Run-down of Tespa League Play for 2017-2018: OW, Hearthstone, HotS, Rocket League, WoW

Overwatch TCS and Overwatch Open

Last year’s Overwatch Collegiate Series saw UC Berkeley triumph over the University of Toronto in a lopsided 3-0 series. With a prize pool of $100,000 USD in scholarship money, every Cal player walked away with $6,000 in scholarships, with Toronto receiving $3,000. With the return of Tespa’s Collegiate Series for 2017-2018, there is more on the line. 1st place players will now receive $7,000 USD in scholarships, with 2nd and 3rd-4th receiving $3,000 and $1,750 respectively. Teams that finish 5th-8th will receive $1,000. In addition to scholarship prizing, teams that play every match assigned to them during The Collegiate Series (TCS) are eligible to receive a TCS shirt and lanyard per active player, substitute, and team manager.

The TCS season consists of a 6-week Regional Group Stage where schools play up to 2 matches per week starting September 25th. The top schools from each region will advance to a National Swiss Stage. The top 40 teams then advance from the National Swiss Stage into the elimination bracket. The final bracket is a Towers of Doom bracket with 4 rounds occurring over two weeks. The top eight teams from the elimination bracket will advance to the national finals with the top four playing at live finals in early January.

The UCLA Overwatch B team competes in the Tespa Overwatch Open, where there is a weekly match opt-in season in play. Teams play in weekly matchmade battles, with teams choosing to play between 0 and 3 matches a week in order to climb the leaderboard. All teams that compete in a minimum of 8 weekly matches are eligible for a free Overwatch Shirt and a free TCS shirt. In addition, all players that play on the UCLA B team that show growth, passion, maturity, and leadership have a good chance of being promoted to the UCLA A team. Tryouts for the UCLA Overwatch teams will be held September 14th-15th from 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm.

You will be able to catch our UCLA Overwatch teams in action on select broadcasts, with matches being played every Wednesday and Thursday on the Tespa Twitch Channel! To read more information on rules, schedules, and whether or not YOU are eligible to compete for UCLA, head on over to Tespa Compete Portal.

Hearthstone

Collegiate Hearthstone has continued to gain popularity within the last year. The result is an impressive competitive scene that allows players to demonstrate their skill and earn prizes. Appropriately, college students have the opportunity to compete in the upcoming Tespa Hearthstone Training Grounds to prove their worth and earn scholarships.

The Hearthstone Training Grounds tournament is an online tournament where teams of three college students will play weekly matches over the course of seven weeks. Teams will strategically create four decks, each of a unique class for use in the tournament. Upon beginning a match, teams will see their opponents’ four classes and choose one to ban for the match. Teams will then use the remaining three classes to compete in a best-of-five match.

Teams that win at least five of their seven games will proceed to Regional Playoffs where the best team in each region shall be determined. Regional Playoffs will include a round-robin on November 11th that will single out the top four teams to play the next day in a double-elimination bracket. The winning team of the bracket from each of the four regions will battle it out at a live event in December for the grand prize of $5000 USD in scholarship money per player.

UCLA will be fielding 2 3-man Hearthstone teams for the 2017-2018 school year. Applications for Hearthstone and all other titles open on September 1st, with the deadline to submit an application set at September 17th 11:59 pm. With Shawn “Triton” Footitt’s recent victory at the Red Bull Team Brawl, another victory is most certainly possible for our competing Bruins. Tespa’s Hearthstone Training Grounds begins on Monday, September 25th when select matches will be streamed on the official Hearthstone Twitch Channel. For more details on watching or competing in the competition, head to the Tespa Compete Portal. Be sure to check back to stay updated with news about our Hearthstone and other teams for the school year!

Heroes of the Storm:

UCLA has announced its participation in Tespa’s Heroes of the Storm Training Grounds tournament held in Fall 2017. The online tournament features multiple North American collegiate teams battling over the course of eight weeks for thousands of dollars’ worth of non-cash prizes and campus glory.

