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Activision's COD Mobile has established itself in India as an esport, producing some of the most era-defining young talents. While several aspire to crack it into the big leagues, very few can do that at the first chance.
20-year-old Adarsh "VorteX" Choubey is one of those players who effortlessly tore through the competitive COD Mobile scene in India. His gameplay was good enough to earn him a spot as a professional esports player after beating a well-renowned team in a ranked match.
It almost sounds like a fairytale orchestrated by the gaming gods to serve a higher purpose. However, opportunities are only as good as the actions one takes to fulfill them.
VorteX did not disappoint as he found his true calling in playing COD Mobile professionally. He has not looked back since and plans to become one of the best COD Mobile pros in the world.
In an exclusive conversation with Sportskeeda Esports' Dipanjan Dey, young VorteX opened up about his early struggles and discussed India's current COD Mobile scene.
In conversation with Adarsh "VorteX" Choubey, support/objective COD Mobile pro for GodLike
Q. First of all, congratulations on winning the COD Mobile India Cup and Frontline Chaos Season 1. Give us an origin story? Tell our readers a bit about yourself and the journey that led you to the path of becoming a COD Mobile pro?
A: Mobile gaming was something I made fun of, back in the days when all I used to do was study and play football and PC games. I always had a competitive mindset, no matter what I did. I used to be very good in CS: GO with almost over 15000+ hours in the game. In my opinion, if you’re good at Counter-Strike, you can easily nail any PC game out there.
After my 12th, I had to go out of state for further studies, and I couldn’t carry my PC. That was the point where I dropped PC gaming. Since I couldn’t afford a laptop at that point, I bought an iPad for college, which eventually led me to mobile games, I played PUBG Mobile for a while, but it didn’t exactly match my pace since I was always into FPS and highly tactical games.
It was in October 2019 when I discovered COD Mobile. I only played for fun back then since I was really into my studies. After a few weeks, I got injured in a football match, and I tore my ACL. It was operated on immediately for the full functioning of my right leg. So I came back home for the surgery in Feb, got operated and was on total bed rest.
After a while, COVID-19 started spreading, and I couldn’t go back to college. So I started giving more time to COD Mobile.
In Season 3 in COD Mobile, I got matched with MII (Made In India) in a ranked game and got an offer to play for them right after. That was the point that changed everything for me. I finally felt the adrenaline rush I always strived for since I left PC gaming.
Soon after, I started taking it seriously and joined Trinity Esports. I started playing against the best teams in the game and improving myself accordingly. After a while, we dropped Trinity and played as Team Axis. We began winning tourneys, titles and became one of the top 3 teams according to GN Rankings.
A while later, I got picked by GodLike Esports, and we have improved ever since. I dare say we are currently one of the best COD Mobile teams in the world. The journey was indeed amazing, I’ll tell you that much.
Q. Tell our readers a bit about your early days and struggles. When did you start playing COD Mobile, and how did you come up with the ign VorTeX? Who were some of your biggest inspirations behind playing competitive CODM?
A: The early days' struggles were essential as they made me into what I am today. I played from Kolkata, West Bengal, on 60-70 ping all the time versus players who literally had 5-10 ping.
Let's face it, in a peeker's advantage game like COD Mobile, ping is one of the prime factors. It was hard to win gunfights against players with a good internet connection, but that's what took my gunfights to the next level.
I tried to use methods that could counter it, started training my aim and movement, and soon, those factors didn't affect me as much.
Shortly after, my iPad (6th gen) became unplayable, which led to a performance dip, and I couldn't perform like I used to. It was really demotivating, but I didn't couldn't give up. A month later, I got a mobile and started grinding on it, and got my performance back.
I never really had an inspiration; I was always self-inspired. Instead of being the second "someone", I'd prefer being the first me!
Q. With the upcoming JIOCup, what is your approach this time around? Do you think that this season's AK117/QQ9 meta will be decisive in the upcoming tournaments?
A: The thing is, Activision changes the meta in COD Mobile each season. Currently, QQ9 and AK117 are the best guns in the game, and every team out there is going to abuse them to the maximum extent.
