How Legends are Made in Esports

The story starts with a lone Japanese player. His name is not known, but that doesn’t matter. He is better known as Tensai, the mechanical wizard.

Tensai’s journey started in 2019, as a free agent, falling short and failing to qualify for the 2019 Brawl Stars World Finals. In 2020, he was signed by Jupiter, a Japanese organization, along with his teammates—Ponkotsu, Hagego and Milkreo. They got multiple good score lines and multiple first-place finishes in the monthly qualifiers, giving them BSC points (a ranking where teams obtain points by placing high in monthly finals). The team with the highest amount of BSC points would advance to the world finals. Unfortunately, due to the 2020 World Finals being played online, each match typically had one team with a good ping and the other with a bad ping. Ping is extremely important when playing games like Brawl Stars, where dodging and hitting shots are necessary for teams to win. Unfortunately, Tensai was knocked out in the first round by INTZ and ended in a 5th-8th place finish in the 2020 Brawl Stars World Finals.

In 2021, Tensai did something that shocked everyone. He left his other three teammates and teamed up with Sitetampo and Achapi, with Jupiter rebranding as Zeta Division. This was the year when Tensai began to get famous. He and his two new teammates shocked everyone by winning 7 monthly finals, dropping only 2 monthly finals. He also won the Mid-season Invitational. With more than a 200-point lead in the APAC region, the Zeta division qualified for the World Finals easily. At the World Finals, their supremacy was made known to all. After playing 3 best of 5’s and one best of 4, they played a total of 13 sets, only losing 3 sets. This supremacy gave Tensai and his teammates fame and the title of Brawl Stars World Champions. However, just as a legend is made, there is always a contender.

The contender was no other than Sitetampo, Tensai’s former teammate. In 2022, Zeta Division split into Zeta Division 1 and Zeta Division 0. Tensai was on Zeta Division 0, along with his old teammate Achapi and a newcomer, Kuru. Sitetampo was on Zeta Division 1, with newcomers Moyagoku and Ken-G. Tensai’s year did not start well. Losing in round 1 for two monthly finals straight to their sister team Zeta Division 1 put them very low on the leaderboard, failing to qualify for the Mid-Season Invitational. However, Zeta Division 1 didn’t give up. They ended the year with 3 monthly finals wins, putting them in second place on the BSC leaderboard. 

Both teams were matched up in round 1 against decent teams. Zeta Division 0 was against Chasmac Gaming Br, while Zeta Division 1 was against Chasmac Gaming Eu. Zeta Division 1 breezed through Chasmac Gaming EU, going 3-1 in sets and proceeding to the next round. Zeta Division 0, however, was on the brink of defeat, down 0-2 in sets. If Chasmac Gaming won the next match, they would have lost. However, Tensai remained composed and smiled in this tight situation. Ultimately, Zeta Division 0 reverse swept Chasmac Gaming, going 3-2 in sets. In the next round, Zeta Division 0 went up against Tribe Gaming EU, who were the crowd’s favorites and the 1st seed in Europe. However, Zeta Division 0’s supremacy was made known, as they crushed Tribe EU with a 3-1 set victory. Zeta Division 1 went up against Reply Totem in round 2, and they also beat them with a 3-1 set victory. After Tribe Gaming defeated SK Gaming in this set, Europe was knocked out of the world finals. In the semifinals, Zeta Division 1 beat STMN—one of NA’s top seeds and also crowd favorites—in a 3-1 victory again. Similarly, Tribe Gaming, the other top seed in North America also was defeated by Zeta Division 0, in a 3-1 victory. Now, in the Grand Final, Zeta Division 1 went against Zeta Division 0. Although the crowd predicted a victory for Zeta Division 1 with 66% voting for them to win, Zeta Division 0 pulled off a masterclass, winning in a 4-1 set victory. So, Tensai claimed his second world champion title and to this day, is the only one, aside from Achapi, with this title.

In 2023, Zeta Division 1 and Zeta Division 0 got back together, being signed by Crazy Raccoon. They had Tensai, Sitetampo and Moyagoku. The 2023 year went very well for Tensai, as he won almost all of the monthly finals in the APAC region. Their performance at worlds also didn’t disappoint. In the group stage, they defeated FUT Esports and SK Gaming, dropping no sets and only losing 1 game out of the 13 they had to play. After advancing past the group stage, they got into the playoffs and first played against the Reply Totem. This match was no issue, as Tensai defeated them with a 3-1 victory. Now, he had to beat Zeta Division, his old organization that had signed the roster of Chasmac Gaming EU, who had a roster of Gero, Nowy297, and Meow. The roster of Zeta Division quickly and easily defeated Crazy Raccoon in the first two sets. It seemed like, again, Tensai was going to be knocked out of the world finals. However, he fought back and scored two set victories against Totem, leading both teams to a deciding set 5, which would ultimately determine who advanced to the grand finals. Unfortunately for Tensai, they fell short in the final set, losing to that year’s world champions, knocking them out of the 2023 Brawl Stars World Finals. 

Tensai decided he would try again, with the same roster, in 2024. In 2024, Crazy Racoon’s performance was as good as usual in the APAC region, scoring first in nearly all of the Monthly Qualifiers. Coming back into the world finals, Tensai felt confident. This confidence evidently showed as they were put in the “Group of Death” with Luminosity Gaming and Zeta Division, two extremely powerful teams from North America and Europe, respectively. After a few hard-fought games, Crazy Raccoon took two victories, with two 2-1 victories in sets. Advancing past the group stage, they got to work. After securing a narrow victory over Elevate, North America’s top seed, they moved on to beat Reply Totem again, 3-1. However, in the Grand Finals, they were up against HMBLE, a newcomer to the esports scene with 3 dropped players—Lukii, Symantec, and Boss. Although Crazy Raccoon fought hard, they couldn’t match the power of the HMBLE roster, who had beaten the World Champions in the first monthly final that year. Due to complete out drafts, HMBLE won a clean 3-0 victory over Crazy Raccoon, knocking Crazy Raccoon out in the Grand Finals.

Although the 2025 season has not started yet, Twitter leaks have been given. It is hinted that Crazy Raccoon will split again, with Tensai and Sitetampo going their separate ways. With this happening, many fans are begging to see another match like the Zeta Division 0 versus Zeta Division 1, where two of the best teams would clash against one another.