By Kelly Lee
Staff Writer
PHOTO/ K. Lee, T. Mac
Tension fills the air as sophomore Peter Song fixates on his screen, swiftly moving his fingers across the controls as he steers his in-game brawler. He carefully maneuvers his attacks, strategically positioning himself to execute a final hit. With his heart pounding, he delivers the finishing blow and wins the intense match, setting himself up to break into the highly coveted global rankings.
Song made it into the masters rank this February, which is one of the highest rankings. To become a master in “Brawl Stars,” he needed to first unlock ranked mode by collecting 1,000 trophies, reach power level nine to participate in ranked battles and finally rise up the rankings by consistently winning matches.
“I first heard about the game in 2018,” Song said. “My friend was trying to play it and I thought, ‘oh, I know this game, I should definitely try playing with my friend.’ I downloaded it and played a few games, but I only started focusing on it in February 2023.”
“Brawl Stars” is a popular multiplayer mobile game where players battle each other in 3v3 teams using brawlers, playable characters in-game. Each brawler boasts unique powers, attacks and playstyles, providing different advantages to each match. The game has many game modes and distinctive maps, both of which contribute to the difficulty of the match. Players can progress their brawlers’ ranks by earning trophies. By increasing ranks, matches also get increasingly more difficult as players are pitted against stronger players.
“I play two to three hours on Saturday and Sunday and one to two hours during the school week,” Song said. “It probably means I should spend less time on brawl stars, but I feel really happy and I think that it’s worth it because making it is really hard.”
Song also competed in the “Brawl Stars” Championship Challenge, a monthly in-game competition. Teams face off against each other and in order to pass the event, must win 15 rounds consecutively with less than four losses. If qualified, top teams receive money from a 50,000 dollar prize pool and have a chance of entering the world finals. Song played with two other teammates and made it through the first round with only one loss on his alternate account, however, did not make it to the qualifier tournament.
Although Song does not plan on pursuing gaming professionally, he enjoys gaming as one of his favorite hobbies. Besides “Brawl Stars”, he also enjoys playing other shooting games like “PubG” and open world games like “Genshin Impact”.
“You might enjoy basketball, you might enjoy swimming,” Song said. “Everyone likes different things. For me, it’s gaming. My advice for anyone who also wants to get better at the game is to get good teammates and push hard, but also don’t play too much. Find a balance in between.”