VfB eSports pro Deni Mutic will battle 31 top rivals for the German championship in FIFA 23 at the VBL Grand Final in Cologne. ©
VfB Stuttgart is on the home stretch of a turbulent season – not only on the "real" pitch, but also on the virtual pitch. eSports professional Deni Mutic represents the club at the VBL Grand Final in Cologne and fights for the German championship.
Stuttgart/Cologne - 32 top eSports professionals, two days of excitement and competition at the highest level, one German champion - at the VBL (Virtual Bundesliga) Grand Final on June 3 and 4 at the Strassenkicker Base in Cologne, all those who hold it with the popular football simulation game Fifa 23 will get their money's worth. The players sit opposite each other at the monitors, a single wrong key input can be decisive for the game, concentration is strained to the extreme over a long tournament day.
One of the key players on the PlayStation controller will be Deniel "Deni" Mutic. The 30-year-old from Fellbach (Rems-Murr district) – just a stone's throw away from the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Stuttgart – represents his favourite club, VfB Stuttgart, on one of the most important stages. After qualifying for the final through tough playoffs, he is now eyeing the big coup. BW24 from IPPEN. MEDIA spoke exclusively with him in advance.
VfB eSports pro Deni Mutic relies on his "rip-off and routine" ahead of the VBL Grand Final in Cologne
A few days before his big appearance, Deni Mutic sits casually in an armchair at the VfB club centre. At 30 years old, the eSports player is one of the old hands in the business, is sometimes referred to as a "Fifa pensioner" (which annoys him) and has been playing at pro level for seven years. The tension will probably only increase when it really starts. "I've been to a lot of offline tournaments and I've acquired a certain rip-off and routine," Mutic told BW24. This could be a decisive advantage over the newcomers, who have to get used to the big stage.
Although Deni is not one of the top favourites for the title – in contrast to reigning champion Dylan "DullenMIKE" Neuhausen or world champion Umut Gültekin – he travels to the cathedral city with a good deal of self-confidence. "I go in knowing I can beat anyone. I've already shown that I can beat the big names." In keeping with the story of the veteran, who can still give the up-and-coming talents a leg up, is his great role model: Cristiano Ronaldo.
Mental strength could make Deni Mutic an unpleasant opponent for many
Mutic is known in the Fifa scene as a hard worker and leaves nothing to chance. In the run-up to the final, he trains up to six hours a day and plays 20 to 30 matches against other qualifiers to prepare at the highest level. In addition, he is someone who is usually at his best in the second half of the season. "This time it was mainly due to the fact that other eSports players have released strong tactics and I get along very well with the new 3 and 5 chain systems," says the veteran happily.
I still feel brutally fit and can imagine being active as a professional in eSports for a longer period of time.
Deni Mutic, VfB eSports professional
In addition, there is his mental strength, which he was able to prove again in the playoffs. "I started 0-2, which means I had three finals – and won them all. Sometimes I need that one game to turn things around and then I'm fully there." This is also confirmed by Timo Nauerz, who coordinates the eSports department at VfB Stuttgart: "If Deni has a run, anything is possible. If he wins two or three games in a row, he can beat anyone." Mutic's mental strength is also based on his physical fitness: away from the console, he is very athletic and keeps fit with jogging, tennis and table tennis.
Fifa veteran Deni Mutic is far from thinking about quitting
As a minimum goal for the final in Cologne, Deni proclaims to reach the knockout phase. To do this, he would have to win three out of five games on the first day of the Swiss phase; then his place in the top 16 would be assured. Last year, when he was still competing for Bernd Leno's eSports team and the field of participants was still separated into PlayStation and Xbox, Mutic made it to the semi-finals on the PlayStation. Now, after the restart of the VfB team (in July 2022), he wants to represent the chest ring jersey on TV and in the livestreams on Twitch for as long as possible.
0
Also Read
MontanaBlack calls it "Last Degeneration" – tirade against climate glue
READ
Rammstein allegations: YouTuber unpacks – "I can and will confirm"
READ
GTA 6: Hairy detail – fans therefore only discuss hairstyles
READ
Shurjoka: Advertisement to KuchenTV is out – Accuses character assassination and defamation
READ
GTA 6: Nightclub from Vice City celebrates comeback
READ
Fancy a voyage of discovery?
My Area
But no matter how the season ends, the 30-year-old, who has completed his bachelor's degree in business administration, is far from thinking about quitting. "I feel brutally fit and can imagine being active as a professional in eSports for even longer." Fittingly, BW24 exclusively learned that Mutic has already extended his contract with VfB eSports and will continue to lead the team as captain in the coming season.
There he still has a lot to do, especially in the Club Championship - the club competition of the Virtual Bundesliga - after an unsatisfactory season, when they missed a playoff place with 10th place in the South-East Division. "The topic of eSports is big at VfB. Of course, the first year after the restart was a bit difficult. In the meantime, however, we have good structures, are coordinated with each other and are convinced that we will be able to make the project even bigger in the coming years," says Mutic.