Running from September 25 through November 19, Tespa’s Training Grounds boasts numerous participating US and Canadian universities, including the University of California, Los Angeles, the University of Florida, and the University of Calgary. Teams of up to seven players will compete in best-of-three matches every Sunday, with teams opting to play either zero or two matches. At season’s end, the top 32 teams ranked will receive virtual Blizzard Battle.net currency depending on their record:

• 1st place: each player on the team (up to 7 players) will receive a $150 USD credit to their Blizzard Battle.net balance

• 2nd place: $100 credit per player

• 3rd and 4th place: $75 credit per player

• 5th through 8th place: $50 credit per player

• 9th through 16th place: $25 credit per player

• 17th through 20th place: $20 credit per player

• 21st through 32nd place: $10 credit per player

• All payers who compete in at least eight matches are eligible to receive a free Heroes of the Storm T-shirt.

In addition, UCLA aims to participate in Tespa's Heroes of the Dorm tournament for the upcoming 2018 season. The online / offline tournament is one of the biggest in the country, with the winning team earning college tuition for the remainder of their players' school tenure. The 2017 champions were the University of Texas at Arlington, who completed their dominant run to the finals with a sweep of Louisiana State University.

You can catch UCLA and other colleges compete for cred at the official Heroes of the Storm Twitch Channel. For more information regarding rules, scheduling, and eligibility, you can visit the Tespa Compete Portal.

Rocket League:

Relatively new to the esports scene, Rocket League is rapidly gathering fans with its exciting and dynamic gameplay. Recognizing this, Tespa held its first Rocket League tournament early this summer and received an overwhelming response with over 80 teams participating. Teams of three players play as cars with rocket packs that enable them to have incredible mobility as they attempt to place a ball into the opponent’s net, much like soccer. This coming fall, UCLA will be fielding our first Rocket League Team in Tespa’s Collegiate Rocket League Qualifier #1 for a shot at a piece of $50,000 USD in scholarships and prizes. Applications for Rocket League and all titles open on September 1st, and the deadline to submit is September 12th at 11:59 pm!

The team will play in qualifiers and if they emerge as one of the top four teams, they move on to the Western Conference. The competition is split into Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Conferences. Teams will play the Soccar game mode, competing in a round robin of best-of-fives for both the qualifiers and the Conference. Top seeded teams will then advance to the playoffs and the champions from each region will compete in the prestigious Collegiate Rocket League National Championship to prove which school has the best Rocket League collegiate team in all of North America. It’s a battle for pride as much as for money. National champions will take home a staggering $5000 USD Scholarship prize per player.

Games will be played typically on weekends, in the late afternoons. Participants must be currently enrolled students and have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5. For more information regarding eligibility and tournament rules, be sure to check out the Tespa Tournament Page. Players who compete in at least 8 matches will also receive a free Rocket League shirt!

World of Warcraft Dungeon Race:

World of Warcraft Dungeon Racing arrived on the Collegiate scene last year, with Tespa handing out $20,000 in scholarship prizing and eventual winners UCI taking home $2,000 USD per player. With the announcement of the return of the Tespa Great Collegiate Dungeon Race for 2017-2018, UCLA will be fielding a team in World of Warcraft for the first time. Over a 6 week period, colleges will compete in the Mythic Keystone dungeons, with the first 3 weeks dedicated to preliminary rounds. Items, gear, and consumable vendors are all standardized to ensure that teams place based on their ability to strategize and execute game plans.

Teams will compete and submit their best times to a leader-board starting September 22nd. The top 16 teams from the preliminary rounds advance to the playoffs - a team-vs-team double elimination bracket. The top 2 teams from the winner’s and loser’s bracket will advance to the best-of-five, single-elimination semi-finals!

Every player on the 1st place team receives $2,000 USD in scholarship money, with 2nd and 3rd-4th earning $1,000 and $500 respectively. Every player on a team that participates in all three preliminary rounds will also receive an additional 30 days of World of Warcraft: Legion subscription time. You can catch our UCLA team on select broadcasts at the official World of Warcraft Twitch Channel! To read more information on rules, schedules, and whether or not YOU are eligible to compete for UCLA, head on over to the Tespa Compete portal.

Update: The Tespa Compete website states that teams are only required to have 3 members from the same school out of 5, with more details forthcoming. We will be updating our applications accordingly when we receive more information

Tune in tomorrow to get information on our League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and DotA 2 teams!

#ucla #hearthstone #wow #rocket #league #overwatch #tespa #season #2017 #2018