For some, collegiate sports teams are the deciding factor on what school to attend. As an athlete, you may choose a specific school for their athletic program, accolades, and culture. For a fan, you may choose the school with the best community and great sports programs. That is the same case for the newly adopted esports teams in the collegiate space.
2020 is poised to be the biggest year for League of Legends we have ever seen in the collegiate space. According to the RSAA, in 2019 we saw:
- 354 schools compete, up 30.5% from 2017.
- Scholarships given by schools to their League of Legends players were 4.4MM in 2019.
- 2019 College Championships saw an average of 25k concurrent viewers – a growth rate of almost 42% from 2018.
League of Legends is not the only game title that is seeing a rise in the United States. Collegiate Rocket League held their Fall qualifiers for Rocket League bringing in 920 teams. University of Akron ended up sweeping the finals which had over 50,000 concurrent viewers on Twitch. Tespa Overwatch preseason boasted over 500 Overwatch teams from colleges around the country.
In 2018, the Big East Conference formed a tournament for League of Legends and Rocket League. The DePaul University varsity Rocket League and League of Legends teams have not always had the best of luck competing in these tournaments. Imagine being the #1 seed in the tournament and coming in second in the finals. Now, imagine doing that four times in a row.
April 14th, 2018
DePaul League of Legends came in as the number 1 seed in the first ever Big East Invitational Finals. They would fall short to Villanova who were able to shut out the Blue Demons 2-0.
April 15th, 2018
DePaul Rocket League came into the finals as the number 1 seed and came up short as Seton Hall took gold in a 3-1 victory.
December 2018
DePaul Rocket League came into the Big East Winter Challenge as the number 1 seed and fell short of reaching the title.
March 2019
DePaul League of Legends fall to Villanova again. Getting shut out in a 2-0 loss after coming in as the number one seed.
It was almost as if they were cursed and would never come in first place in the Big East. The “DPU Special” as it was coined within the DePaul Esports community. One of the hardest things to do as a player in any situation is to overcome the feeling that you are going to come up short no matter what.
Tryouts for DePaul’s League of Legend teams came in October 2019. 50 students attended the tryouts which was twice as many as last year. The increase in students trying out came with a change in the roster for 2019-2020 DePaul League of Legends.
DePaul Varsity League of Legends Roster:
Captain & Jungler: Joel “Reaperˆ” Alvarez, Junior
Mid: Kamil “Kamcha” Gebis, Sophomore
Top: Lyhieng “Maybe Soon” Te, Sophomore
Support: Anh “Hunky Hank” Ha, Senior
ADC: Tyler “Kingamazin” Kujawa, Freshman
Sub: Devon “Metallic” Morrison, Freshman
The addition of Tyler and Devon to the varsity team helps to provide the added depth that the team needed. But would they be ready for the Big East Conference Invitational taking place just one month after tryouts?
8 schools from the Big East Conference competed in the Invitational hosted by ESL starting on November 2nd. These schools include Seton Hall, Georgetown, Providence, Marquette, St. Johns, Butler, and Villanova. The Blue Demons came out to a commanding start dominating Villanova and Butler in the first weekend of the invitational. But they would fall short to St. Johns in the third match. The DePaul varsity League of Legends team would go on to win the next four matches bringing their record to 6-1 and the number one seed going into the playoffs.
The finals for the Big East Conference Invitational took place on November 24th, 2019. The Blue Demons faced off against St. Johns in the semi-finals. The Blue Demons were able to give themselves a 2-0 win which meant they were headed to the finals. In the three-hour window before the finals started against Seton Hall, the reality of the situation started to sink in. Would the Blue Demons deliver another DPU Special and grab second place?
The Finals
While the Blue Demons were in the DePaul Esports center in downtown Chicago, the fans were piling in on the Twitch channel to watch the match. I caught up with Ryan Lindsay, a Sophomore at DePaul University studying criminology and psychology. She stated, "I’ve never truly been into esports tournaments and matches, I’ve been to live events and online viewings but never truly was able to get into them as much as other sports such as football, which is a family event and a source of pride."
Game one started off and the Blue Demons looked strong. They remained in control and easily grabbed the first game off of Seton Hall. "During the first game me and around 5 other people talked and watched making some jokes in Twitch chat and generally just talking to other DePaul students we noticed in the Twitch chat. The first game was exciting, and we got to see DePaul show off and dominate the enemy team. As the game ended a few more students joined, and I found myself in a call of 8." Ryan stated.
Seton Hall came out looking like a different team in game two. Was the DePaul Special coming back to haunt the team? In a dramatic turnaround, Seton Hall takes game two. Ryan talked about the feeling during game two, "As the second game started, we were nervous, but we were still enjoying the game and the anticipation it brought. As the game came to a close, we were sad to see the team struggle in the game, but we're still super pumped for the next game because we knew we would win."
It all came down to game three. Would the DPU Special come back to haunt the varsity League of Legends team? The beginning of the third game looked to be in favor of Seton Hall, but as the game went on the tables turned and the Blue Demons started taking control. Seton Hall could not hold onto the attack from the Blue Demons. For the first time in DePaul Esports history, we took the title in the Big East.
Ryan Lindsay talked about the final moments of the three-game set, "As the game went on our Discord call got more and more excited and more and more aware of the incoming win for DePaul. When the team finally destroyed the enemy nexus, our call exploded! The interview and the end of the stream was so hectic and loud in our call because anytime our friends on the team would be mentioned we would get so excited. The Twitch stream ended up being the highlight of my week, seeing all of the DePaul students take time out of their days and watch the varsity team play was simply incredible."
The New DPU Special
DePaul Esports has a new DPU Special: winning the Big East. But can the team sustain this win and keep this new tradition alive? I caught up with some of the team.
As a team, what changed in the third match to bring home the win?
Reaper: "Our decision making was just better. We knew what to do after a few mistakes."
What does this win and season mean to you?
Reaper: "This win means that we broke the curse that has been constantly coming up in our tournament matches."
Kingamazin: "The season win obviously feels really great, it was my first tournament with DePaul and we winning it just means we're starting off on the right foot. Hopefully we can win the regular season as well, I'm confident in myself and my team."
Maybe Soon: "This win just shows me that, as a team, we are the best compared to other schools. even though we haven't practiced with each other, that doesn't seem to stop us."
The Curse is broken, and a new tradition has been created. what do you need to do to stay on top?
Reaper: "Practice more. Really wish we had time to do that."
Kingamazin: "As we play more together, we'll work on those aspects of teamplay and probably become an unstoppable team."
Kamcha: "This win is a confidence booster and shows that we have a strong team this year. Practice is something we haven't put a lot of time into due to college and having uncoordinated schedules. Hopefully we can find time to play games together and scrim other teams during time off."
DePaul Rocket League
Now that the curse has been broken, can the DePaul Rocket League varsity team keep the tradition alive? On December 7th and 8th, the Blue Demons Rocket League team will be traveling to NYC for the Big East Finals produced by the Electronic Gaming Federation. Go Blue Demons!
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For more information, visit: esports.depaul.edu
Article written by: Kevin O'Brien
Executive Director, ESLB
DePaul Esports
Email: depauleslb@gmail.com