EPTThe official school newspaper also interviewed me recently to do a similar article. Looking forward to spread the word about ESPORTS
Let me know what you guys think!
http://www.myucirvine.com/news/features/item/78-starcraft-2-esports-explodes-at-uc-irvine
+ Show Spoiler +
What gets college students more pumped, competitive, and passionate about their home team more than a football team, or lack thereof? StarCraft 2 - the latest real time strategy game from Blizzard is now the playing field for over 120+ colleges in the Collegiate Starleague (CSL), in which the team at UC Irvine is an extremely dominant force.
StarCraft 2 is a real time outer-space strategy game which involves three distinct military races in which the player can command. The Terrans, the human colonists from earth; the Zerg, an alien insectoid race; and the Protoss, a humanoid psyionic alien race with advanced technology. Each race plays with a very unique and distinct style, and the objective of each 1v1 match is to gather resources, build a standing army, and out smart your opponent while taking key points on the map.
Competitive gaming, or “e-sports”, has exploded in the past year with the release of StarCraft 2, and the wave has caught all the greatest strategy game enthusiasts all over North America who wish to push the boundaries of what is considered to be sports and competition. Its twelve year old predecessor, StarCraft: Brood War, is even recognized in South Korea as a legitimate sporting profession, with the top participating “e-athletes” making up to $200,000 a year in sponsorships with thousands of adoring fans on an international scale.
The StarCraft following at UC Irvine extends beyond the roommate who claims to be the best in the dorms. The team at UCI not only houses top players of the entire university, but also players who consistently make the top 200 rankings of North America. However, despite their intimidating skill level, players of all skill levels have gathered at StarCraft club meetings on campus to discuss the latest games from the Global StarCraft II League broadcasted from South Korea, experiment with new strategies, and bond through the passion for the game.
UC Irvine’s StarCraft team competed in the first Collegiate Starleague in 2009, where Brood War was the game of choice, and since then have been a power house team that consistently make the playoffs each season, losing to longtime rivals UC San Diego in the playoffs. UC Irvine finished this year’s regular season comfortably as the number 1 team in their division, even besting rivals UC San Diego during the regular season. The StarCraft team at UC Irvine also faced schools such as Princeton, Stanford, Dartmouth, MIT, and Harvard during the regular CSL season. Stanford was one of the schools that contributed to UCI’s two losses. However, the StarCraft A-team team at UCI has shown an exceptionally dominating performance in the CSL playoff games, besting UMC Twin Cities and University of Texas Arlington to make it to the quarter finals, where they’ll face the University of British Colombia.
Players from UCI also travel to local tournament events, such as the Winter Games Fest at UCSD in which UCI took 1st, 3rd, and 4th held by Josh ‘Polar’ Chou, Alex ‘Shoey’, Truong, and Eric ‘lime’ Lim, respectively. A joint tournament event took place between the clubs at UCI and USC that attracted the fiercest competition within the SoCal area, where UCI managed to place a number of players in the Top 8 standings with Darren ‘darrenc’ Chen placing UCI’s highest at third, while UCLA’s sPsMagician placed 1st with runner-up ONElinko, where the grand finals were commentated by StarCraft 2 shoutcaster icon Sean ‘Day[9]’ Plott. Aside from the high level competition, players who have only talked with each other online were able to instantly mingle and interact with one another in a real-world setting with their bonds established from in the game.
The world of competitive gaming will only continue to grow, and as long as UCI house the most passionate gamers, its student body will only continue to flourish. All players are welcome to join the Facebook group, UC Irvine StarCraft, and continune to watch the CSL playoff matches which are streamed online. More info can be found about the CSL Playoffs at www.cstarleague.com and UCI StarCraft players are frequent visitors of TeamLiquid.net
StarCraft 2 is a real time outer-space strategy game which involves three distinct military races in which the player can command. The Terrans, the human colonists from earth; the Zerg, an alien insectoid race; and the Protoss, a humanoid psyionic alien race with advanced technology. Each race plays with a very unique and distinct style, and the objective of each 1v1 match is to gather resources, build a standing army, and out smart your opponent while taking key points on the map.
Competitive gaming, or “e-sports”, has exploded in the past year with the release of StarCraft 2, and the wave has caught all the greatest strategy game enthusiasts all over North America who wish to push the boundaries of what is considered to be sports and competition. Its twelve year old predecessor, StarCraft: Brood War, is even recognized in South Korea as a legitimate sporting profession, with the top participating “e-athletes” making up to $200,000 a year in sponsorships with thousands of adoring fans on an international scale.
The StarCraft following at UC Irvine extends beyond the roommate who claims to be the best in the dorms. The team at UCI not only houses top players of the entire university, but also players who consistently make the top 200 rankings of North America. However, despite their intimidating skill level, players of all skill levels have gathered at StarCraft club meetings on campus to discuss the latest games from the Global StarCraft II League broadcasted from South Korea, experiment with new strategies, and bond through the passion for the game.
UC Irvine’s StarCraft team competed in the first Collegiate Starleague in 2009, where Brood War was the game of choice, and since then have been a power house team that consistently make the playoffs each season, losing to longtime rivals UC San Diego in the playoffs. UC Irvine finished this year’s regular season comfortably as the number 1 team in their division, even besting rivals UC San Diego during the regular season. The StarCraft team at UC Irvine also faced schools such as Princeton, Stanford, Dartmouth, MIT, and Harvard during the regular CSL season. Stanford was one of the schools that contributed to UCI’s two losses. However, the StarCraft A-team team at UCI has shown an exceptionally dominating performance in the CSL playoff games, besting UMC Twin Cities and University of Texas Arlington to make it to the quarter finals, where they’ll face the University of British Colombia.
Players from UCI also travel to local tournament events, such as the Winter Games Fest at UCSD in which UCI took 1st, 3rd, and 4th held by Josh ‘Polar’ Chou, Alex ‘Shoey’, Truong, and Eric ‘lime’ Lim, respectively. A joint tournament event took place between the clubs at UCI and USC that attracted the fiercest competition within the SoCal area, where UCI managed to place a number of players in the Top 8 standings with Darren ‘darrenc’ Chen placing UCI’s highest at third, while UCLA’s sPsMagician placed 1st with runner-up ONElinko, where the grand finals were commentated by StarCraft 2 shoutcaster icon Sean ‘Day[9]’ Plott. Aside from the high level competition, players who have only talked with each other online were able to instantly mingle and interact with one another in a real-world setting with their bonds established from in the game.
The world of competitive gaming will only continue to grow, and as long as UCI house the most passionate gamers, its student body will only continue to flourish. All players are welcome to join the Facebook group, UC Irvine StarCraft, and continune to watch the CSL playoff matches which are streamed online. More info can be found about the CSL Playoffs at www.cstarleague.com and UCI StarCraft players are frequent visitors of TeamLiquid.net
