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The competitive COD Mobile scene in India has grown substantially. Numerous talented pros and casual players migrated from popular games to Activision's world renowned title.
Young 19-year-old Sai Akshay "Lezra" Thirumal is one of those talented players who joined COD Mobile from a different game. Transitioning from one FPS shooter game to another is never easy, but Lezra had a walk in the park.
His meteoric rise in the Indian esports community has made him one of the most respected players in the circuit.
One cannot command respect without inspiring a bit of fear, and that is exactly what Lezra does. His in-game mechanics, coupled with his reflexes, compel his opponents to shriek in silence.
In an exclusive conversation with Sportskeeda Esports’ Dipanjan Dey, Lezra opens up about life, COD Mobile, and everything in-between.
In conversation with Sai Akshay "Lezra" Thirumal from GodLike's COD Mobile roster
Here is an excerpt of the conversation:
Q1) First, 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?
A1) Well, I started playing COD Mobile from the day of release along with my friends from Critical Ops under Aesthetic X. But a month later I decided to quit COD Mobile and go back to C-OPS.
I made a comeback 6 months later had too much catching up to do. With the building competitive scene of COD Mobile at that time, I gave it a continuous grind and made it back to the T1 Competitive within Months
Playing with the former Heroes official team and Reckoning Esports, finally made my way into GodLike
Q2) 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 “Lezra”? Who were some of your biggest inspirations behind playing competitive CODM?
A2) The early days of COD Mobile were not so bad since I had experience with a similar game (C-OPS). But it did take time to adapt to the mechanics of CODM which were totally new to me.
The origin of my IGN is so random. People were using IGN's with a Suffix "Ra" and I made up my own as Lezra
My biggest inspirations to play CODM Competitive were definitely these two - Learn and Neutrino currently playing for Team IND motivated me to come back to COD Mobile and play competitive
Q3) With the upcoming JIOCup what is your approach this time around? Do you think that this season's AK117/QQ9 meta is going to be decisive in the upcoming tournaments?
A3) Well, the current QQ9 Meta has definitely made a change to the competitive scene and is most certainly going to dominate the upcoming JIO Cup. But hopefully, the Season 3 Balance changes coming up soon are going to balance the weapons meta.
Q4) Going up against stalwarts like MYM, 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?
A4) Going up against IND (ex MYM) is always exciting and them being the Regional Champions is always a tough fight.
Playing against teams who grind with a lot of effort is always fun. But, as you said, we intend to build our own legacy by beating them all.
Q5) Let us talk about one of the most important factors in professional COD Mobile - the device. How would you address the perpetual expensive device 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?
A5) Personally, I think devices do matter. But I have seen many players going head to head and beating teams with better devices while playing on low-end devices. So, in the end, it's all about individuals and teamwork made to perfection which is going to get you the win.
For upcoming talents who are playing on lower-end devices, I suggest you upgrade if you can and keep the grind up since the COD Mobile Esports scene is on the rise. Always think that the opponent has an advantage, that way you can deliver your best under pressure.
Q6) 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?
A6) Yeah, the trending #mobileonlycomp is a very good initiative that should have been made way earlier. Better late than never, right?
With the upcoming Major events including the World Cup 2021 having a high probability of Mobile only restriction. It's about time we took things seriously.
Q7)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 iPad?
A7) Yes, this movement does affect the community a lot. It does bring all the mobile talents together, and it should. But also on the other end, the iPad part of the community has to adapt to this change, competitive is meant to be on mobile devices.
The community should acknowledge the future of this game and choose between Competitive or Casual. While competitive, being mobile-only, the casual and content creation scene has no barriers to the iPad community.
At the end of the day, COD Mobile is a mobile game, and the competitive aspect should be for mobile devices only.
Q8) Another movement on social media which came in focus recently involved BR players complaining about competitive tournaments. Do you think CODM can reach the same heights as PUBG with respect to competitive battle royale tournaments?
A8) The way things are in COD Mobile BR it's far away from PUBG Mobile. But the CODM BR scene does exist. It has been developing over the years.
Regardless of BR not being fully optimized yet, it's about time for Activision to bring up BR Majors for the players who have been grinding for very long. BR side of CODM should be acknowledged as well since after PUBG's ban, COD Mobile has been one of the few games BR players have migrated to.
Q9) 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?
A9) When you think about it Call of Duty is popularly known for Multiplayer on all the platforms. CDL or any major tournament related to COD is for multiplayer mode. So the bias is already pre-existing, and quite apparent.
But it's about time we get to see competitive COD Mobile BR, and perhaps Warzone Mobile in the future. The BR Community of COD Fans should be rewarded for their undying love for the game.
Warzone introduced a dynamic for BR players on PC/Consoles, the same should be introduced for mobile with a major league or tournament for BR players.
Q10) What are your thoughts about the recently formed Government initiatives for gaming as a course in schools and colleges, cells being set up for gaming courses. Do you think this will usher in a new generation of mechanically talented mobile gamers in India?
A10) This took a long time, but I'm glad to see that people are finally taking esports seriously. Countless talents have gone to waste because of this reason. There was a time when our country did not value esports But it's happy to finally see Esports getting serious attention from the government in our country.
It is brilliant to see how esports has risen like a phoenix over the past decade, and the Indian esports scene is on the absolute precipice of everything. Most of it was due to PUBG's popularity, but now that is being carried by games like COD Mobile.
New talents rise every day and it will go on for generations, and I hope that there are opportunities for them all in the gaming industry.
Q11) 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?
A11) Right now everyone's and our goal is to represent India in an international LAN event which is the World Cup. We wish to be on top as long as possible.
Our goal as a COD Mobile team is to be nothing but the best in India, and we are working hard every day to achieve that.
Q12) Is there anything you would like to say to your COD Mobile fans and the next generation of esports talents from India?
A12) I'd like to thank this wonderful community for the support they have been giving me throughout my journey.
COD Mobile is an uprising Mobile Esports game so I'd like all the mobile gamers to give it a try and give up on a banned game.
Here's my suggestion for the upcoming esports talents. Everything depends on whether you want it or not and how badly you want it. So keep up the grind and one day everything will be worth it.
