[CSL] Season 4 Official Thread - Page 37

University of Toronto may not have a
Big Ten football team or a basketball team
competing in March Madness that would
gamer it a major sports reputation but then
e-sports still has a long way to go. UofT not
only competes, but thrives in the Collegiate
StarLeague (C.S.L.) - a yearly tournament
attended by schools all over the U.S. and
Canada - where players match skills in Blizzard
Entertainment's popular game Starcraft
2. This year marks UofT's third season since
joining the C.S.L. and it currently stands at
an impressive record of five wins and one
loss. Its only loss came against Indiana University
at a time when Uoff was missing one
of its top players, Long Do. The league itself
is split up into divisions and schools engage
in a round-robin in each group. Only the top
four teams in each division advance to the
play-offs at the season's end. Even with its
strong record, UofT struggles to find breathing
room atop the standings. Along with
Indiana University, Ohio State University,
U.C. Berkeley, and u.e. Davis also sport
formidable records in UofTs division.
As a large school, UofT boasts a
sizeable roster with over 30 people registered
on the team.
"I want everyone who wants' to
join to meet up with people. I really try to
encourage a Starcraft- Toronto community,"
says Do, who is in charge of coordinator duties
for the team.
Do, along with players Tony Huynh
and Colin Sue-Chue-Lam, make up the core
of the team that competes weekly. All three
have ranked among North America's top 200
and have even played Major League Gaming
stars such as Kevin "qxc" Riley and Chris
"HuK" Loranger. With them at the helm,
Uoff dominates Iv I matches but still admits
to weaknesses.
"To put it simply, our 2v2 sucks,"
confesses Huynh, referring to UofTs troubles
in the doubles format.
While they are not slated to faceoff
during the regular season, UofT's team
still considers Waterloo as its main rival.

Elsewhere, players look forward to specific
match-ups as the tournament rolls on.
"You look for certain players in
schools. Some schools have one really good
player with no one else good, while other
schools have a bunch of decent players. It
really depends on the player more than the
school," explains Sue-Chue-Lam.
As stiff as the competition is, UofT's primary
concern is a familiar one: academics.
Obligations at school have prevented UofT
from unleashing its full strength or playing a
match altogether.
"The year before, we almost won the
whole thing. Unfortunately, I was the coordinator
and because I had a test the next day, I
missed the deadline for line-up submissions.
So we had to forfeit a game and that knocked
us out of the tournament," recalls Do, noting
a close call with the championship that
eludes UofT.

Starcraft 2, released in late July, is still
relatively new and Blizzard's attempt to perfect
game balance is a developing process.
Whether this affects UofT in its matches remains
to be seen. Its season-ending matchup
against the heralded U.C. Berkeley looks
to be particularly intense as a potential decider
for playoff positioning.