So, in my opinion, yes, they're going to be very decisive in the upcoming tournaments. Learning how to slide and shoot, instantly control recoil, jump shots, drop shots; pros have to master all these with meta weapons in COD Mobile.
Q. Going up against stalwarts like Team Vitality, Force One, S8UL, TeamIND - what goes through your mind when you see them across the field? Are you inspired to be like them, or do you want to eliminate them and build your legacy?
A: First of all, every team has the potential to get to the top. It’s just a matter of time before professional COD Mobile players get to the pinnacle of success.
Honestly, we outperformed everyone in the COD Mobile India Cup Open, and literally, no one saw it coming. We surprised everyone and won the tournament in style.
So, to answer your question, yes, when I go up against a top-tier team, eliminating them is the only thing in my mind. Our legacy will be written with all our victories in major COD Mobile tournaments.
Q. Let us talk about your role in the GodLike MP roster. You usually play support, but does it change depending on the map? What kind of routines do you guys follow during scrims to coordinate better?
A: I’m usually a support player who can basically play all the roles in the game as and when needed. We just stick to our roles and let everything flow accordingly. However, we do have some routines that we follow.
Currently, we are trying to master all the meta weapons and memorize every nook and corner of each map. The COD Mobile World Cup is coming sooṇ, and we are preparing for every threat we might face in the tourney.
Q. Let us talk about one of the most critical factors in professional COD Mobile — the device. How would you address the perpetual expensive phone vs skilled-players-on-budget-phones debate in COD Mobile? Do you think a young aspiring pro-COD Mobile player should invest in a new phone or practice with what they have?
A: As I said earlier about my iPad's performance drop and then getting a new and better device right after a month, the difference was massive, and I could feel the newer and better me. In my opinion, anyone who's serious about COD Mobile and wants to get into the professional scene needs to invest in a good gaming phone.
Budget devices are suitable to start with so that the mechanics get embedded in muscle memory.
Q. While we are on the topic of devices and platforms, let us address the latest controversy which has been trending on YouTube. The #mobileonlycomp hashtag has turned into somewhat of a social media movement. Could you give us a little insight into the matter?
A: This hashtag originated from the T1 community as tournaments still allow iPads, which is unfair against mobile players since the iPad gives you an advantage. The sole purpose of this hashtag was to ban iPads from COD Mobile tournaments.
These gadgets have too many advantages in this game, like bigger hitboxes, extra space for fingers for easier movement, better response rate, higher frame rate, etc. I believe that a mobile game should be competitively played on mobile devices only.
Q. The #mobileonlycomp movement promises to unify the Indian COD Mobile community in ways that have only been seen in the EU/NA region. How do you think this will affect the community, especially the ones playing on the iPad?
A: The #mobileonlycomp hashtag will unify the Indian COD mobile community sooner or later when everyone realizes its importance in the long run. This would definitely affect the ones playing on iPads (competitive players) since they’ll have to invest in a mobile device if they want to go professional or even play tournaments, for that matter.
Q. What are your thoughts about the #Why_not_BR_WorldCup movement? Do you think the alleged Multiplayer bias from COD Mobile developers is a factor behind no competitive BR tournaments?
A: I don't think that's the case, although, in my opinion, BR needs a lot of optimizations and isn't really on the level that it should be played competitively. There's a lot more competition among MP in comparison to BR.
That being said, I feel like COD Mobile has overshadowed PUBG Mobile and Free Fire in India, but Apex Legends Mobile is going to be a game-changer.
Q. What are the goals you want to achieve while being a part of GodLike? Do you see yourself becoming a pillar of the COD Mobile Indian community in the future?
A: I would love to take the Indian community of COD Mobile to the world stage. My dream is to inspire the beginners who are just joining COD Mobile from the Indian community.
I do see myself as a respected professional player in the community, which is a wonderful achievement for me.
Q. Is there anything you would like to say to your COD Mobile fans and the next generation of esports talents from India?
A: To everyone who wants to become a COD Mobile pro: it’s not easy, and you need to work hard to be good at this game. Diligence is key, and tracking your progress needs to become a habit.
The competition is increasing in COD Mobile day by day. Just don’t give up; keep up the hard work, and opportunities will turn up on their own.
