"Either you win or you learn": Team GodLike's Learn on dealing with setbacks in his Call of Duty Mobile esports career (Exclusive)
Team GodLike was one of the two teams that got the opportunity to participate in the Call of Duty: Mobile World Championship 2022. They represented the nation of India on the global stage and delivered some exceptional performances. This time around, the event was conducted offline in Raleigh, USA. It kicked off on December 15, 2022, and concluded on December 18, 2022.
Team GodLike is an Indian Esports team whose Call of Duty: Mobile division was formed back in 2019. The organization's current roster for CODm includes Jash "Learn" Shah, Anirudh "Vegaz" Vhavle, Zeel "Neutrino" Patel, Sameer "Broszxs" Sinha, Rishi "TrunKs" Dubey, and Chiranthan "BurnZ" Shetty.
In an exclusive interview with Rishabh Kalita from Sportskeeda Esports, Jash "Learn" Shah, Team GodLike's captain, spoke about the Call of Duty: Mobile World Championship, the struggle of mobile esports players in India, and more.
Team GodLike's Learn talks about his experience with the Call of Duty: Mobile World Championship, mobile gaming in India, and more
Q. Congratulations on making it to the Call of Duty: Mobile World Championship, where you competed against some of the best teams in the world. How was your experience there different from competing in the Indian leagues?
Learn: The experience was amazing as it was our first international LAN event in Call of Duty: Mobile. Competing in an international event and representing my country was a proud moment for me. It was also an eye-opener as we saw that the real competition begins on the global stage, where the levels are much higher than what we have experienced in India.
Q. Being a professional player often requires sacrifice, dedication, and hours of training every day. How did your average training session look like leading up to the Call of Duty: Mobile World Championship? Did you have to sacrifice any aspect of your daily life?
Learn: Being an esports player, I have sacrificed everything, starting from leaving my job to even sacrificing my daily meals for our matches and practice schedules. Heading into the 2022 World Championship, the team and I played more than 13 hours a day.
Q. Tournaments are stressful. Whenever things stop going our way, it leads to anxiety and paranoia. What are some ways that you and your team implement to overcome such situations?
Learn: In my opinion, there are only two options – either you win or you learn. Esports is meant to be tiring and stressful, and is also a high-risk, high-reward matter. My team and I are used to all the ups and downs since we have been together for a long time. So, even in our lows, we pull each other up and get back to the grind.
Q. How does the journey of a mobile esport athlete differ from someone who goes professional on a PC game? What are some challenges that are unique to mobile gamers and aren’t an issue for PC players?
Learn: Mobile gaming is much easier than PC gaming, but the connectivity and consistent performance from a specific mobile device is not as smooth as when playing on a PC, which makes it tough to perform the same consistently.
Q. India is largely a home to mobile gamers. What do you think mobile gaming does different that attracts more players?
Learn: Mobile gaming is much more accessible to everyone and almost everyone in India nowadays uses a smartphone, on which they can play these games anywhere and at any time using mobile data. This is why mobile gaming attracts more players in India than PC gaming.
Q. Call of Duty initially came out on PC and consoles, and then finally made its way to mobile phones with CODm. While an active fan base for the title existed before the launch of CODm, it never grew into an esport in India. Why do you think Call of Duty Mobile was able to change this trend and become so successful?
Learn: Honestly, very few people in India can afford consoles, which is the main reason why Call of Duty didn't get much recognition in India before. With the arrival of Call of Duty: Mobile, the title became far more accessible to everyone. Also, Call of Duty: Mobile is the best mix of all the previous CODs combined together.
Q. Our country is home to some of the best CODm teams in the world. Being one of them, which team does GodLike see as their biggest rivals and why?
Learn: India has a lot of talent in esports, but we lack in talent management as well as a proper gaming and esports structure. Our biggest rivals are teams from the North American region like Tribe Gaming.
Q. As an experienced esports athlete, what are some pieces of advice that you would like to give our readers who aspire to go pro in Call of Duty: Mobile?
Learn: The best advice is to challenge yourself until you become the best in the world. Along with that, you should always prefer a smart grind and learn from both your opponents and your mistakes.
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