CHENNAI: I killed my brother (virtually) once after being killed a number of times in CS 1.6...it was my first game in a local cafe. His friends stood behind me and clapped,” recalls Mansoor Ahmed (aka Nabu), a 26-year-old Bengaluru-based gamer. After participating in a lot of national level games, he is now looking to compete in an international stage.
As a 7-year-old, he played videogames like Mario and Contra. Now, he plays professionally for six to seven hours a day as he is not only a gamer but also a live streamer for Nvidia India, an artificial intelligence computing company. “I hid my winnings from my family until my second year of college because mine is a typical Indian family.
They wanted me to do CA until I sat them down and convinced them about my gaming skills,” shares the BCom graduated who loves to socialise. “During LAN tournaments, people from various places meet. That’s when I met Sidharth Rangan, a gamer from Delhi for the first time after being close friends for four years online,” he laughs.
When asked about his winnings, he says, “7:10 is my winning ratio, I have won a lot of tournaments playing League of Legends and Overwatch, for the past eight years,” he says. Nabu has been a part of many tournaments in India and abroad. His favourite games of all time include Arikadou, Spazie, Shox, Burning and Faker.
Pointing to hard facts, the gamer feels that gaming in India is lacking both from the sponsors’ and the gamers’ end. “We gamers are in need of a lot of tournaments and dependable sponsors, and they are in need of a lot of players with commitment and dedication leaving their personal ego aside,” he opines.
In the pursuit of participating the international tournaments he bid goodbye to the artist and the athlete in him. “I was a state-level long distance runner until 2010. Then I took up gaming. Even while relaxing, I play survival games like rust and PUBG,” he says.
Being a beginner comes with its own challenges. Mansoor says, “Team Infamous was one of the teams to play League of Legends in the finals of Flipkart Gaming Online Championship 2016 and it is definitely out of league for a beginner.” He also has a few tips for newbies. “Enjoy the game, don’t let your emotions control you and discipline yourself to become a good gamer,” he says.
Overwatch events
Pascal launch event
OW Tournament 2016
Overwatch IND Innaugural
Cup 2016
Overwatch GeForce
Cup Season 1 2016
ILG CUP SEASON 1
Bangalore Minors 2017
League of Legends events
ESL INDIA #1 2015 (online), Free2play Bengaluru, ILG LCL Season 2 2015, ESC Winter Games 2015, Gaming Club Community 2015, League wars Season 1 episode 1&2, Lenova Indian Gaming Week 2015, Sindicate Fall Chmapionship 2015, IGL Weekly Draft 2016, Infamous Invitational 2016, IGL Weekly Draft (2) 2016 and Flipkart Gaming Online Championship 2016.