XTZ Esports - How an underdog Indian Free Fire team made its way to the international stage

Indian esports has certainly come a long way, and Garena Free Fire is proud to be a part of it. Across the years, we have seen the quality of esports tournaments, shows, and broadcasts improve exponentially. With the rise in standards there, the players get an added incentive to participate and perform in said events, and work hard to raise their own level of gameplay and skill. Just like how Free Fire has grown in popularity and evolved in its esports scene, XTZ Esports has grown along with it too. They’ve played under several banners. At one point, they were called Sixth Sense, then they rebranded to Stalwart Esports, and now XTZ Esports. 

Since the start of the year, this team has been participating in various tournaments. We’ve seen them become better and more mature over the course of time, to an extent where they can certainly be expected to consistently score more and more points and get into the top 3 of the tournaments. 

At the start of the year, they used to be a team that was certainly talented in gunfights but lacked an overall sense of surroundings. They would get into fights without knowing how to get out of it. If it was a 4 vs 4 battle, XTZ would win, they were that strong. But if a third team comes in between while they are fighting, it causes them some problems which destroy their plan.

One thing that hasn’t changed about their gameplay right from the start is their edge-of-circle philosophy. We discussed the center vs edge of circle philosophy in our previous article. Playing on the edge of the circle tends to get an extra kill, but doesn't promise you any placement points. XTZ Esports seem to have fully understood the risks and responsibilities of the playstyle that they’ve adopted. For a mechanically skilled team like them who are not afraid of fighting, it certainly suits them. 

However, what seems to be their structure, might turn into their shackles if they don’t acknowledge the level of competition they’ll be facing in the Free Fire Continental Series Asia soon. 

Most teams have a mixture of the edge and center strategies, that they keep alternating between for optimum results. XTZ Esports has never done that. They always play on the edge, and no matter how predictable that is, XTZ Esports tank through it. There’s a reason it’s called the tank playstyle. You might see a tank approaching from a distance, but there’s not much you can do against it with just guns. That’s what XTZ Esports have been so far in Indian tournaments - a team that brings a tank to a gunfight. 

However, in the Free Fire Continental Series Asia, they are going to be up against teams who are highly skilled in the game. To play with such a predictable style, it will create a bunch of problems for them. Let's see who they deal with and overcome them.

Indro is proficient with any weapon at any range. With assaulters like him, XTZ Esports can adapt to any situation. Barcaboi and Sagar have good synergy. They trade frags almost telepathically, and trading frags becomes essential at higher levels of Free Fire. Mr.JayYT is probably one of the strongest players in the country. Gaming Aura rated Mr.JayYT as one of the top 5 players on the Indian server. Great at clutching and isolating gunfights, he is the man to have on your team. 

XTZ Esports has grown a lot over the last few months. We wish them the best of luck and hope they make it to the Grand Finals of the Free Fire Continental Series Asia.

Catch them in action on 22nd November 2020 on our official Free Fire Esports Channel.