EXCLUSIVE: One on one with GodLike CODM coach Ygor

BY PAOLO BARCELON, FRAGSTER.COM

Ygor Simão is just 20 years old. But unlike most people his age, he’s got a quest – and big mission – on his shoulders: to maintain the momentum GodLike has had in global competitive Call of Duty: Mobile.

From being a perennial cellar dweller in the world scene, GodLike made a statement to the erstwhile strong NA and EU teams by placing second overall in the 2023 CODM World Championship.

Ygor says, he’s grown closer to the entire squad – composed of Gaurang “Prevail” Palav, Abhishek “Abhizz” Nagar, Aniket “Skullguy” Majumdar, Rishi “TrunKs” Dubey, Zeel “Neutrino” Patel, and team captain Jash “Learn” Shah.

“So about this, we never have any problem. [Especially] me and Learn and Neutrino and Trunks. It’s so funny because these guys have a lot of happy energy. We can talk about anything. We can fight about our mistakes now, and after five minutes, we can start to laugh and joke,” Ygor adds, describing to Fragster.com how the relationship between him and his boys have been, and sharing how great their energy was throughout the game.

And now that GodLike put their name – and that of India’s esports scene – on the map, the team has been grinding harder than ever. Fresh off their Worlds stint, GodLike won the first-ever season of CODM Clash India by defeating Team Vitality in the finals.

And this newfound confidence, Ygor says, had changed his life for the better.

“After these last [World] Camps, my life has improved because now I have a lot of confidence for putting my ideas inside the game. So it’s perfect, perfect. This is a great result with my team. Now I have more confidence for work and for my lifestyle,” he said.

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

Being able to coach a worldwide CODM juggernaut is no mean feat for someone who used to play the game on a broken phone back in Brazil.

“I started playing Call of Duty Mobile in 2019, but in that time, I didn’t have one very good device,” Ygor said, referring to his Samsung A20 that was always broken when the game launched five years ago.

Despite having a broken device, Ygor did not stop in making moves to impress his teammates in the game.

“I started playing like tier three in Brazil. So I played for five months. And after this, I changed my role for coaching because my device and also my teammates at that time said,“Ygor, I think you are so good for saying about our mistakes and our strategy inside the game,””Ygor says, recalling the start to a now-illustrious CODM coaching career.

Ygor was also the lead tactician for FR Bulls and Influence Chemin Esports, analyst for Zygnus Esports, and also worked for a time with unDream.

At the beginning of 2023, he found himself without a team – but then, GodLike came along and helped him believe in his goals once again.

“I never stopped believing for a minute that I would be able to demonstrate my work to the world,” Ygor once said in an Instagram post after Worlds.

He took that chance and went to India – despite having not having good English skills. At first, he struggled to write tactics and strategies because of the language barrier.

However, he did not let this be a hindrance to his success – and he also helped conquer this barrier especially now that he gets different interview requests.

“I improved my English with movies and series in Netflix, and I also listen to songs every day. So I learn English, I think, six hours every day to improve my work in this language,” he says.

Ygor also says, whenever he’s on days off, he continues to play CODM and Counter Strike – and he says, its where his “player” mode kicks in. He also says, football, eating out, and keeping in contact with his family back home in Brazil is what he does to pass the time.

“I miss Brazil. I miss Brazil foods and my friends, my personal friends. So I think these things I miss a lot,” Ygor says. “I miss you a lot, family and friends. I hope you are still doing good.”

GODLIKE’S CINDERELLA RUN

No one expected how, under Ygor’s tutelage, GodLike would end up being one of the most famous teams in the global Call of Duty: Mobile scene in the world today.

From scoring a 13th-16th place in the 2022 Worlds – and being the butt of jokes by some in the community – GodLike set a record for the best performance ever by an Indian mobile esports team in a world championship.

Their historic run started by finishing fourth during the Swiss Stage to book their ticket to the Playoffs – the first Playoffs run by an Indian team in CODM Worlds history.

This run only became even more phenomenal as GodLike defeated two titans – Stand Point Gaming from China, and the only NA and Western representative in the competition: Luminosity Gaming – touted by many commentators and pros in the global CODM scene as the world championship “superteam.”

GodLike also buzzed its way to the Grand Finals, where they faced off against China’s Wolves team, who eventually won the tournament in a complete reversal of last year’s all-West finals.

In the YouTube documentary God Mode: From Last Place to Grand Finals done by veteran esports talent and filmmaker Alliana “BeefMami” Liongson, it was revealed that both Ygor and Skullguy were not able to fly to Stage 5 because of some issues. However, this did not stop Ygor from helping the team even remotely, with Learn manning up and taking the leader’s mantle.

Ygor told Fragster, their first scrims with the Chinese teams only came days before Worlds.

“I think 10 days only we proxy versus these China teams. We have a very good proxy versus SPG and Q9 and the Wolves before Champs. These players also play so fast and also have a very, very good (play at) Summit,” he says.

A DAY IN THE LIFE

Ygor also described to Fragster how GodLike prepares as a team, saying that he is a coach that is tough on discipline but can also be motivating to his teammates.

When his players don’t do well in training, Ygor says, he puts them through the in-game training grounds for 20 minutes per infraction. “Training grounds is one training round side – you need to do 20 minutes for practice your end inside the game, so you need to practice five times [for] 20 minutes,” citing an example.

He says, GodLike usually does scrimmages six days a week – giving only a day to rest from the grind.

“So you’re really into like when, for example, your one mode is in your focus on the day, you want your players to just think of, let’s say, hardpoint only, S&D only, control only, or specific map only,” Ygor says, describing their usual training regimen. 

Ygor also says, he liked scrimming with the Garena region teams, as these squads play fast, and allowed GodLike to also practice better.

“I like a lot of Elevate’s gameplay. Elevate’s play style, bro, is so, so good for watching… these players play so fast in Hardpoint,” Ygor says, commending the squad. He adds, “Powerhouse and Omega have a very good scene. I like a lot, Incendio of Powerhouse and Woopiiee of Omega! These players are so well-suited with snipers.”

HIGH HOPES 

Ygor also says, focus and mindset are two key things aspiring pros should keep in mind if they want to replicate GodLike’s Cinderella story.

“So if we improve your focus, so your player, your training grounds, your ranks, You study the game. You study about spawns inside the game,” he says. “You need to improve your mindset because I know if you don’t have one good device or you do not have one good experience, you will not play good in our match, you know, it’s normal. So you need to improve your mental. So, “okay, I play bad in this game. No problem. Let’s next game. If you play bad again, okay. Okay. Focus, focus. I need to improve my mindset.”

 

Ygor says, his dream for the 2024 CODM World Championships is to battle against a Latin American or Brazilian team in the Grand Finals.

“Oh, bro. I want to play – I want to watch my team versus any Latin team again, any Brazilian team again, you know, because I’m from Brazil,” he says. “So, Inco or Galorys or Loops. I think maybe these teams qualify so much.”

Loops placed 14th in the 2023 Worlds with a 1-3 win-loss record, with Loops at 15th place with a 0-3 W/L standing. Galorys, meanwhile, did not qualify for Worlds.

Right now, Ygor also says he and the boys are gearing up for ESL Snapdragon Pro Series Mobile Masters in his home country of Brazil, as well as to hopefully get invited, and eventually win the Call of Duty Mobile Summer Invitational (CDSI) and the Call of Duty Mobile Fall Invitational (CDFI).

“Our focus is for (a great) finish this year and (to) finish our journey,” he simply said, alluding to finishing the story and hopefully, securing the title of being the best in the world at competitive Call of Duty Mobile.