"We do not treat each other as friends, but as a family": Anirudh "Vegaz" Vhavle on his role in Insidious eSports COD: Mobile Roster

The COVID-19 pandemic had affected gaming events worldwide, including the COD: Mobile World Championship 2020. The 5-stage tournament with the final stage being a LAN event had to conclude in 4 stages without a world champion being crowned. However, Team Mayhem from India made the country proud by winning the regional playoffs, becoming the only Indian team in the top 8 of the tournament.

Anchoring the team's performance in the high-stakes COD: Mobile tournament was their primary slayer Anirudh "Vegaz" Vhavle. As the tournament progressed, fans all across the country termed Vegaz the 'MVP of the Regional Playoffs.'

Vegaz and his lineup now play under Insidious eSports, popularly known as TeamIND, and are preparing for the upcoming COD: Mobile WC 2021. Ahead of this year's championship, Vegaz uploaded the much-awaited highlights from Stage 4 of last year's WC and fans are having a nostalgic moment.

Anirudh is certainly going to be a key player in this year's edition of the championship as well. He has certainly grown a lot as a player and a teammate in the last year and is ready to dominate his opponents in the COD: Mobile World Championship 2021.

In an exclusive conversation with Sportskeeda Esports’ Shwetang Parthsarthy, Vegaz went over some of the details from last year's COD: Mobile WC, his journey in his lineup and the role he plans to play in the future. The slayer for TeamIND also had a few bold claims to make with regards to the upcoming championship.

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Insidious eSport's Anirudh "Vegaz" Vhavle talks about his journey since COD: Mobile WC 2020

Insidious eSports has already qualified for stage 3 of COD: Mobile WC 2021 and the lineup is en route to replicate its success from the previous year.

Anirudh "Vegaz" Vhavle is prepared to lead his team's charge going against the best teams from the South Asia and Middle East region going into the regional qualifiers and dominate his opponents using his COD: Mobile experience and class.

Here is an excerpt from the conversation:

Q) Hello Vegaz! As I understand it, you play the role of the primary slayer for Insidious esports right now and you played a similar role for your previous team, Mayhem. While it is often a team effort, many fans credit you for Team Mayhem’s victory in Stage 4 of COD: Mobile WC 2020. How far do you think the title of "MVP of COD: Mobile WC Stage 4” is accurate for you?

One common mistake everyone makes, they believe I’m the slayer for the team, however my role is versatile and it keeps changing according to the modes and team’s requirements. I do feel proud when someone refers to me as MVP of Stage 4, and not just WC but in any tournament. But even I know, it’s thanks to the entire team's efforts. A player getting a lot of kills isn’t the criteria for being MVP. Instead, it should rather be how strategically the player played his role. So, there are various players from my team who could also be called MVP of Stage 4.

Q) You recently uploaded the stage 4 highlights from last year’s COD: Mobile WC, almost a year after the tournament took place. Why had you been holding back the video your fans had been eagerly awaiting for so long?

I really wanted to surprise my fans and audience with Stage 4 clips from COD: Mobile WC 2020, that was the reason I didn’t upload for a long time. I’ll be honest, I didn’t think it would end up getting this delayed. I really hope these Stage 4 highlights were worth their wait. I intend to keep surprising my followers like this a token of thank you for all the support they show us while we play major tournaments.

Q) Instead of the mYm bootcamp, half of the team stayed at your place while playing the last year’s COD: Mobile World Cup. Was this the first of its kind experience in your gaming career? How would you describe that experience and what role did it play in the final results of the WC for your team?

Oh, you don’t talk about it. I swear I never expected it would turn out to be that amazing. I was pretty nervous when I invited them over, I didn’t know if I’d be able to perform the same now that people whom I play with can see me play right in front of their eyes. You know that if you choke and they yell at you, you just need to mute the player. However, here at my place, there was only one door, and no mute button. Anyway, I’m glad they were here which made our bonding work out way better. There were definitely sad moments and blame passed around for mistakes but we know we will have each other’s back. Maybe that’s why we ended up performing exceptionally well.

Q) Your COD: Mobile team is much more experienced and the coordination amongst all your players is better than ever. You also have state-of-the-art facilities in the Team Insidious bootcamp leading to a better team output. Therefore, do you think the team’s dependence on you to carry a major weight will now reduce and you can freely play the role you want to?

That’s a tough question. We have noticed how playing independently can help you farm kills, but overall you do not make a significant contribution to the team. It’s not about playing the role you like, it’s about playing the way the team enjoys, and ascertaining victory. If you are doing good, you will get plenty of chances to play the way you want, be it a rank match or an actual tournament in COD: Mobile. Also, this team is so amazing that you don’t carry anyone’s weight here.

Q) You have been a part of your lineup which is essentially from the Aesthetic X clan since the inception of COD: Mobile. In fact, your lineup has existed from the beta stage itself and you’ve been the most successful team in India and one of the most successful ones globally. From your perspective, what role have you played in holding the team together and reaching these heights of success?

My role in the team is no different than that of Learn, Burnz, or anyone who is associated with the team. Like-minded people often get along and understand each other well. We have made sacrifices to reach here and I’m glad everyone in our team realizes what they are losing and gaining and if it’s really worth it. We do not treat each other as friends, but as a family, and we ensure we are here to back each other when tough times call. I guess I’m playing my part as well as I can and so are others.

Q) Before we conclude, TeamIND will successfully qualify for the stage 3 of COD: Mobile WC this year too. Do you feel that you can replicate last year’s success and surprise fans by winning the WC too?

If our supporters keep supporting us the way they have been, and the team decides to surprise everyone out there, then maybe yes, we have a shot. We aren’t driven just by the passion to keep winning, but also the zeal to grab that trophy. The title of COD: Mobile World Champions and the desire to show Indians we have what it takes to survive and rise in esports is always the end goal. We do not hide behind lack of support, or such innumerable excuses. We see a trophy, we give our best, we win it. If we lose, we know where to improve. We improve and we challenge again, and that’s how this team works something that gives us confidence to always perform better, be it the COD: Mobile WC or any other tournament we play.