QUT students are revving up their APMs and have their eyes firmly on ruling the Rift as tonight they become the first university eSports team to enter the League of Legends Oceanic Challenger Series (OCS).
The OCS is run annually by Riot Games, publisher of the League of Legends game, and it serves as a feeder competition for the Oceanic Pro League (OPL), scouting the next generation of professional players for the region.
The QUT Tigers team is one of 14 teams to battle it out each week over the 13-week OCS season. In their first season match tonight (Thursday, May 10) they take on Dark Sided.
Making up the team are William ‘Tekker’ Marinic, Stewart ‘Flick’ Riesenweber, Zihong ‘Unspecialize’ Li, Henri ‘Feint’ Magisson and Kevin ‘SanaKyul’ Nguyen, with the backup of substitute player Ignacio Alvear ‘Iggy’ Fujii.
They are all members of QUT eSports, the first university-endorsed eSports program in Australia which offers students pathways from amateur to professional gaming and careers in the industry.
QUT Tigers manager and business and creative design student Alyssa ‘Aeia’ Latorre said the team members all have the experience and skills to match it with the best in the OCS.
“It’s a really smart line-up and we have some veterans of arena experience, so if we get to the finals it won’t be a daunting experience,” she said.
“Tekker played in the OCS last year, and he, Flick, Feint, Unspecialize and Iggy were the runners-up in last year’s League of Legends Unigames.
“We’re also excited to have as our team coach Chris ‘Mooboo’ Moody, who was part of the University of Western Australia team which edged us out at the Unigames.
“So I am pretty confident we can do well in this new challenge.”
The season’s winning team earns the right to challenge an OPL team to take that team’s place in the pro league, which in turn feeds teams directly into the World Championships.
The QUT Tigers match tonight starts at 8pm. Two players will log on from the QUT games room at Gardens Point and the other three from their Brisbane homes. This match and all the season’s action is to be streamed on Twitch.
League of Legends is one of the world’s biggest games fostering a competitive eSports scene. An estimated 100 million users worldwide play the game every month, with players at the elite level earning salaries and prizes in the millions.
Learn more about QUT eSports.
QUT Media contacts: Karen Milliner, 07 3138 1841 or k.milliner@qut.edu.au
After hours: Rose Trapnell, 0407 585 901 or media@qut.edu.au
