity to develop an esport from scratch with its tactical shooter, VALORANT.
Whereas Crowley discovered an org for Wild Rift in Noble Esports, there was one other downside. After repeated delays, there have been no indicators of the sport releasing in India. In actual fact, even now in March 2023, Riot hasn’t launched Wild Rift formally within the South Asian nation.
So Crowley determined to modify video games once more.
“When Pokémon UNITE was coming in July 2021, there have been solely group tournaments taking place in Wild Rift they usually have been simply delaying the India launch endlessly. So one in every of my associates who really works within the esports scene instructed me plenty of good alternatives are going to come back in Pokémon UNITE, may as nicely make the change.”
That’s precisely what Crowley did and it has paid off. He joined Revenant Esports in June 2022. Since then, the group has been dominating domestically. They even received the Pokémon UNITE Championship Collection – India to make it to the first-ever world championship for the sport in London. Right here, they faltered, ending in final place. Crowley stated that this was principally resulting from an absence of LAN expertise by the group who felt their nerves in key moments.
Now, although, Crowley and Revenant Esports are getting one other probability to combat for worldwide glory.
Pokémon UNITE Asia Champions League – an opportunity at redemption
The group accomplished a dream comeback via the decrease bracket of the India Qualifier. Now, they’re headed to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for the Asia Champions League. Right here, they may face the highest groups from throughout the continent, preventing for glory and a prize pool of $60,000.
This time, Crowley actually fancies his group’s possibilities.
“Now, I feel the gamers are extra accustomed to LAN, they’ve performed like three LANs in India already. This time, if we make it out of teams, I’m assured of putting within the high two.”
You’ll be able to watch Crowley stay in motion with Revenant Esports on the official Pokémon Asia English channel. The event will happen on March 18 and 19.
Learn subsequent: Pokemon Unite – Full Occasion Calendar for 2023
